Two months into the 2022-2023 financial year in which senior officers of the national army, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), were given juicy salary increments, President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni has delivered good news to the the men and women in uniform.
Towards the start of the current financial year, while government was arguing that it did not have money to increase salaries of other civil servants such as secondary school arts teachers, it emerged that government had set aside billions to raise pay for senior UPDF officers, with middle and low ranking officers expected to have their salaries raised in subsequent financial years.
It is also a public secret that men in uniform have been among the worst paid in a country where salary disparities among employees of the same qualifications are glaring. In this same country, there is no minimum wage.
President Museveni, the Commander-in-Chief (CiC) of the country’s armed forces, says it is high time the UPDF officers and their families, which have struggled for decades, smiled.
The head of state and government seems satisfied with his efforts in professionalizing and strengthening the UPDF after many years of deliberate attempts, including through huge budgets for defence and security dockets.
Gen Museveni now says priority should be given to efforts aimed at ensuring that soldiers are economically empowered.
Part of this economic empowerment, at least according to Museveni’s recent statements, will include ensuring that the salaries of soldiers are raised significantly to reflect how much he values security, peace and defence.
“The time is ripe for the government to pay officers well,” Museveni said during the commissioning of professional officer cades at the Uganda Military Academy, Kabamba.
Some of the officers graduating included Museveni’s nephew. (Read Story and see Photos Here).
It should be remembered that besides senior UPDF Officers, other government employees who received salary increment included science teachers, health workers and prosecutors. (Read Story Here).
You can see the new salary structure, showing how much each government employee category will earn every month this financial year, HERE.
