High Command Approves Pay Rise for UPDF

The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) have announced a resolution to enhance salaries for officers.

In a July 12 statement by UPDF Spokesperson, Brigadier General Felix Kulayigye, the High Command meeting of May 25 received a proposal for salary enhancement.

He says that a technical team led by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MODVA), comprising personnel from MODVA and Ministry of Public Service, was formed to study the proposed salary enhancement for UPDF personnel and discuss the same with Ministry of Finance on its implementation since the last enhancement was done in 2018/19.

Kulayigye noted that at the High Command meeting of July 6, the team presented a number of salary enhancement options that had been proposed to Finance ministry.

He said the meeting was informed that eventually a hybrid option of enhancing General Officer salaries by 100%, Senior officers by 50% and Captain to Private by 33% had been agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MOFPED).

With the proposed salary enhancement, this would require an additional annual amount of Ushs 517,907,737,434 for wages, Ushs 116,847,632,570 for terminal benefits, ultimately translating into total additional annual requirement of Ushs a 634,755,370,004.

Kulayigye said that the enhancement, according to the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to Treasury, (PSST-MOFPED), would be effected starting FY 2023/24 because the budget for FY 2022/23 had already been passed and the item had not been catered for.

However, he said the meeting agreed with the team’s recommendation of 100% enhancement for General Officers because they are few, and they have served for long where many of them are set to retire this Financial Year 2022/23.

“The meeting guided that the team computes the enhancement for Gen Offrs at 100%, Snr Offrs at 50%, to be effected in FY 2022/23 in order to allow the planned retirement for that category to proceed as planned,” he said.

It was also agreed to enhance Senior Officers (Colonel-Major) by 50% because they are also not very many and most of them are about to progress to the General Officer ranks.

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.

“The lower cadres (Capt-Pte) salaries would be enhanced next FY 2023/24 alongside other civil servants as it was the case in FY 2018/19,” he noted.

“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.”

This means that 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,” Kulayigye said.