The proposal for role Judicial Officers to continue receiving their salaries even after retirement wasn’t the whole thing. The Judicial Officers contained in the Administration Judiciary Bill 2016 which was to be debated in the Parliament. “By the end of the Cabinet tomorrow, assuming it is passed then we shall print it and submit it to Parliament.” The first draft of the Administration Judiciary Bill came out in 2012 and was considered by the Cabinet in 2013. However, the Bill was deferred for further discussion pending the amendment of some provisions. NTV learnt that on 2nd September 2015, the Chief Justice Bati Katurebe led a delegation of Judges to meet President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe.

Part of the meeting was to agree on the plight of serving and retired Judges, a proposal from the Judges was that they received 85% of their basic salary when they retired. However, President Yoweri Museveni was reported to have preferred that the Judges get 100% of their basic salary in retirement. “So long as they are employed in the Judiciary, they don’t engage in other business, to us, if you restrict me and we say you can’t do A, B, C, D, when actually you could have done it like all the others. Then you should treat me in a different way from those who were free to do what they could do.” Said, Mwesigwa Rukutana, Deputy Attorney General

The reason why the President argued then was to allow the Judges have a decent life after retirement. “It is an appreciation that a Judicial Officer who has done his duty diligently to an age when retires. For examples some Judges retire at the age of 70, others retire at the age of 75 yet they have given all their life serving. After retirement, they cannot do anything beneficial for themselves and their families. So we are saying they should retain a semblance of decent life. Now, what semblance of decent life can you give them? If they were still young....” Currently, the salary structure for the Judicial Officers Stands at 20 million shillings for chief justice, Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma 18 million, Principle Judge 10 million, Judges of the Supreme Court at 9 million, Judges of the Court of Appeal 9 million, Chief Magistrate 2.8 million, Magistrate Grade II earn 700,000 Uganda shillings.

If the Administration of the Judiciary Bill 2016 was passed by the Parliament in its current form, all the officials would maintain the same salary for life. “No, those benefits are personal to holder, they apply to an individual for as long as he lives. That individual who was been serving as an officer of the Judiciary. The benefits don’t extend to beneficiaries.” Former Supreme Court Justice Professor George William Kanyeihamba who chaired the Committee on Terms and Conditions of Judges said; it was long overdue but had reservations about its timing. “...proposal to increase Judges’ fees and allowances and improve their condition. Should be much welcome by right thinking members of Uganda. Having made that statement, that’s when I said although it is just and proper, the timing of it, is not good or is not right. And the reason I am saying that is that; this debate they have started on term rather on age limit is very controversial.” Said, Prof. George William Kanyeihamba. “Some people would prefer to have pension and salary processes to be less political processes and more technical or rational processes.” Said, Dr. Gerald Karyeija, Analyst. Dr. Gerald Karyeija, the Dean of the School of Management Science at Uganda Management Institute said the proposal was good but was not standardized to cater for public servants. “Instead of having isolated improvements of well-being for public officials, we should have a comprehensive scheme that is universal, that is affordable and cuts across all different sectors of the economy. The last thought I have on this is this question of....” Well as retiring Judges had been given cars and house allowances in the past, the supervision was not in any law. This Bill seeks to operational license.

NTV has further learned that the government increased allocations for housing allowances on to the benefits. One of the housing allowances for the Chief Justice was increased by 20 million shillings from 380 to 400 million. He or she will be entitled to a 200 million allowance for a chauffeured car, 1st Class Air Travel, Security worth 15 million annually, Health Insurance worth the person was receiving while serving. The Deputy Chief Justice, on the other hand, will receive a fully furnished house worth a payment to a tune of 380 million, the Principal Judge and other senior Justices were to receive a one-off of 300 million shillings and other benefits. The banks will also apply to Judicial Officers who retired before the Bill was passed in law comes into effect. Currently, the Judges who retire are given only a fraction of their salary under the Public Service Pension Scale.