Besigye demands minimum wage
Kizza Besigye
Kampala- Opposition politician Kizza Besigye on Tuesday used commemorations to mark Labour Day to demand that government establish a minimum wage to protect Ugandan workers from exploitation.
In a statement, Dr Besigye proposed a minimum salary of Shs650,000 for primary school teachers.
He said President Museveni’s policies on labour have led to insufficient employment skills that have created an army of jobless youth.
“The same policies have created untold poverty and hopelessness that many families have been forced to send their children to abusive child labour in mines, in quarries, in homes as house aides and on the streets as beggars,” Dr Besigye said.
He proposed a national employment policy that emphasises protection and promotion of workers’ rights and safety with strict penalties for violation.
Recommendation
A government-appointed committee assigned to determine the viability of setting up a national minimum wage last year recommended Shs136,000 per month as the lowest pay to any worker, but its recommendations have been ignored.
Dr Besigye warned that unavailability of employment, low pay, harsh working conditions and poverty have conspired to force youth to run to the middle-east to work as “modern day slaves in inhumane conditions”.
Dr Besigye quoted the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) National Household Survey 2015/16 that estimated that 75 per cent of the 2.4 million Ugandans in paid employment have no written employment contracts.
His call was re-echoed by the Democratic Party spokesperson John Kakande, saying the government should support a Private Members Bill that seeks to put in place a minimum wage.
“Currently, the average pay is Shs600,000 and therefore many cases end up being frustrated. Many labour officers are vulnerable to bribery and employers find it easier and cheaper to pay a bribe than to compensate a worker whose rights have been infringed upon,’ Mr Kakande said.
