‘Scientists need better pay’ Walter Wafula Kampala
Scientists must be paid better salaries if they are to be retained to work and develop Africa, President Museveni has said. “In Uganda we have a problem of paying. We have to pay them well, so that they don’t go to work for other people,” the President told delegates at the opening of the Africa Tax Administrators Forum in Kampala on Wednesday. He added that most African countries have remained poor partly because they lack highly skilled scientists to dentify and utilise the available natural resources to boost domestic revenue collection. He said the meager salariespaid to scientists forces them to seek greener pastures in developed countries like the USA. “Even if the salaries are not enough, let’s pay scientists better than other people,” the President said drawing a thunderous applause from tax administrators at the forum. “I don’t care so much about tax administrators, even if they are paid little I would not get worried.” Words Vs Action The 2008/9 salary structure for public servants in Uganda shows that scientists like doctors, who spend at least 19 years training, are paid a gross monthly salary of Shs626,181 on recruitment. This is less than a third of the Shs2 million a Resident District Commissioner earns. President Museveni also stressed that African countries should adopt “relevant education” that promotes the development of science and technology. The three-day forum aimed at improving domestic revenue collections and “weaning” African countries from their dependence on foreign assistance. Mr Museveni urged the participants to form a strong tax administration system that is efficient, predictable and consistent in its policy application to collect higher revenue. “The mobilisation of tax revenue is important because taxes provide the lifeblood of all state services, including the provision of public services such as healthcare, education and infrastructure,” he said. The conference, the President said, should call for the punishment of rich nations that are “damaging” Africa’s environment through global pollution, a form of “aggression.” “We survived slave trade, we survived colonialism, now they want to finish us off with global pollution…You have no right to damage my survival,” he said.
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