Public servants across the country will have to wait until next week to receive their July salaries, the Ministry of Public Service announced, adding to the ongoing issue of delayed payments.
The delays were communicated in a July 29 memo sent to all ministries, departments, agencies, public universities, and pensioners. Salaries expected on July 28 will likely be accessible on August 6.
Ms. Catherine Bitarakwate, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Public Service, explained to journalists in Kampala that the delays were due to an upgrade in the payment systems. The Ministry of Public Service, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, completed the system upgrade on July 26. They then validated the payroll transfers, a process finished by July 29.
“As I speak, 46 votes are already in the process of being paid, and for the others that are being supported to complete the new arrangement, we expect that by Tuesday all salaries should be in. So, the delay that has been occasioned is just about seven days,” she said.
Ms. Bitarakwate added that the first month of the financial year involves numerous upgrades, specifically to the Human Capital Management System and the Integrated Financial Management System. These upgrades aim to create a seamless flow of information between the two systems and streamline payroll management.
“These upgrades ensure automatic validation controls of payroll invoices to guarantee the accuracy of financial coding blocks, combining supplier numbers, individual IDs, and payroll categories,” she explained.
Attempts to reach representatives from the Uganda National Teachers’ Union and the Uganda Medical Association were unsuccessful at press time.
This is not the first time salary delays have affected civil servants. In May 2022, the ministry announced delays attributed to a system upgrade, and in July of the same year, delays were due to the late issuance of the salary structure. In January last year, the Minister of State for General Duties at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Henry Musasizi, told Parliament that the ministry would investigate the recurring delays following multiple complaints.
The government has been working to clean its payroll, weed out ghost workers, and stop resource hemorrhaging. A salary forensic audit for the financial year ending June 2022 revealed irregularities in payroll management, including overpayments, underpayments, and illegal access and deductions. These issues cost taxpayers more than Shs80 million in illegal or questionable payments to district and local government workers.
