The cabinet has approved an enhanced pay plan for all civil servants to take effect in the next financial year, according to State Minister for Public Service, Grace Mugasa.
He made the revelation, without divulging further details, during a meeting with the Committee on Education and Sports on Tuesday at Parliament.
Mugasa explained that the discrepancy in pay for science and art teachers, for example, was due to the limited wage bill for teachers’ salaries under the Ministry of Education and Sports.
The minister said that the Ministry of Public Service approved the structures for the education ministry, adding that recruitment and payment of salaries for the structures, entirely depend on the wage bill.
“Every year, MDAs and local governments submit their wage bill analysis. You can have a wish, but if the Ministry of Finance does not give you the money, you cannot recruit all the positions you intend to,” said Mugasa.
“We do not intend to create disparities. If we had the resources to pay, we would have paid everybody the same amount of money. But we are doing it in a phased manner,” he added.
Legislators on the committee tasked the Ministry of Public Service to expedite the establishment of the Salary Review Commission.
In response, the minister assured the committee that members of the Salary Review would soon be appointed to enable it to kick-start its work.