KAMPALA – Government has secured Shs150 billion to enhance salaries for primary school teachers and lecturers in public universities in a bid to stave off a strike.
The announcement was made during a closed door meeting chaired by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Gen Moses Ali, on Wednesday. Gen Ali told the representatives of the teachers and the university staff that government has raised Shs101b in addition Shs49b earlier on budgeted bringing the total amount to Shs150b.
The salary increment will take effect in the second quarter of this financial year – that is from October.
On Thursday, Minister for Public Service Muluri Mukasa told journalists in Kampala that the money was got from different agencies, ministries and departments’ planned expenditure on things like staff training, conferences, maintenance of vehicles, and scholastic materials.
“The operation efficiency of the MDA’s will be significantly impacted but this is a sacrifice that government should take,” he said.
Of the Shs150b, Mr Mukasa said, Shs135b will go towards improving primary teachers’ salaries and the rest will be for university teaching and non-teaching staff.
When contacted, Dr Grace Lubaale, the chairperson of the public universities academic staff association, and Mr Filbert Baguma, the UNATU chairperson, said they will meet their teams before discussing the way forward.
“This money will be given to the education sector from Primary to University. We shall give our position when we get the details on how it will be distributed,” he said.
In May, teachers through their umbrella Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) went on strike over salary enhancements. They were convinced to call off the strike by President Museveni who promised to look into the matter.
Recently, allied local government workers petitioned the President, demanding that their pay should also be increased alongside the teachers and other civil servants.
