The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has resolved to increase salaries for its officers at various ranks. However this is set to start in the next financial year.
According to a statement from the army spokesperson Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, at the High Command meeting of 6th July 2022, a team led by Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs presented a number of salary enhancement options that had been proposed to Ministry of Finance.
The meeting was informed that eventually a hybrid option of enhancing General Officers salaries by 100 per cent, Senior Officers by 50 per cent and Capt-Pte by 33 per cent had been agreed upon.
This would require an additional annual amount of Shs 517,907,737,434 for wages, Shs 116,847,632,570 for terminal benefits, ultimately translating into a total additional annual requirement of Shs 634,755,370,004.
The enhancement according to Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, would be effected starting Financial Year 2023/24 because the budget for FY 2022/23 had already been passed and the item had not been catered for.
“The meeting agreed with the Team recommendation of 100% enhancement for General Officers because they are few, they have served for long and many of them are set to retire this FY 2022/23.
He also agreed to the enhancement of Senior Officers (Col-Maj) by 50% because they are also not very many and most of them are about to progress to the General Officer ranks,” Kulayigye said.
However, the meeting expressed concern on the enhancement of lower cadres (Capt-Pte) because they are the majority and besides, their salaries had been enhanced in FY 2018/19 when some categories of civil servants’ salaries were enhanced.
That time, the General Officers and Senior Officers’ salaries were not enhanced. “Enhancing the salaries of the lower cadres again therefore, without considering other civil servants in their category, like the arts teachers, would be unfair and would attract unnecessary complaints,” Kulayigye added.
“The meeting guided that the team computes the enhancement for General Officers at 100%, Senior Offrs at 50%, to be effected in FY 2022/23 in order to allow the planned retirement for that category to proceed as planned.
Salaries for lower cadres (Capt-Pte) would be enhanced in the FY 2023/24, alongside other civil servants as it was the case in FY 2018/19.
Kulayigye added that this is why the retirement of Capt-Pte will be rescheduled to next FY (2023/24), after their enhancement has been achieved.
“If on the other hand funds to retire the selected category is not available this FY, the whole retirement exercise will be rescheduled to next FY,” he said.
