KAMPALA- The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, Aggrey Kibenge, has left members of the Budget Committee stunned after revealing that the country would only save 21 million shillings from the merger of the National Council for Older Persons, the National Youth Council, the National Women’s Council, and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.
Kibenge made the revelation while appearing before the committee, which is currently scrutinizing the reallocation of the budget for the 2024/2025 financial year, following the merger of these government agencies into ministries.
Kibenge informed the committee that the legal amendment only created a unified secretariat for the councils, but each council would still retain its own budget and resources.
He noted that savings would be limited to the secretariat level, as the structures of these councils at the grassroots level would remain unchanged.
Kibenge further explained that the secretariats of the various councils used to employ 38 staff members, but under the new structure, this number would be reduced to 26.
He revealed that the total wage bill for the four secretariats was 1.298 billion shillings, but this would be reduced to 1.276 billion shillings, resulting in a savings of 21.8 million shillings.
In addition, Kibenge informed MPs that the ministry would incur an expense of at least 445.9 million shillings to cover gratuity and the government’s contribution to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for the 26 remaining staff members, as they are on five-year contracts.
This news did not sit well with Sheema Municipality MP Dickson Kateshumbwa, who demanded to know why these staff members were on contracts when one of the reasons for rationalization was to harmonize salaries.
Kibenge reminded the MPs that the councils are not part of the mainstream public service structure, as each council has its own budget and management structure.
The Vice Chairperson of the Budget Committee, Remegio Achia, pointed out that from the presentation, it seemed that nothing had changed through the rationalization process.
Soroti City East MP Herbert Ariko was left speechless, questioning how the secretariats could continue functioning without being aligned with the public service. He argued that the bill that merged these councils should have addressed this issue.
Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda demanded to know whether all staff would be retained, and if not, how many staff each council had prior to the merger.
