Police sued over salary disparity
Police spokesman Fred Enanga, said he was not aware but the “problem could be in the police salary section where the cadets need to seek redress. File photo
Kampala. Lawyers who joined the Police Force as Cadet Assistant Superintendents in the 2013/14 intake, have sued the Force for alleged failure to pay them standard public service salaries.
Thirty two officers through Isabirye & Company Advocates want police to raise their salaries as per the 2010 presidential directives, which required that police lawyers earn the same salary as their counterparts in other government institutions.
Mr John Isabirye said he has instructions from 32 of the 52 cadets to follow up the case in court.
“Lawyers working with police must be paid the same rate like other lawyers working with government. They (police cadets) get payslip indicating Shs1.2m, but they earn Shs600,000,” Mr Isabirye said yesterday.
A lawyer recruited by police as a cadet is supposed to earn Shs1.2m as his or her monthly salary, but they are currently getting Shs601,341 with most of them based at regional police commands.
One of the affected officers told Daily Monitor they were last paid professional salaries in June last year.
“Several interventions have been tried to solve the matter but all in vain. We learnt that Public Service pays the actual amount (Shs1.2m), but because of decentralisation, the money is deducted at police headquarters,” the cadet said requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Police spokesman Fred Enanga, said he was not aware but the “problem could be in the police salary section where the cadets need to seek redress”.
“When we are recruiting officers we indicate the number of officers per profession. If we get that number for each profession, the rest can be hired as any other officers,” Mr Enanga said.
In 2008, 35 lawyers including now top police bosses, sued the government demanding equal pay.
The Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, wrote to the ministries of Internal Affairs and Public Service seeking to raise salaries of the police legal professions in that a cadet assistant superintendent of police’s pay be equal to a state attorney in the Justice ministry.
