At a time when millions of Ugandans are struggling with the high cost of living and thousands of civil servants earn meagre wages, a section of judicial officers have once again sparked outrage by shamelessly demanding another salary increment.
What these officers conveniently refuse to acknowledge is that they already received a generous enhancement on August 9, 2021, when cabinet, in line with President Museveni’s directive, raised their pay substantially.
Deputy registrars, assistant registrars and chief magistrates moved into a salary bracket many other professionals in the public service can only dream of.
Yet just four years later, these same officers are crying foul, hiding behind a clerical error in the Ministry of Public Service’s June 2025 salary circular which mistakenly listed them for another round of increases.
When the mistake was corrected on July 23, 2025 by Public Service Permanent Secretary Catherine Bitarakwate, the ungrateful group launched a campaign of self-pity, portraying government as having “betrayed” them.
The truth is much simpler: cabinet’s April 2025 resolution was clear and precise. Salary enhancements were only approved for Under Secretaries, Chief Administrative Officers, Commissioners, City Town Clerks and Municipal Town Clerks. Judicial officers were not on the list and rightly so, having already benefited heavily from the 2021 enhancement under the Administration of the Judiciary Act.
What makes this agitation even more distasteful is the division within the judiciary itself. Sources reveal that a majority of judicial officers are actually content with their pay and believe other categories of government workers teachers, health workers, police, and prison officers deserve attention. It is only a small, noisy minority stirring up discontent, blinded by greed rather than service to the nation.
One chief magistrate, speaking on condition of anonymity, tried to justify the push by claiming the correction “constitutes a variation of salaries to their disadvantage.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. A mistake corrected is not a disadvantage. It is called accountability.
The bigger picture cannot be ignored: while Uganda’s economy continues to recover, and while government is under pressure to provide services across health, education and security, a small elite of judicial officers is demanding more money on top of what they already earn.
This raises uncomfortable questions about the spirit of public service and the integrity of those entrusted with administering justice.
Efforts to get comment from Dr. Pius Bigirimana, Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury, were unsuccessful as he is currently out of the country.
However, insiders maintain that government will not bow to pressure from ungrateful officers who have chosen to forget just how much they have already been privileged.
For now, the public is left wondering: if the custodians of justice can twist a corrected clerical error into a campaign for more personal gain, how sincere are they in their sworn duty to serve the people of Uganda.
