Transfers are part of public service, PS Kakande tells reluctant administrators
Kakande further called on undersecretaries to support personal assistants to ministers by helping them understand their roles and assigning them meaningful responsibilities.
Kakande urged civil servants to reject corruption and serve with integrity and professionalism. (Credit: Christopher Nyeko)
The permanent secretary in the Office of the President, Yunus Kakande, has challenged public administrators who resist transfers to new duty stations, saying civil servants should be willing to serve wherever they are deployed.
Kakande said he had received numerous letters from public administrators who had been transferred but were reluctant to report to their new workstations.
He said the challenge was particularly common among institution administrators, undersecretaries and other officials who had become accustomed to their current positions and were unwilling to relocate.
However, Kakande said he rarely encountered similar resistance among resident district commissioners (RDCs), deputy RDCs, district police commanders (DPCs), assistant RDCs and head teachers of secondary schools.
“The problem I experience with RDCs is that when they are posted, some individuals inquire about transport, especially those without vehicles. If I tell them I don’t have money for transport, they find other means to reach their workstations,” Kakande said.
He attributed some resistance to transfers to financial interests, saying some public administrators become attached to the money and benefits associated with particular duty stations.
Kakande urged civil servants not to become “slaves to money," but instead to view money as a means of addressing their immediate needs.
He challenged public servants who have genuine reasons for declining a transfer to openly present their cases to the relevant authorities rather than hiding behind anonymous letters.
“If you have a justifiable reason for refusing a transfer, be bold and come out and present your case,” he said, describing the use of anonymous letters as a “practice of uneducated people.”
Transfers meant to broaden experience
Kakande also urged public administrators to broaden their knowledge beyond their individual departments and engage in intellectual discussions that could improve their understanding of government operations.
He said public servants should understand how different government ministries, departments and agencies function, noting that such exposure would prepare them for higher responsibilities.
Kakande revealed that the head of public service at the Ministry of Public Service had started transferring secretaries and undersecretaries between government agencies to expose them to different areas of government work.
Kakande further called on senior public administrators to mentor junior officers and prepare them for greater responsibilities.
“Mentorship should begin during the time of internship and probation to prepare individuals for the bigger tasks ahead of them,” he said.
Salary review for RDCs
Kakande also disclosed that he had presented a Cabinet paper proposing salary increases for RDCs, deputy RDCs and assistant RDCs as part of efforts to address concerns over low pay among staff in the Office of the President.
Under his proposal, RDCs would earn sh9m per month, deputy RDCs sh6m and assistant RDCs sh3m.
Kakande further called on senior public administrators to mentor junior officers and prepare them for greater responsibilities. (Credit: Christopher Nyeko)
However, he said implementation of the proposed salary increases had been delayed following demands for salary adjustments for secondary school teachers. The proposal is expected to be considered in the next financial year.
Call for professionalism
Kakande urged civil servants to reject corruption and serve with integrity and professionalism.
He also encouraged public administrators to think ahead and anticipate the challenges the Government may face in the next five years, rather than focusing only on their current responsibilities.
He urged them to remain informed about developments and develop solutions to emerging challenges.
Kakande further called on undersecretaries to support personal assistants to ministers by helping them understand their roles and assigning them meaningful responsibilities.
Kakande made the remarks while opening the sixth Administrative Officers' Forum in Gulu city on September 8, 2026.
The four-day forum, held at Bomaha Hotel under the theme “Awake for Service: Professional Public Administration for Integrity, Accountability, and National Transformation,” has attracted hundreds of public administrators, including undersecretaries, principal assistant secretaries, personal assistants and principal administrators from ministries, departments, government agencies and regional referral hospitals across the country.
Administrators back transfer policy
Freddie Emmanuel Mugunga, chairperson of the Public Administrators Association of Uganda, commended the Office of the President for prioritising leadership and capacity building within the public administration fraternity.
Mugunga acknowledged the challenges facing public administrators, particularly disparities in salaries, and called for improvements in remuneration.
Walter Uryek-Wun, president of the Uganda Association of Public Administrators and principal hospital administrator at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, welcomed Kakande’s call for civil servants to embrace transfers.
Uryek-Wun said the public service contract requires civil servants to serve in any part of the country where they are deployed.
He argued that public servants therefore should not complain or protest when they are transferred to another station.
“The Public Service Standing Orders Act is very clear: if any civil servant serves in an area, department, or agency of the government for a period of three years, he or she is supposed to be transferred to another station,” he said.
“You take the good work you have been doing in that station to another part of the country or station.”
Uryek-Wun also supported Kakande’s emphasis on mentorship, saying public institutions can only develop when senior officers deliberately nurture junior staff.
He called for mentorship to begin as early as the internship and probation stages so that young officers are adequately prepared for greater responsibilities.
He also urged the Government to clarify the roles of public administrators, including undersecretaries and principal assistant secretaries, and distinguish their responsibilities from those of principal hospital administrators and senior hospital administrators.
The Public Administrators Forum is being facilitated by the Office of the President as part of efforts to strengthen professionalism, accountability and service delivery across the country.