Your Excellency,
Greetings in peace and humility.
As the echoes of speeches and parades from yesterday’s Labour Day celebrations fade, I write this as a citizen, a worker, and a Ugandan deeply concerned about the state of our public service. While the day was meant to honor workers, for many it only amplified the struggle they live with daily: a life of hard work without reward and service without dignity.
How can integrity be expected from a public servant earning just 500,000 shillings per month? How do we realistically ask people to resist corruption or remain committed to their desks when rent alone swallows 80% of their pay? People are not leaving their offices for conferences and side gigs out of greed but out of necessity.
Your Excellency, we cannot address corruption without addressing poverty. It is unjust to expect accountability from someone whose basic needs go unmet. Worse still, the glaring salary disparities within government and between Ugandan workers and their East African counterparts only deepen the wound. It is demoralizing to know that a teacher, nurse, or officer here earns ten times less than someone doing the same work in Nairobi or Dodoma.
Even more painful is the fact that Uganda’s minimum wage, unchanged since 1984, remains at a mere 6,000 shillings. This figure is not only outdated; it is a national shame and inhumane. How can Labour Day be meaningful when those it seeks to celebrate continue to suffer in silence?
We acknowledge the government’s efforts, including recent salary enhancements for select sectors and ongoing anti-corruption campaigns. However, these measures, while commendable, remain insufficient in addressing the depth and breadth of the crisis. When workers are underpaid and demoralized, the entire public service infrastructure suffers; hospitals are understaffed, classrooms are neglected, and public offices operate below capacity.
This erosion in service delivery not only deters investment but also fuels public frustration, posing a real risk to social stability. Ultimately, it undermines the very goals Uganda seeks to achieve, from inclusive economic growth to meaningful regional leadership.
When I think of Labour Day, I think of toil, sweat, and sacrifice. But I also think of the pain, the pain of seeing the most dedicated workers go unrewarded; the pain of knowing that corruption is often a survival mechanism, not a moral failure; and the pain of watching our nation praise workers without paying them.
Your Excellency, with all respect, I urge you to listen and act. Not with more promises, but with tangible reforms. We ask:
- To revise and enforce a fair, updated national minimum wage that reflects the cost of living.
- To harmonize salary structures across the public sector, eliminating unjust disparities.
- To build a transparent reward system based on effort and performance, not privilege or access.
- To regulate accommodation costs and other essential living expenses so workers can live with dignity.
This is not a political plea; it is a human one. We ask not for luxuries, but for fairness. Let this year’s Labor Day not be remembered for its speeches, but for the leadership and justice that followed.
Let history record that under your watch, workers were not forgotten.
With deep respect and unwavering hope,
A concerned citizen.
