Civil servants’ salaries get paid
Mar 04, 2011
CIVIL servants who had not got their February salaries have been paid. <br>Usually the salaries come by 30th of every month but February delayed by four days due to technical problems.
By Raymons Baguma
and Joseph Semakula
CIVIL servants who had not got their February salaries have been paid.
Usually the salaries come by 30th of every month but February delayed by four days due to technical problems.
The delay had caused anxiety among civil servants.
Finance minister Syda Bbumba said the money was sent to bank accounts by 1:00pm yesterday. She refuted recent reports that the money meant for salaries had been diverted to finance the just-concluded presidential campaigns.
“The Government has sufficient funds to pay all civil servants’ salaries until the end of the financial year,†Bbumba said in a statement issued yesterday.
The Ministry of Public Service plans to use the new Integrated Payroll and Personnel Management System (IPPS) to pay the salaries for February.
“However, due to technical problems, it was not possible to implement the system. As a result, the Government experienced delays because we had to revert to the old system to process the data for payment,†Bbumba said.
“Bank of Uganda has already sent payment instructions and the accounts will be credited by 1:00pm today,†Bbumba said.
This financial year, the Government budgeted sh1trillion for the salaries of civil servants.
She also said there were delays in paying the February pensions because of an underestimation of the amount of pensions and gratuity to be paid out, including arrears.
Bbumba said she had authorised a statutory revision for pension payments to credit beneficiaries’ accounts at the start of next week. Mid last year, while delivering the national budget, Bbumba said pension arrears were to be cleared in this financial year.
The minister said the Government would provide sh124b for the arrears. This financial year, Uganda had 29,200 pensioners. The Ministry of Public Service has already released sh133b to clear their arrears and sh34b was used to pay ex-service men.
The Government has also paid gratuity for over 10,000 pensioners from July up to the end of last year.
Every month in Uganda, about 200 civil servants reach the retirement age of 60 years and require their retirement packages.
Sometimes, the ministry finds problems in paying the pensioners their packages because they don’t update their bank accounts.
But Margaret Ojara, the ministry’s Under Secretary, said recently that the Government was committed to paying the arrears of retired civil servants at the right time.
In the 2008, the Government released sh50b and paid arrears for 4,375 pensioners who included teachers, local government workers and soldiers.
To reduce the risk of thefts and ghost pensioners, payments are made by the Bank of Uganda through electronic fund transfer to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
The Auditor General recently said civil servants and teachers take three years to process their pension claims and blamed it on poor communication and records management.
and Joseph Semakula
CIVIL servants who had not got their February salaries have been paid.
Usually the salaries come by 30th of every month but February delayed by four days due to technical problems.
The delay had caused anxiety among civil servants.
Finance minister Syda Bbumba said the money was sent to bank accounts by 1:00pm yesterday. She refuted recent reports that the money meant for salaries had been diverted to finance the just-concluded presidential campaigns.
“The Government has sufficient funds to pay all civil servants’ salaries until the end of the financial year,†Bbumba said in a statement issued yesterday.
The Ministry of Public Service plans to use the new Integrated Payroll and Personnel Management System (IPPS) to pay the salaries for February.
“However, due to technical problems, it was not possible to implement the system. As a result, the Government experienced delays because we had to revert to the old system to process the data for payment,†Bbumba said.
“Bank of Uganda has already sent payment instructions and the accounts will be credited by 1:00pm today,†Bbumba said.
This financial year, the Government budgeted sh1trillion for the salaries of civil servants.
She also said there were delays in paying the February pensions because of an underestimation of the amount of pensions and gratuity to be paid out, including arrears.
Bbumba said she had authorised a statutory revision for pension payments to credit beneficiaries’ accounts at the start of next week. Mid last year, while delivering the national budget, Bbumba said pension arrears were to be cleared in this financial year.
The minister said the Government would provide sh124b for the arrears. This financial year, Uganda had 29,200 pensioners. The Ministry of Public Service has already released sh133b to clear their arrears and sh34b was used to pay ex-service men.
The Government has also paid gratuity for over 10,000 pensioners from July up to the end of last year.
Every month in Uganda, about 200 civil servants reach the retirement age of 60 years and require their retirement packages.
Sometimes, the ministry finds problems in paying the pensioners their packages because they don’t update their bank accounts.
But Margaret Ojara, the ministry’s Under Secretary, said recently that the Government was committed to paying the arrears of retired civil servants at the right time.
In the 2008, the Government released sh50b and paid arrears for 4,375 pensioners who included teachers, local government workers and soldiers.
To reduce the risk of thefts and ghost pensioners, payments are made by the Bank of Uganda through electronic fund transfer to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
The Auditor General recently said civil servants and teachers take three years to process their pension claims and blamed it on poor communication and records management.