This is from the April 16th Sunday Nation Everyone can do with a big pay increase
Story by SIMWOGERERE KYAZZE /Talking Point Publication Date: 4/16/2006 The news that Ugandas Auditor General has resigned is hardly the kind that would cause a stock market crash or a sudden appreciation of the dollar as nervous foreigners prepare for flight of self and capital. The AG is one of the least regarded public officials in Uganda, even as (s)he is the governments Accountant-in-Chief who maintains a watchdogs wary eye over the profligate ways of all statutory bodies (ministries, self-accounting institutions, etc). But its news all the same. Obscure piece of legislation According to an obscure piece of legislation passed seven years ago, officers of the state whose roles are spelt out in the constitution like the AG, the Director of Public Prosecutions as well as the entire judiciary cannot have salary adjustments until and unless Parliament passes an amendment to the enabling law. So this week, an exhausted Mr John Muwanga he has apparently been begging for a pay raise for the last fives wrote to the Minister for Public Service with a notice of his intentions. Three square meals The good man earns USh 2.9 million (KSh116,000) per month before tax. Millions of Ugandans live on less than a dollar a day and would gladly swap places with him, of course, but never mind. What galls Mr Muwanga (as it would any sane person who aced university accounts before rising to Partner in PwC, arguably the worlds largest financial services firm), is the fact that government officers of equal or lesser rank are raking in millions elsewhere. Some examples: The Commissioner General of the Uganda Revenue Authority (USh28 million; KSh 1.12 million), the Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund (USh14.5 million; KSh 580,000), the head of Civil Aviation Authority (USh7.1 million; Sh284,000), the Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority (USh9.1 million; KSh364,000), and the Executive Director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (USh8 million; KSh320,000). Some of these men and women actually do some work too. But then there are Members of Parliament. All over the world, this bunch of talking heads is known to work for only a few weeks every five years, and Ugandas are no different. They have just recently been through a "gruelling'' campaign season, which lasted about 10 weeks. From next month, when new MPs are sworn in, they will sit back and enjoy the fruits of their "labour''. Each MP earns about USh 5 million (KSh200,000) per month in subsistence allowance, in addition to flat salary, a free vehicle, fuel, security, free medical care and one of the most elaborate pension schemes ever devised in Ugandas history. They dont even pay tax! Mr Muwanga must have wanted to be anyone of these guys over the last five years. Or he might have wondered what he would have to do to get his amendment. Or he must have longed for a return to private practice where the future is littered with prizes for such an experienced accountant as himself. Thing is, some people actually join government to do some good. Still, its really hard to see how someone who earns more than $15,000 a month as the URA boss does, can fail to be motivated to wake up everyday and head for office. Not many people earn that kind of money in any government job anywhere in the world. Consider that US President George W. Bush earns $33,000 per month, while British Premier Tony Blair gets "just'' $23,000 before tax! Moreover, while Dubya and Tony have to spend their dollars and sterling in their natural habitats, all the highly-paid Ugandans spend their dollar-denominated salaries in Kampala, where the rate of the shilling to the green buck has depreciated from $1 - Sh60 in 1987 to around $1 - Sh1.850 today. So we can all now understand Mr John Muwangas situation? In this chaos of the enormous compensation packages, most Ugandans face an uphill task even to have the three square meals a day that the World Health Organisation recommends. Ive recently become privy to a story of a young woman (well call her Mary), who recently got a job as a nurse (sort of) at a government hospital. Mary has two very young children, whose father went for kyeyo (menial job) in Europe early last year, and is unlikely to return, despite his protestations to the contrary. After months of begging for money from a well-connected relative at one of the government hospitals, the man got fed up and got the young woman a job. She now runs around helping the nurses who help the doctors. Mary "employs'' a middle-aged neighbour to look after her young children while she slaves at hospital. She pays the woman USh500 (Sh20), plus another USh500 to feed the children. The older child gets a USh100 (Sh 4) chapati, while the balance buys milk which is diluted several times over to make the infants number of bottles for the day. Mary walks about seven kilometres to and from work each day because she cant afford the matatu fare. She does not eat dinner, because she cant afford it; and doesnt eat lunch either because (you guessed it) Her only luck is that the hospital provides free tea to staff, which she drinks liberally. She hopes to get her first cheque at the end of this month. Marys penury is shocking but not uncommon. Millions of Ugandans have even forgotten the colour of money. Some only saw the new notes and coins during the recent presidential and parliamentary election campaigns, during which billions of taxpayer shillings were spent bribing voters. There is no social security network to trap those who fall through the cracks, while corruption is so widespread that sane people steal money clearly earmarked to treat HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. Clearly, Uganda isnt as cash-poor as its always made out to be that it cannot afford to give its desperate citizens a little bit of dignity. The indigent could visit a village dispensary and find anti-malaria pills as well as a motivated paramedical officer to instruct them about the dosage. At subsidised rates Their little ones could go to schools where they could have some nutritional snacks during breaks and real teachers and text-books in between. Farmers could get essential implements at subsidised rates, and have motivated extension workers visit them in their shambas to advise on crop rotation, fertiliser usage and plant diseases. They could, in short, do with a government that cares enough about them that it does not believe that empty slogans like "bona bagagawale (wealth for all)'' will eradicate poverty in Uganda. In a way, then, the people of Uganda are like Auditor General John Muwanga. They know whats wrong with the country and have only two options: To grin and bear it, or to quit. As a well educated and regarded professional, Mr Muwanga had the luxury of quitting. For most Ugandans, quitting is a journey in a wooden box. 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