According to the Ministry of Public Service, the salary reviews will affect across all platforms in the Public Sector. Bridging disparities that have often sparked off strikes among civil servants. “And as a Ministry, we have implemented partly directed the Directive of the Cabinet and came up with a pay proposal which addresses the pay concerns across the government. We have to the very effect made a request to the Ministry of Finance to study our proposal and issue a certificate which is a requirement for submitting a Cabinet memorandum. And once we receive that certificate we should be able to submit the proposed pay policy for the Public Service to the Cabinet for their consideration.” Said, Bua Victor, Assistant Commissioner HRM.
Bua Victor the Assistant Commissioner, HRM in the Ministry of Public Service told NBS that the process which was still closed to the public would wait for profession importance to the country before establishing the necessary pay. “It is a pay harmonization for the whole of the government. It has taken into accounts the employees in the Public Service and employees in what we call the Adder Public Service and agencies. So it is meant to address the pay concerns of all those who are paid from the consolidated funds. So it is holistic.”
The medical workers who on Monday gathered at Mulago Hospital for the Annual General Meeting, were demanding to have their salaries reviewed and their working conditions improved. The doctors wanted Senior Consultants to earn 48 million shillings per month as basic salary while nurses 6.5 million shillings up from 570,000 shillings. But weren’t these demands quite high for Uganda’s economy? “We look at the ability of the country to pay, a good governance practice will require that you don’t exceed 30% of your locally generated revenue. So if for example, we collect 12 trillion in a year, the law requires that you don’t exceed 30% of 12 trillion if you do, it means there is poor governance; it means your Public Sector expenditure on wage is unreasonable.”
According to Dr. Diana Atwine the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, these demands needed to come amidst an improved doctor to public image. “You need to bring back the public confidence because when they hear the stories when they read and hear that people die because of neglect. That alone is not a good impetus for the people who are going to appropriate money. We must also show that on our side we are committed to change the attitude, embrace professionalism, and do the work that we are supposed to do. And then now we put pressure to the side of the government to make sure that we meet our side of the baggage.”
Dr. Atwine said that at the moment the Ministry should be working on none monetary incentives for medical workers as the immediate solution. “But if the money is not available then we still need to look at other ways we can keep our people; our health workers better.” A health worker SACCO could also be a long-term initiative since President Museveni was known to contribute to them. The Uganda Medical Association was expected to meet the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Public Service, Labour and the Parliament all as part of the negotiations before the 6th November deadline.
