Salary review will put an end to strikes - experts

Julius Mukunda and other participants at the global experts meeting on inequality and public spending on social services at Innophine Hotel in Entebbe. Photo by Wilson Manishimwe

Experts have commended the Government's plans of reviewing salaries for civil servants saying, it will put an end to endless strikes that have paralysed service delivery in different sectors such as health and Judiciary.

Julius Mukunda, the executive director Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) noted that the review will set basis on which salaries of different government workers will be paid.

He, however, said the MPs will not be affected since they determine their salaries.

"Simply because we do not have a salary structure, you find every Government agency has its own salary structure. Once we have the structure, it will regulate the way salaries are paid," he noted.

In July this year, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni directed the public service minister Muruli Mukasa to come up with a comprehensive remuneration raft that would set the salary scale for all the civil servants in Uganda.

Mukunda notes that: "For example Makerere University professors are paid less money than their counterparts in Kyambogo, Busitema and other institutions, that is why they are always on strike almost every year."

During the ongoing global experts meeting on inequality and public spending on social services at Innophine Hotel in Entebbe, Mukunda said: 

"Doctors, teachers and prosecutors, their point is that the MPs who actually are not doing so much are paid a lot of money.

"They feel that they should be remunerated better, yet the Government seems to take long to respond to their concerns."

Sophie Kyagulanyi, a specialist in governance and accountability explained that review is a step in the right direction since it will reduce the inequalities created by different salaries received by technical people.

"It is a welcome idea and we hope that cabinet will expedite the idea," she stated.

Recently, civil servants notably judicial and medical officers have engaged in strikes demanding for increased pay and this has brought service delivery to a standstill.