Uganda: Teachers cry out over salary delays

More than 400 teachers in government-aided secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Uganda’s Busia District and close to 170 in Adjumani are living in despair after the government failed to pay their salaries.  
In Busia, the teachers have declared a sit-down strike. They haven’t received salaries for three months.
Busia has 12 secondary schools and three tertiary schools with a total of 431 teachers on the government payroll, however, since February, the teachers are yet to receive their pay.
The teachers unanimously declared to go on strike following a meeting chaired by Mr Lawrence Wanyama Tenywa, the chairperson of Busia Science Teachers’ Association, on Tuesday.
Mr Samson Wanyama Wafula, who read out a statement on behalf of the teachers, said the withdrawal of their services from the schools takes immediate effect. 
“For three months, teachers in government secondary and tertiary institutions in Busia District have not been paid their salaries and we hereby withdraw our services with immediate effect,” reads the statement by Mr Wafula in part. 
According to the statement, the teachers will stay home and only report to their respective schools after receiving the salaries for three months. 
The teachers say the non-payment of salaries had caused them misery as many of them were unable to provide basics for their families.
Mr Sulaiman Amisi, one of the teachers, said the situation was “pathetic”. He recently mortgaged his TV set at one of the private clinics in Busia Town to have sick family members treated because he had no money to pay the medical bills.
Ms Justine Tibita, a teacher at Bukalikha Secondary School, expressed fear that her children, who are in candidate classes, were on the verge of missing out on Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) registration over the delayed salaries. 
“I have run out of ideas on what to do because I have children in Primary Seven,  Senior Four, and Senior Six who are supposed to register for Uneb, but because I have not received a salary for three months, they are yet to register,” Ms Tibita said.
Ms Prim Rose Namwabira, a teacher at Dabani Girls’ Secondary School, wonders why her colleagues in Busia were not receiving money yet those in other districts and other categories of civil servants were being paid.
Attempts by district officials led by the deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Grace Kanuna, and the deputy Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Ms Angela Akurut, to meet the teachers at a hotel have been futile.
Instead, the teachers said they would only be addressed at the district council hall, a decision both parties agreed to.
Ms Akurut told teachers that the delays resulted from budget shortfalls caused by the recent enhancement of science teachers’ salaries.
“The wage bill we budgeted for during the Financial Year 2022/2023 was sent to the district 100 percent, but remember we had salaries for science teachers enhanced during the middle of the financial year and that is why we have these shortfalls,” she said.
Ms Akurut said she had received a message from the Ministry of Finance indicating that they had sent in supplementary funds to cover the salary deficits for the months of February, March, and April, and they expect teachers to begin receiving their pay either this week or early next week.
Mr Kanuna, however,  accused some officials, who he did not name, of inciting the teachers to strike.
“We were told that some unscrupulous officials moved around telling teachers that the district had no money, that is why we had teachers protesting,” Mr Kanuna said. 
But even after the assurance from the CAO that money was available to pay their salaries, the teachers insist they will only return to their schools after their bank accounts have been credited.
Mr Moses Barasa, one of the teachers, said: “We have been assured by the CAO that money has come and over the next few days, we should be able to be paid, but we are going to stay home until that money hits our accounts.”
Mr Samuel Barasa, the head teacher of Lunyo Hill Secondary School, said he fears the strike may paralyse all school activities, including the ongoing end of term examinations.
Adjumani 
In Adjumani District, teachers have also spent two months without pay for the months of February and March.
The affected teachers said it has become difficult to pay school fees and medical expenses, and fend for their families. 
The secretary of the secondary school head teachers in the district, Mr Hebert Henry Ogwal, told Daily Monitor on Monday that they are unable to travel to school, pay rent, and service loans they borrowed.
“We expect prompt payment for the month of April. In case the salaries for February and March are not fully paid by Friday, we shall seek legal redress and intervention from the State House Anti-corruption Unit and the Inspector General of Government,” he said.
The Adjumani District principal human resource officer, Mr Nobert Igama, said the district has done a thorough analysis of salaries from July 2022 to June 2023 and realised that it has a shortfall of Shs5.1 billion.
“Our current budget for wages for secondary school teachers is Shs2 billion and monthly expenditures for salaries are Shs343 million and for the 12 months, the district is expected to utilise Shs4.1 billion,” he said.
For tertiary educations, the approved budget for this financial year for wages is Shs419m. The district spends Shs56mand per month and Shs683m in a year. This gives a deficit of Shs264m. 
“All the money approved and sent to the district were consumed by January 2023. We have 447 employees who were not paid salaries for February and March amounting to Shs592m,” Mr Igama said.
The principal assistant CAO, Mr Richard Edema, pleaded with the affected teachers to resume lessons as they make payments.  “We are going to make a follow up with the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development,” he said.