The Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, has asked the Ministry of Finance to make a formal commitment that government will cater for the salary increment of arts teachers in the next financial year, saying Parliament cannot make promises on behalf of the executive.
Ssenyonyi’s demand followed revelations that Speaker of Parliament Anita Among had promised the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) that Parliament would ensure arts teachers receive a salary raise in the 2026/27 Financial Year Budget.
Speaker Among made the commitment while receiving UNATU’s petition on October 8, 2025.
“When the petition was handed over to the Speaker, she made a commitment — I saw on the news that this matter of the teachers’ pay was going to be handled in the next Financial Year budget,” Ssenyonyi said during the sitting.
“Now, what is confusing here is that this should be a commitment from government because the substantive Minister of Finance is the Head of State — however, that authority is delegated.”
The LOP further pressed the Finance Ministry to clarify its position, saying teachers deserve a clear and official assurance.
“Is the Minister of Finance, who is represented here, committing?” he asked. “Because we shouldn’t be committing on their behalf. Are you committing you are going to handle this matter in the next Financial Year so that then the teachers take that commitment and agree — okay, we are going to wait for the next Financial Year — or not? We are taking that commitment; we want the pay now. That is important.”
The government has faced mounting pressure from teachers’ unions to harmonize salaries between science and arts teachers, a matter that has sparked several industrial actions in the past years.
