Taxpayers could soon be footing Shillings 29.079 billion annually to fund a salary enhancement for Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and their deputies, ending a 20-year pay freeze.
The proposal was unveiled by Alex Byarugaba, Chairperson of the Presidential Affairs Committee, during the presentation of the report on the 2026/27 Ministerial Policy Statement for the Office of the Presidency. The move aims to align the compensation of presidential representatives with the current economic reality and the pay scales of other high-ranking local government officials.
If the proposal is approved, RDCs and their staff will see their monthly earnings more than triple in some instances. In the proposed salary enhancement, the RDC’s pay will rise from Shillings 2,293,200 to nine million per month while deputies will move from Shillings 1,282,369 to five million as the Assistant RDCs cross from Shillings 877,216 to Shillings 2,695,000 a month.
Uganda currently employs 146 RDCs, 170 Deputy RDCs, and 432 Assistant RDCs. To facilitate these increments, the Committee has recommended that an additional UGX 29.079 billion be allocated to the Office of the President for the 2026/27 Financial Year.
“The Committee established that, for almost 20 Financial Years, salaries for RDCs and Deputy RDCs have been stagnant,” Byarugaba noted. “The Committee is cognizant of factors like inflation that erode purchasing power.”
The Committee maintains that these figures are sufficient and necessary to restore the dignity and effectiveness of the Office of the President at the local level. Parliament is expected to debate these recommendations as part of the broader national budget process.
In the 2026/27 Ministerial Policy Statements and the recent directives from the Presidency, the government has committed 500 billion Shillings to cater for a 25 percent annual phased increment over the next four years for the Arts and Humanities teachers to match the salaries of science teachers.
While the Presidential Affairs Committee has finalized the RDC increments, the Ministry of Public Service and the Uganda Local Government Workers Union are currently finalizing the rollout for other technical officers outside the science ring and the Chief Administrative Officers.
Local Government Minister Raphael Magyezi, confirmed that 30 billion Shillings is set aside for political leader facilitation (LC I-LC V), with technical staff enhancements to be integrated in the wider Public Service wage bill.
In the new pay structure for primary teachers, Education Assistant’s salary is expected to reach Shilling 700,000 from the 449,000 they have been receiving over the past decade. The headteachers in primary are expected to hit Shillings 1.5 million from the Shillings 980,000 while their deputies will have Shillings 1.3 million from the Shillings 773,000.
In secondary, headteachers with arts degrees are expected to Shillings 3.5 million from the Shillings 2.3 million they have been receiving as their deputies rise from Shilling 1.7 million to Shillings 2.1 million. The arts teachers (degree holder) in secondary ware expected to reach Shillings 1.5 million from the Shilling 980,000 as diploma holders rise from Shillings 700,000 to Shilling 1.3 million.
Parliament is expected to debate these recommendations as part of the upcoming national budget process.
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