The Ministry of Public Service has written to the Uganda National Teachers Union(UNATU), committing to increase salaries at a later date.
In a letter dated June 30 and addressed to the Secretary-General of UNATU, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Public Service, Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire says the government is cooking a solution to address the issue of salary with serious concern.
" I hereby convey the commitment of the Government to implement the approved pay plan concerning all Teachers including Primary School Teachers and employees in the entire Public Service. This will be undertaken within the medium term," the letter reads in part.
This development comes just as the Minister of Public Service Wilson Muruli Mukasa wrote to the same union on the same day committing to pay teachers once resources are made available.
Mukasa says expanding the economy will create opportunities for taxation hence remunerations for all public servants.
“The Government intends to enhance the pay of all its employees in the medium and long run as the resources become available through the further expansion of the economic sectors that have already recovered (agriculture, industry, services, ICT). It is these sectors, as they expand, that will give us the money (in the form of taxes) that will enable us to cover more priorities including paying all the public servants better,” Muruli Mukasa noted.
In response, UNATU leaders say the letters mean that the scheduled meeting with the Ministry of Public Service will not happen. They however have promised to consult with affected teachers before they can officially communicate their position.
“They have communicated their positions and leaders here see no reason to go to the meeting anymore, '' a source from UNATU noted.
UNATU has proposed that the government should pay shillings 4.8 million to graduate science teachers and shillings 4.5 million to those teaching arts and humanities. They are also advocating for a Shillings 1.35 million minimum wage for primary school teachers.
Over 120,000 teachers pronounced industrial action this month over indiscriminate pay . The teachers have since refused to attend lessons, despite a dialogue meeting with both the President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the Vice President on Wednesday this week.
