ARMY SALARY STRUCTURE: See How Much Money Officers in Top UPDF Ranks Will Earn Every Month Starting July 2022

PearltimesJuly 12, 2022Read original

Commander Land Forces first son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and CDF Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi

The High Command and Army Council, the top decision-making organs of the UPDF, are said to have resolved to raise salaries of officers in at least seven ranks of the UPDF: General (Gen) Lieutenant General (Lt Gen), Maj General (Maj Gen), Brigadier (Brig), Colonel (Col), Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) and Major (Maj).

Under the new salary structure that the Army Council and High Command recently sitting at State House Entebbe reportedly approved, soldiers at the top ranks of the military will have their salaries enhanced by huge margins.

The salary of a general will grow a little over nine times what he or she earns every month from the current Shs 1.6m to Shs15m.

If all goes according to plan, the following is how much each top ranking UPDF officer will be earning every month:

General: Shs 15m

Lt Gen: Shs 13m

Maj Gen: Shs 12m

Brig: Shs 10m

Col: Shs 8m

Lt Col: Shs 5m

Major: Shs 2.5m

Given the fact that the number of officers at these ranks is less than the soldiers at junior ranks, government is expected to spend less even when these top guns are getting very juicy salaries.

It is said the money for this salary enhancement vote was included in the budget for the 2022-2023 Financial Year, but reports indicate that those expected to speak for the UPDF remain tightlipped on the matter and that the High Command had planned to keep the move a top-guarded secret.

The huge task will be on the raising the salaries of the low-rank officers, who form the bulk of the national army and continue to earn peanuts. These are expected to have their salaries enhanced in the next financial year (2023-2024).

The increment of generals’ salaries is in contrast with President Museveni’s gospel that only scientists should be prioritized so as to promote a science-led economy. Despite his preference for sciences, security and defence remain key priorities for the Museveni administration.

It remains to be seen how low ranking UPDF officers will greet the news of the discriminatory enhancement of salaries in the national army once the new salary structure is officially published.

The government position has always been that that there is a limited resource envelope with which salaries of all government employees can be increased. But such discriminatory increment of salaries has sparked off strikes among public servants, the most prominent being secondary school arts teachers who for weeks protested the decision by government to increase salaries of science teachers to Shs4m for each graduate teacher of science and Shs3m for a diploma holder.

Although it is not clear what the final salary structure for teachers will look like, but Parliament has directed government to

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(Read Story

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This publication has also reported how science teachers are complaining about an alleged plot by government officials to divert the money meant to increase their salaries. (Read Story

).