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Ramathan Ggoobi
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Civil servants in government agencies affected by the Rationalisation of Government and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) process will not go home empty-handed. Details from the finance ministry show that sh26.9b has been allocated as a severance package for over 2,000 staff. However, this money applies only to staff whose agencies’ merger has been approved by Parliament and assented to by President Yoweri Museveni.
In February 2021, Parliament was informed that under Minute No.43 (CT 2021), the cabinet adopted the principle of rationalisation, where certain government agencies, commissions, and authorities would be merged. Some would be mainstreamed, while others would be eliminated altogether as a measure to reduce public expenditure and facilitate effective and efficient service delivery.
The objective of rationalisation was enshrined in the policy for RAPEX, where the Government intends to achieve institutional harmony, reduce service duplications and overlap, and reduce administrative costs and service delivery. On February 2, 2024, President Museveni said the Government would save sh1 trillion every year after rationalising its agencies. He noted that the spiralling cost of public administration soared from a little over sh465b in the 2001/2002 financial year to now sh3 trillion.
A total of 38 Bills were presented before Parliament, and seven Bills were withdrawn by the executive. Parliament passed 22 Bills and rejected eight. However, by July 15, a total of 26 Bills had been assented to by the President, and three sent back to Parliament for reconsideration.
Affected Staff Pay
According to the Public Service Ministry, a total of 2,200 staff are likely to be affected by the implementation of RAPEX. About sh80b is needed to pay their terminal benefits. There will be no uniform figure paid as a severance package, an official in the public service ministry, who preferred anonymity, revealed. He mentioned that the majority of the staff in the affected agencies are on contract and that their terminal benefits will be calculated based on their earnings and the period remaining to the expiry of their contracts.
According to Public Service, about 80% of the affected staff are support staff. The Government, however, said there will be an opportunity, running for three months starting this July, where the affected staff will compete for the available jobs in government ministries, departments, and remaining agencies.
The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Ramathan Ggoobi, said today that all affected staff will be paid their entitlements as long as they are budgeted and approved by Parliament.
“Uganda is a law-abiding country. This money (sh26.9b) is only for entities that have so far been approved by Parliament and Cabinet for rationalisation. Other entities have not yet been approved, but once they are, we shall also budget for their staff,” Ggoobi said.
Attorney General Kiwanuka Kiryowa stated that staff who will not be willing to join the mother ministries will be terminated and paid off. “Those who will not take up the opportunities will be terminated and paid when restructuring takes effect. Whoever is entitled to any pay will be paid because the money will be budgeted for,” he said via phone.
In a budget execution circular dated July 15, issued to all accounting officers, Ggoobi directed that money for affected staff is already provided for in their budget. He said the Public Service Ministry will issue a separate circular guiding all the affected votes on the implementation of the approved structures under RAPEX. The Public Service Ministry will also guide on the validation of staff to be absorbed in the approved structures, payment of gratuity, pension, and severance packages for the affected staff, as well as management of the transfer of assets and liabilities.
In a letter dated June 21, addressed to all permanent secretaries, executive directors, secretaries, chief administrative officers, and city town clerks, the Public Service ministry's Permanent Secretary, Catherine Bitarakwate, stated that recruitment has been frozen until the implementation of RAPEX is finalised. However, Bitarakwate said: “filling vacant positions in this period shall only be cleared to accommodate staff from the agencies affected by RAPEX. Filling critical vacant positions outside this arrangement shall be managed on a case-by-case basis after consultations with the Ministry of Public Service; and ongoing recruitment processes shall not be affected by this arrangement.”
PS Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire
According to Ggoobi, some accounting officers irregularly recruit permanent and temporary workers outside the available wage bill and then access them on the Government payroll, resulting in shortfalls during execution. “This has been identified as one of the sources of wage shortfalls during budget execution, which is unacceptable,” he said. He also directed all accounting officers not to recruit staff during the financial year except on a replacement basis, in case of incapacitation, where funds have been provided for the recruitment of teachers and health workers under the Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Programme and with explicit clearance from both the finance and public service ministries. He said accounting officers are also required to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Public Service before accessing newly recruited staff on the payroll.
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