By Leonard Kamugisha Akida
KYANKWANZI
District chairpersons have asked the Government to review and increase their salaries, saying the current pay is too low compared to the responsibilities they shoulder.
The leaders made the call on Monday during the opening of a one-week retreat on the implementation of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto at the National Leadership and Training Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi.
Aaron Turahi, the Isingiro District LCV chairperson, said the disparity between the salaries of local leaders and the people they supervise was demoralising.
“For example, we get little money and yet the people we supervise are getting a lot of money,” Turahi said.
He cited the example of an LCV chairperson earning about Shs1.7 million per month while supervising government programmes involving resources worth millions of shillings.
“How can the chairman of LC5 get Shs1.7 million per month and the CAO you supervise gets Shs12 million per month?” he asked.
Turahi also said the approximately Shs2.5 million earned monthly by resident district commissioners (RDCs) was inadequate given their responsibilities.
He called for the Government to “go back to the drawing board” and identify resources to facilitate an upward review of salaries for local government leaders, including councillors and other local leaders.
However, Prosper Tuhaise, the Mbarara District NRM Chairperson said the issue of salary disparities would be handled by the Ministry of Public Service.
“We now leave that with the Ministry of Public Service to handle,” Tuhaise said.
Local leaders also raised concern over staffing gaps in local governments, saying all districts in Uganda were operating below 40% of their required human resources.
They warned that the situation could negatively affect service delivery, particularly as districts prepare for performance assessments.
Turahi further criticised what he described as the interdiction of key technical staff in local governments, saying some of the affected officers had previously played a leading role in district performance assessments.
“We are likely to face a very big problem and challenge as far as service delivery is concerned,” Turahi said.
He urged the relevant ministries to investigate allegations of misconduct and corruption before taking disciplinary action against local government officials.
“We are also on the crusade of fighting against corruption. We don’t want corruption at all. But what we should do is investigate, and then when someone is having any problem, that one should be punished,” Turahi said.
Anti-corruption Barazas Hailed
Simon Mutebi, the Rukiga District LCV chairperson, welcomed the Government’s use of public barazas to engage local leaders and communities, saying they had exposed challenges affecting service delivery.
Mutebi said the engagements had also helped motivate some government workers because they knew their performance could be publicly questioned.
He called for the barazas to be held regularly and supported with adequate funding to enable local leaders to participate in monitoring government programmes.
According to Mutebi, some challenges affecting districts in the greater western region were similar, including weaknesses in the management of technical departments and accountability for public resources.
He urged district chairpersons and Members of Parliament to regularly monitor government programmes in their constituencies rather than waiting for ministers to visit.
Additionally, Tuhaise said the Mbarara District NRM Chairperson said the retreat was intended to move the NRM manifesto from a policy document to actual implementation.
Tuhaise said Government leaders had been brought together to understand their respective roles in delivering the manifesto and ensuring that public resources were used for their intended purposes.
“At times the manifesto was just a book, but we don’t want it to just remain a book. We want what is in the book implemented and, again, not stolen,” he said.
The retreat brings together resident district commissioners, resident city commissioners, LC5 chairpersons, NRM district chairpersons, city mayors and municipal mayors from districts in western Uganda.
