Secondary school teachers and other government employees who had missed their salaries for at least two months will now have a reason to smile after the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) released funds meant for the clearance of their salary arrears.
Weeks ago, a number of accounting officers from districts, the Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) were complaining about the failure by the central government to release sufficient funds to pay salaries for all employees in their respective local governments.
The CAOs even wrote to the civil servants, urging them to be patient as the accounting officers had already written to the Finance Ministry to process a supplementary budget to cater for the payment of salaries to those who had missed due to insufficient funds.
Failure by the central government to release enough funds to pay the salaries of all civil servants in the first quarter of the 2022-2023 Financial Year was attributed, by some, to the fact that the Museveni administration had increased the salaries of scientists, including secondary school science teachers and health workers.
Now, the Finance Ministry has today released funds for the second quarter of the current financial year, running from October 2022 through December 2022.
Announcing the release of funds for the second quarter (Q2 Release) for the 2022-2023 Financial Year in Kampala today, October 07, Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST) Ramathan Ggoobi noted that government considered the need to support continued economic recovery and growth; the need to pay certificates already issued on contracts; as well as the commitment to maintain optimum balance between economic growth and macro-economic objectives while preparing the release.
The Secretary to the Treasury noted that Shs7,307 billion or Shs 7.307 trillion, excluding debt, external financing and local revenue, has been released for the second quarter of the 2022-23 Financial Year.
It should be remembered that Uganda’s 2022-2023 FY budget less debt, external financing and local revenue amounts to Shs 26 trillion. Ggoobi said Shs 13.13 trillion has been provided for the first half of this financial year (including the just-ended Quarter One and the second quarter running from October to December 2022).
According to PSST Ggoobi, the money released for the payment of wages and salaries in the second quarter of the current financial year is Shs1,780 billion or Shs1.78 trillion.
The Permanent Secretary noted this amount has been released to ensure comprehensive provision for salaries, and it includes funds that will cover enhancements for scientists, health professionals, Science Teachers, tutors and Scientists in Public Universities.
You can read about our previous reporting on how a number of science teachers and other government employees missed out on their salaries for about two months due to lack of funds HERE.
The NEW SALARY STRUCTURE for the 2022-2023 Financial Year showing how much each government employee category will be paid every month is HERE.
Meanwhile, you can see the full list of Uganda’s 25 Most High Paid Government Employees and how much they earn every month HERE.
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