Ssendaula Rejects URA Salary Raise

Aug 01, 2002

THE Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Gerald Ssendaula, yesterday rejected demands by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) employees to increase their pay as a means of curbing corruption in the tax body, writes Milton Olupot.

THE Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Gerald Ssendaula, yesterday rejected demands by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) employees to increase their pay as a means of curbing corruption in the tax body, writes Milton Olupot.Ssendaula, while testifying before the commission of inquiry into alleged corruption in the URA, said the URA staff were highly paid and the corruption in the tax body was due to moral decay and not poor pay.URA heads of departments told the commission chaired by Justice Julia Ssebutinde that low pay for the staff and lack of a pension scheme were some of the major causes of corruption in the authority and recommended pay rise for the staff.Ssendaula castigated the witnesses, saying with sh5m paid to the URA commissioners, they were more highly paid than other public servants, including ministers and professors working in hospitals.“I agree that URA is the engine of the economy but these people earn more than a minister. I earn sh3.8m all in all, including the house I am sleeping in, professors who handle our lives earn only sh2m. Would you expect them to hang patients in order to earn more,” he wondered.Ssendaula said the URA staff should save and invest for their future.Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});