Police salary budget increases by UGX 103 Bn

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The police budget for salary has increased by 103 billion shillings for the next financial year.

Police will spend 389 billion shillings on salaries for senior offices, junior policemen and policewomen including civilians attached to various directorates and units.

The 103 billion shillings is an increase of 26.4 percent compared to 286 billion spent on paying wages in the 2019/2020 financial year.

Assistant Inspector General of Police –AIGP Asan Kasingye, who is also Uganda police chief political commissar says several factors have contributed to an increase in the wage bill.

He explains that 5,100 probation police constables and learner Assistant Inspectors of Police are undergoing one-year training at Police Training School- PTS at Kabalye, in Masindi district.

“We have 5100 recruits in Kabalye. There was an increment in the salaries of junior ranks at the beginning of the financial year 2019/2020,” AIGP Kasingye said.

The 5100 police trainees are expected to complete their training in September and will boost police personnel numbers from 41,760 to close to 47,000.

Police resumed recruitment last year after the exercise had been suspended in 2016 to offer refresher courses for both senior and junior personnel.

Police council meeting held in November last year resolved to increase salaries of all low ranking officers. The lower ranks range from Inspector of Police to Police Constable.

Constables according to Kasingye earn between 470,000 to 480,000 shillings depending on years of service.

The 103 billion shillings will also cater for the more than 1,600 health workers that the police council resolved to attach to every police station so that they can cater to medical emergencies for police officers including suspects.

Uganda police force has more than 1,600 police stations according to manifesto document prepared by Kasingye and former research director Edward Ochom. Attaching a nurse to each station will require police to recruit 1600 nurses.

The wage bill has also increased because of the pending pension cases. “There are increasingly several pension cases every year,” Kasingye said.

The force has more than 3,000 pending pension cases. This has been attributed to insufficient funds but the police force is optimistic that the majority of pension debts will be cleared in the 2020/2021 financial year.

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