By Stephen Kalema
Ugandan doctors, through their umbrella body Uganda Medical Association (UMA) have thanked the government of Uganda for salary increments.
This after UMA president Dr Ekwaro Obuko the government had agreed to a 25 per cent pay rise for entry level doctors and 40 per cent for senior doctors.
“We want to thank them (government) for hearing our trumpets,” he said on Wednesday during a press briefing at Mulago Hospital.
The doctors went on strike on November 6, 2017 – demanding for higher pay and better working conditions. The move paralysed health services allover the country. They called off the strike about two weeks after government made some “minimum irreducible demands”.
Government then had also threatened to import about 200 Cuban doctors to replace the striking local ones. President Museveni also branded them ‘selfish’.
Observers believe that the increment follows a directive by President Museveni early this month while commissioning the new Mulago Women Specialized Hospital. Then the President said, “All scientists in Uganda must have salary increase. Good enough they are very few. In this I don’t mean doctors I mean even science teachers from primary levels.”
Dr Obuku, however, called on his colleagues to avoid absenteeism since the government has catered for their grievances.
Ministry of Public Service threatened to come up with a circular of revised salary structures for civil servants.
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