Govt to investigate health workers’ salary concerns
Mr Francis Mukalazi, the assistant Health commissioner in-charge of human resource (L) and the Health Permanent Secretary, Mr Asuman Lukwago (R), before the Parliament’s Public Service and Local Government Committee yesterday. PHOTO BY GEOFFREY SSERUYANGE
Kampala.
The government has instituted an inter-ministerial committee to investigate issues affecting health workers following reports of non-salary remittances to some civil servants since January.
According to Mr Jonas Tumwine, the ministry of Public Service spokesperson, a task force involving officials from ministries of Finance, Public service, health, State House, Office of the Presidency and Health Service Commission was instituted to handle salary issues, especially for health workers.
The committee was appointed by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service Henry Kajura. It has up to May to submit their findings.
“There is a taskforce which has been put in place to handle all salary issues related to health workers. The role is to ensure that all issues are solved,” Mr Tumwine said yesterday.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government and Civil Service yesterday, the Health Permanent Secretary, Mr Asuman Lukwago, acknowledged that “it is a chain of responsibilities in Public Service” but pushed the blame to Ministry of Public Service as taking “the biggest responsibility”.
Mr Lukwago assured the 103 health workers who have not received their salaries since January that they will be paid at the end of this month.
The government has introduced a decentralised payroll system in which ministries are supposed to release salaries to their workers. In 2011/2012 financial year, the Auditor General identified 6554 invalid payroll records.
