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How Uganda Airlines boss’ pay compares with others
Uganda Airlines Chief Executive Officer Jenifer Bamuturaki appears before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises at Parliament on Thursday. Photo / David Lubowa
What you need to know:
- The CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, Mr Mesfin Tasew Bekele earns a monthly salary of Shs8.6m while Uganda Airlines CEO Jenifer Bamuturaki, earns Shs34.2m per month, according to a leaked internal report.
The unfolding scandal at Uganda Airlines has revived the debate on the radical differences in pay for state employees, including some in senior roles earning far less than their junior colleagues in hierarchy.
The pay variance also filters into academic qualifications and experience with some more qualified and experienced staff earning far less per their designation. This past week documents tabled by Parliament’s Committee on State Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) revealed that Ms Jenifer Bamuturaki, the chief executive officer of Uganda Airlines, earns Shs87m per month.
Ms Bamuturaki later clarified that “those are the wages in the business implementation plan that was approved by Cabinet on December 20, 2016.” She claims to earn about half the alleged figure. Her predecessor, Zambian national Mr Cornwell Muleya reportedly earned Shs126m. Mr Muleya is currently on trial for allegedly disobeying lawful summons of the Inspectorate of Government.
According to the Auditor General’s report, the chief financial officer at Uganda Airlines earns Shs73m, manager for finance Shs58m and the Director of Maintenance Shs80m. Others are manager of ICT at Shs36m, human resource Shs43m, manager for cargo Shs14m, and manager of quality assurance Shs43m.
With a fleet of just six aircrafts, questions abound whether Ms Bamuturaki and her top management colleagues are not milking a dead body. Since it started operating, Uganda Airlines has been raking in losses although this is not uncommon in the industry. However, the size of the company raises questions as to whether such salaries should be dished out.
Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s most profitable airline and available data shows its CEO earns about Shs104.3m or $27,000 per year translating into a monthly salary of Shs8.6m. The company has a fleet of more than 138 aircraft and another 36 on order. The CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, Mr Mesfin Tasew Bekele, has more than 38 years of experience in airline management and operations.
He also has experience in the areas of aircraft maintenance and engineering and procurement. Other areas of experience are information technology, flight operations, capability development, capacity building, and development of corporate strategies, airline operation management, and corporate leadership.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Open University in the United Kingdom, MSc degree in Electrical Engineering specialising in Communications Engineering from Addis Ababa University, and BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from Addis Ababa University. Questions about Ms Bamuturaki’s remuneration and that of some of her senior staff have exacerbated the controversies surrounding her appointment and academic qualification.
What CEOs earn
A further question relates to what she is paid compared to other CEOs of government entities at her level or with more experience and running bigger organisations.
The Commissioner General of Uganda Revenue Authority reportedly earns Shs40m while the Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund—with assets of more than Sh15trillion—reportedly earns about Shs39m. Several state employees, including the Governor of Bank of Uganda, the CEOs for Uganda National Oil Company, Uganda Petroleum Authority and National Water & Sewerage Corporation reportedly have a larger take home and better perks than the Uganda Airlines boss.
Parliament, among other institutions, including the civil society, have on several occasions appealed to the executive to expedite the establishment of a Salary Review Commission to regularly review salaries to promote fairness and boost morale among government employees.
A 2014 report by Parliament’s Committee on Public Service and Local Government on the Payroll anomalies in the Uganda Public Service made recommendations on the salary review commission. Several directives from the House and recommendations have been met with cold shoulders from the government. Sources within the government say the current state has seen some employees fight to leave government ministries to move to agencies and departments that pay “juicier” salaries, robbing these ministries of competent and experienced staff.
There is also movement within the MDAs as individuals target big pay outs, with some even taking lower ranking roles which pay better. The prevailing situation also fuels corruption in these entities with individuals running huge budgets but earning peanuts compared to their colleagues helping themselves to the public purse.
According to a recent survey by the ombudsman, the cost of corruption in Uganda has risen from Shs9.1 trillion in 2019 to Shs20 trillion annually. Half of this money is lost during procurement processes, under declaration of tax and utility costs, among others. The other Shs10 trillion is lost due to absenteeism of civil servants, especially health workers and teachers.
In February, it emerged that some state agencies like the Uganda Railways Corporation are struggling to pay salaries and other statutory obligations.
Tackling corruption
With the creation of a number of departments and agencies, the public sector in the country has become more attractive to many individuals in the country with the added advantage of less pressure, shorter working hours and salaries that the private sector struggles to match.
The push for a lifestyle audit by ombudsman Beti Olive Kamya on government officials whose wealth does not match their known income had unsettled many in government MDAs. President Museveni offered relief when he cautioned Ms Kamya on the strategy, saying she should go slow as it could scare the corrupt officials from investing the stolen funds in the country and instead take it abroad.
Until 2017, permanent secretaries controlling billions in budgets earned less than Shs4m. This has since been revised upwards. A permanent secretary currently earns Shs15.4m while the Head of the Public Service earns Shs17.6m.
The Chief Justice earns Shs26.5m, the Auditor General Shs36.1m while the ombudsman earns Shs37m. Both the IGP and the Commissioner of Prisons earn Shs6.8m per month. The issue of pay discrepancies in Uganda is much deeper. Ugandan legislators, for example, earn more than many legislators in Europe.
In 2019, the plan to merge or revert government agencies to parent ministries was halted hardly a year after being floated and consented to at the Cabinet level. The plan came into being after the Internal Security Organisation submitted a report on November 25, 2019. The report revealed wastage of resources through overlapping functions between line ministries and agencies.
