MPs call for minimum wage

Aug 31, 2011

MPs have asked the Government to set a minimum wage so as to stop the exploitation of workers by investors.

By Mary Karugaba and Catherine Bekunda

MPs have asked the Government to set a minimum wage so as to stop the exploitation of workers by investors.

Discussing a report of the gender, labour and social development committee on Monday, the MPs noted that despite the rising cost of living, most unskilled workers continued to be paid peanuts.

“We cannot accept this exploitation. Many Ugandans are abused, work for long hours and only get paid sh50,000 a month. This is modern-day slavery which the Government must end,” opposition MP Florence Ekwau said.

Workers MP Arinaitwe Rwakajara noted that although a minimum wage would be determined by market forces, the Government had a duty to protect its citizens, adding that sometimes employers did not pay their workers at all.

Uganda last set a minimum wage in 1984 at sh6,000 per month. The decree has remained in force to this day.

The subsequent sh75,000 per month that was recommended by the Minimum Wage Advisory Council in 1995 for unskilled workers has never been implemented.

A number of workers’ rights activists, including trade unions, have called for a review of the policy on minimum wage, but the Government has not responded to their pleas.

The main reason advanced by those opposed to the minimum wage is that setting it would cause massive unemployment and scare away investors.

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly wage an employer is required to pay a worker.

In the committee report presented by the chairperson, William Nokrach, the MPs noted with concern that the Ministry of Finance has continued to hold on to the sh44b youth fund instead of releasing it to the sector ministry for easy administration.

The MPs recommended that the money be returned to the gender ministry so that it takes the lead in the implementation of the project.

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