Govt says to recruit 6,853 employees as reforms improve efficiency in MDAs

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The Government is set to recruit 6,853 employees worth sh124.9b across 130 ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs) and local governments during the financial year 2025/2026, the Ministry of Public Service has announced.

In a statement dated November 11, the ministry says priority will be given to the recruitment of the heads of departments, especially in local governments, to strengthen the development and implementation of Government Policies and ensure effective supervision and monitoring of programmes.

The ministry states that additional recruitment will focus on sectors critical to community service delivery, including primary education, primary health care, agricultural extension, and the positions of parish chiefs and town agents.

The development comes at a time when public service minister Wilson Muruli Mukasa says government reforms have improved efficiency in over 80% of ministries and agencies, strengthening coordination and service delivery nationwide.

Addressing the media on the same day, Mukasa added that 12,000 public officers have benefited from new performance management training designed to enhance accountability and work output, and major strides have been achieved in digital transformation, with 65% of government Human Resources operations now processed through the Integrated Human Resource Management System.

According to Muruli, payroll audits have helped save over shillings 60 billion, following the elimination of ghost workers and improved verification systems.

"Efforts to improve inclusivity have yielded results, with women now making up 47% of Uganda’s public service workforce - up from 38% in 2018".

At the beginning of the financial Year, July 16, 2025, clearance worth shillings 5.48 billion was also granted for newly upgraded Health Centres II and III with funding support from Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Programme, a government initiative supported by the World Bank to improve public services like education, health, and water across Uganda.

Background

At the beginning of the financial year, the Ministry of Public Service issued a statement on the state of human resource management in the public service of Uganda and guided on key strategic frameworks required for the effective utilisation of the human resources to implement government programmes in FY 2025/2026. Among the issues guided on was recruitment in the Public Service.

Section 7 of the Public Service Act, 2008 empowers the Ministry of Public Service for the overall management and administration of the public service, including formulation and review of policies relating to structures, management systems and the terms and conditions of service.

It also receives and considers on behalf of the Government, proposals for remuneration and benefits of persons whose emoluments are payable directly from the Consolidated Fund, or out of money provided by Parliament.

Similarly, Section A-a (14) of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders, 2021 vests the responsibility for ensuring proper implementation of human resource management procedures, policies, practices, structures, systems and terms and conditions of service for the Public Service in the Responsible Permanent Secretary, who is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service.

In accordance with these provisions, the Ministry of Public Service granted clearance to recruit for a number of Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments for the 2025/2026 financial year.