The Ugandan government has announced a significant pay rise for top-ranking officers in the Uganda Police Force and Uganda Prisons Service, aligning their salaries under a newly approved structure aimed at addressing long-standing disparities within the public service.
According to Circular Standing Instruction No. 01 of 2025 issued by the Ministry of Public Service, all officers holding the ranks of Commissioner, Senior Commissioner, and Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) will now earn a uniform monthly salary of Shs12.75 million starting July 1, 2025.
A similar adjustment has been implemented within the Uganda Prisons Service for officers of equivalent rank.
The circular, signed by Permanent Secretary Catherine Birakwate, confirms that these enhancements fall under a broader government plan to phase out wage imbalances in the public sector.
“The government continues to fulfill its commitment to enhancing the salaries of all public officers in a phased manner. Accordingly, UGX 57 billion has been allocated for salary enhancement,” the circular states.
Previously, salaries for officers in these senior ranks varied widely based on specialization and directorate. For instance, a Commissioner of Police earned Shs7.8 million, a Senior Commissioner received Shs10.6 million, and an AIGP in the legal directorate earned Shs8.7 million.
Those classified as scientists earned as high as Shs12.75 million, while their general service counterparts took home Shs7 million. The new structure eliminates these disparities, bringing all officers at this level to equal pay regardless of their department.
This pay harmonisation comes as part of a broader salary overhaul that began in the 2018/2019 financial year. Minister of Public Service Muruli Mukasa said,
“We are now entering the second phase, focusing on covering all remaining staff. With this progression, we are on track to meet 77% of our medium-term salary targets.”
Under the revised salary structure, Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) have also been moved to the Shs12.75 million bracket, up from Shs2.37 million a more than fivefold increase.
Town Clerks of City Councils, Deputy Directors, Commissioners, Undersecretaries, and Foreign Service Officers (Grade I) now earn the same amount, having previously earned between Shs1.86 million and Shs2.08 million.
Other senior officers within the police and prisons services have also received substantial pay increases.
Assistant Commissioners now earn Shs3.8 million, up from Shs1.6 million, while Superintendents’ salaries have doubled from Shs990,000 to Shs2.05 million.
Lower-ranking officers were not left out. Police Constables will now earn Shs583,000, up from Shs466,000, and Special Constables will earn Shs469,000, up from Shs375,000.
These changes build upon last year’s adjustments that saw Special Police Constables receive a salary boost of Shs64,800 and similar increments across other junior ranks.
To support the enhancements, the government has increased the national wage bill by UGX 724.7 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year, raising it from UGX 7.82 trillion to UGX 8.55 trillion.
The wage bill now accounts for 11.8% of the UGX 72.4 trillion national budget. Of this, 58.9% is allocated to central government civil servants and public leaders, while 48% supports personnel at the local government level, with the remainder covering staff in foreign missions.
Minister Mukasa noted that the expanded wage bill will also cater for new staff under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UGIFT) programme, especially in education and health sectors.
“The budget now also provides for staff at newly constructed schools and health centres, and includes newly appointed departmental heads at the local government level,” he added.
The announcement comes amid growing concern over wage inequalities, particularly among non-science civil servants. Recently, secondary school arts teachers staged a strike demanding salary parity with their science counterparts.
While they later resumed work after negotiations, the Ministry of Finance stated that raising their monthly pay to Shs4 million would cost over UGX 500 billion annually a figure the current budget cannot support. Nonetheless, the government has pledged a 25% salary increase for the group in the next financial year.
