By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
Nakaseke south county member of parliament, Hon. Pauson Lutamaguzi Ssemakula has asked parliament to fast track the status of the Minimum Wage Bill, 2015.
According to the legislator, the president is assenting to different bills into law at a lightning speed asking for a review of the Minimum Wage Bill, 2015 that is highly demanded by many Ugandans.
“We appreciate the speed at which the president assented to the bills. However, I am very concerned about the Minimum Wage Bill. What happened to the Bill? The people we represent ask for it, where did it go?” MP Lutamaguzi asked.
Yesterday, the deputy speaker of parliament, Rt. Hon. Thomas Bangirana Tayebwa informed the house that president Museveni had assented to four bills into law namely the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act 2024, the Judicature (Amendment) Act 2023, the Explosives Act, 2023, the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (control) Act 2023 and the Competition Act 2023.
Tayebwa urged the minister of state for trade and corporatives David Bahati to to honour his earlier pledge and table the Consumer Protection Bill, which he says will set standards for the quality, safety and reliability of goods consumed by Ugandans.
Parliament in February 2019, passed the Minimum Wage Bill, 2015, moved by the then worker’s MP Arinaitwe Rwakajara seeking to set up a minimum wage determination mechanism across different sectors of the economy.
The Bill also sought to establish minimum wages boards by the minister, mechanisms for determining minimum wages for each sector, duties, powers and functions of the board and the procedures for determining the minimum wage and address the gaps in the current Minimum Wage Advisory Board Act by providing for an employee-employer led minimum wages determination, sectoral based minimum wage determination and application.
“People cannot dictate what they wish to be paid and therefore live at the mercy of their employers; something we set out to correct with this bill,” MP Reakajara told parliament.
In August the same year, president Museveni declined to assent to the Bill stating that the current law is sufficient for the sector.
“Having received advice from the Attorney General… I hereby refuse to assent to the Bill… There are no gaps in the Minimum Wages Advisory Board and Wages Council Act that the Bill seeks to cure,” reads the President’s letter in part.
The President went on to state that cabinet had directed the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development to review a report on the implications of fixing a minimum wage to investment and the economy.
“The said report was prepared by the Minimum Wages Advisory Board and cabinet still awaits the report from the ministry so as to make an informed decision,” Museveni stated in his letter.
This according to the then parliamentary speaker, Rt. Hon. Rabbecca Kadaga was an explicit refusal to assent to the Bill which the President himself had indicated areas for adjustment. She ordered the Bill mover, Hon. Rwakajara to bring it back to the House so that they could take a decision on the entire Bill.
The speedy assenting to four Bills by the president has raised concerns about the status of the Bill.
Responding to the concerns by MP Lutamaguzi, deputy speaker Thomas Tayebwa said he was going to make a follow up on the status of the Minimum Wage Bill, 2015.
