Civil servants could miss April salaries over delayed payrolls

Kampala- Thousands of civil servants in 36 districts across the country could miss their April salaries if their Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) do not immediately submit their payroll details to the finance ministry.

Teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers, public prosecutors and prison officers form the bulk of these civil servants.

In a statement issued yesterday, the finance Permanent Secretary, Mr Keith Muhakanizi, directed the CAOs from the affected districts to submit their payroll details to the Accountant General by April 25. The new deadline follows an earlier one of April 15 which the districts failed to beat.

“You are directed to finalise the payrolls and ensure that they are submitted. The continued delay will ultimately affect the payment of April salaries. Non-submission as well as partial submission of the payrolls will not be accepted and the respective accounting officers will be held liable for any delays in salary payment,” Mr Muhakanizi wrote.

If the CAOs fail to meet this new deadline, then the civil servants will not have their salaries by April 28, which is the deadline for payment of all government workers.

Mr Muhakanizi also advised that new staff should be submitted to the Public Service ministry for approval before they can be paid.

However, some CAOs Daily Monitor spoke to from the listed districts indicated they had already sent the information.

For instance, Mr Frank Ntaho, the Kabale District CAO, insisted he had sent the information.

“That is not very true. I actually submitted a soft copy and it was received on April 16. This is unfortunate,” he said.

It was the same case with the Arua District CAO, Mr Grace Kisembe, who said he sent details of over 3,000 civil servants.

“We uploaded this information as directed. My staff are already on the system, I am actually waiting to receive the money and pay them,” Mr Kisembe said.

The Lira District CAO, Mr Benon Rwangua, said: “I sent the email myself on Thursday. However, we were unable to submit the hard copy last week but we did yesterday.

The problem is with finance not us because apart from delaying to submit the hard copy to finance and local government, we have done our part.”

Ms Olivia Nakyanzi, the Jinja District CAO, said the problem could have been with her juniors.

“Issues of the payroll are controlled by the principal human resource officer. I have been unwell and away for two weeks. Maybe some workers didn’t submit the required information. CAOs are also given information by other people. It is a system. I am not running away from my responsibility.”

But Finance ministry spokesperson Jim Mugunga said by the time of compiling the list, the status was as stated.

“We are tightening the noose to make sure that people are disciplined. The permanent secretary has been clear about those who don’t adhere to the time frame. His hand may be forced to act in order to discipline defaulting accounting officers,” Mr Mugunga said.

In order to ensure a streamlined payment system and eliminate ghosts from the payroll, the finance ministry early this year passed the management of the payrolls to the districts away from the public service ministry.

As part of ensuring transparency, Mr Muhakanizi on February 6 directed all government bodies to display their staff payroll name, salary scale and title on notice boards.

Affected districts

Masaka
Mbale
Mbarara
Mpigi
Mubende
Nakasongola
Nebbi
Ntungamo
Pader
Pallisa
Rakai
Rukungiri
Sembabule
Soroti
Tororo
Hoima Municipal Council
Mukono Municipal Council

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