60,000 government jobs remain vacant

The Auditor General’s latest report has illuminated the scale of vacancies amongst the biggest employers in the country. The report for the period ending June 2023, reveals that 60,847 out of 133,670 approved positions in 75 government ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as 167 local governments have been vacant for more than two years.

Auditor General (AG) John Muwanga also notes that the situation has negatively impacted service delivery as it “leads to reduced efficiency” and “increased workload for existing staff”, as well as impeding “delivery of quality services.”

Ms Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire, the Public Service ministry’s permanent secretary (PS), said the moratorium that the government slapped on the recruitment of public servants and contract staff is partly to blame.

“You are aware that there was a freeze on recruitment,” PS Musingwiire told Sunday Monitor, adding that “there are other issues as well.”

Findings

Ironically, the Public Service Commission, and the Ministry of Public Service, which are responsible for, among other things, the recruitment of government employees, are also short of workers. Mr Muwanga’s audit indicates that 95 out of the approved 340 positions at the ministry were not filled. In the same breath, five out of the approved 107 positions in the Commission were not filled.

The AG’s report also indicates that it is in the health and education sectors that the staffing shortfalls have been most felt. Mr Muwanga’s audit for the financial year ending June 2023 also lists the Office of the President, and the Ministry of Information Communication Technology and National Guidance as some of the worst-hit institutions.

“The existing human resource management practices/measures are not sufficient to facilitate the delivery of quality healthcare services by health professionals in specialised, national and regional referral public health facilities in Uganda,” the report reads in part.

Health sector

It was, for example, established that 5,994 out of the 11,901 approved positions in 17 health facilities, including Mulago, Butabika, Naguru, Kawempe and Kiruddu national referral hospitals, were vacant.  The report further shows that 999 out of 2,036 positions in the national referral hospitals were unfilled. Elsewhere, 57 out of the 297 positions at Naguru were unfilled. Ditto 607 out of the 934 positions at Kawempe, and 295 out of the 831 positions at Kiruddu.

In the AG’s report for the financial year ending 2022, it was revealed that some of the vacant positions are Kiruddu—that numbered 537 then—were at consultancy level. The report added that the vacancies included “critical positions such as director of surgical services, 36 consultants and 20 senior consultants.” Back then, the AG partially placed the blame on inadequacies in human resource management.

Current vacancies

Others listed in the most recent report as unfilled vacancies at regional referral and regional hospitals include 879 in Jinja; 85 in Mbarara; 132 in Moroto; 223 in Kayunga; 88 in Kabale; 970 in Fort Portal; 2,376 in Soroti; 146 in Gulu; 107 in Hoima; 423 in Yumbe; and 85 in Lira. It is, however, highly likely that the shortages in hospitals are much higher because the report does not contain figures for hospitals like Mbale, Masaka, Entebbe, Bugiri and Itojo.

There are also vacant positions at the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, Uganda Blood Transfusion Services, Uganda Cancer Institute, and the Uganda Heart institute.

Ironically, 200 out of the 668 approved positions at the Ministry of Health were unfilled. Ditto 28 out of the 86 approved positions at the Health Service Commission. The Commission is charged with recruitment of health workers.

Dr Diana Atwine, the PS in the Ministry of Health, told Sunday Monitor that the problem is much bigger than what was captured by the AG’s report. PS Atwine also hastened to add that the problem is affecting service delivery.

Dr Atwine could not empirically capture the exact scope of the problem, but her ministry’s strategic plan for the period 2020/2021 to 2024/2025 offers a few pointers. It reveals that whereas there are some improvements in staffing levels, those improvements were not commensurate with the increasing population.

“At the Ministry of Health headquarters, a quarter of the approved positions (25 percent) are not substantively filled, which consequently affects the functions of the ministry that include stewardship, policy initiation and supervision of health service delivery,” the document reads in part.

Dr Atwine is, however, optimistic that her ministry will soon be allowed to recruit workers.

“We had a meeting with the Ministry of Public Service. They told us they are going to open up. The letter has not come, but we hope the Health Service Commission and the district service commissions will be able to start recruitments once they are cleared,” Dr Atwine said.

Other shortfalls

The Ministry of Education and Sports, and public universities, including Makerere, are some of the other entities that have been affected by staff shortages. Whereas there are 2,678 approved positions at the ministry, only 1,686 positions are filled and only 13,038 out of the 19,766 approved positions in public universities are filled.

At Makerere University, 2,694 out of the 5,835 approved positions are unfilled. Busitema University was also hit hard, with only 503 out of the 3,559 approved positions filled.

Others are Gulu University, where 997 out of 1,568 positions are unfilled; Kabale where 1,570 out of the 2,076 positions are vacant; Kyambogo where 1,685 out of the 2,598 positions are unfilled; Lira where 726 out of the 991 approved positions are filled; Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) where 2,042 out of the 2,609 are unfilled; Mountains of the Moon University where 268 out of the 530 approved positions are filled; and Soroti where 1,070 out of the 1,312 positions are unfilled.

It is, however, very highly likely that the staff shortages in public universities are much higher than the report indicates as it did not capture figures from, for example, Busoga, Kumi, Muni and Makerere University Business School (Mubs). The AG’s previous report revealed that only 1,274 positions out of the 2,551 posts in Mubs had been filled.

The energy sector too was found suffering, with 78 positions out of the 277 approved positions at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) unfilled. Elsewhere, 210 out of the approved positions at the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) were also not filled.

At the National Identification and Registration Authority (Nira), it was found that more than half of the required numbers were not in place. Only 410 out of the 856 approved positions had been filled.

What next?

Mr Victor Bua, the assistant commissioner for compensation at the Ministry of Public Service, while speaking to Sunday Monitor at the behest of PS Musingwiire, said whereas the ministry is keen on addressing itself to the unfilled positions, that will be subject to an analysis of the Auditor General’s report and finding.

“We need to analyse the schedule of unfilled positions because the issue here is not simply about the ability to fill them. There are a lot of demands on the government’s treasury and you also have some demoralised staff,” he disclosed, adding, “On that basis, there is a need for strategic decision making. Is it an enhancement? Or is it filling vacancies?”

An analysis of vacant positions, Mr Bua added, will also help assess the relevance or strategic importance of some of the positions in the approved structure.