The government has implemented an 100 per cent pay raise for all judges above the High Court level, with the Chief Justice now earning Shs11.5m up from Shs5.8m as basic salary. However, the move has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many a lower judicial ranking officers, including registrars, chief magistrates, and grade one magistrates who will get only a 30 per cent increment of their current pay, arguing they also deserved a better package. Newly re-appointed Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki, who fought for the increment before his retirement and subsequent controversial re-call, will live to be a beneficiary of the scheme that took effect on July 1, according to Judiciary payment schedules, a copy of which the Daily Monitor has seen. The Deputy Chief Justice, a position that is held in acting capacity by Justice Steven Kavuma, will be earning Shs10.5m up from Shs5.3m while Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine will take home Shs10m up from Shs5m. A Supreme Court Justice will now be earning Shs9.6m up from Shs4.9m and a Court of Appeal/Constitutional Justice will be pocketing a monthly salary of Shs9.3m up from Shs4.7m. High Court Judges will earn Shs9m. The development has moved the Judiciary’s wage bill by Shs9 billion, from Shs15.31 billion last year, to Shs24.51 billion, according to the Judiciary policy statement. On the other hand, the non-wage bill has increased to Shs49.7 billion from Shs40.139 billion while the development expenditure will move from Shs3.695 billion to Shs10.21 billion. The bulk of the non-wage bill will cater for court sessions, training, rent, fuel and vehicle maintenance. Disparity A lower court Bench judicial officer, who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity yesterday since she is not authorised to speak to the press, lashed at the Finance ministry for not having given them also a 100 per cent raise and yet they are all judicial officers. The judicial officer, who branded this move as being “discriminative”, further lamented that its lower Bench officers who do donkey work “and with this little pay”, are prone to bribes. According to the new salary structure, a chief magistrate will be earning a monthly salary of Shs3.2 million up from Shs2,490,000, while a grade two magistrate will be earning Shs838,450 up from Shs644,962. In the recent past, it has been the lower court Bench officers who have been arrested over corruptly soliciting for bribes from court users. Some have even been convicted and dismissed from the service over the same. Justice Odoki, while pushing for better pay for judicial officers, said at a workshop in Kampala last year that the Shs5 million he was earning at the time was “pocket change” for a lawyer in private practice. Rank Previous Salary New Salary Chief Justice Shs5,859,000 Shs11,560,000 Deputy Chief Justice Shs5,338,200 Shs10,532,581 Principal Judge Shs5,077,800 Shs10,018,796 Supreme Court Justice Shs4,910,400 Shs9,688,506 Court of Appeal/ Constitutional Justice Shs4,743,000 Shs9,358,216 High Court Judge Shs4,575,000 Shs9,026,734 High Court Dep. Registrar Shs2,920,000 Shs3,796,000 Chief Magistrate Shs2,490,000 Shs3,237,000 Senior Principle Grade One Shs2,123,000 Shs2,866,900 Grade One Magistrate Shs1,100,000 Shs1,430,000 Grade Two Magistrate Shs644,962 Shs838,450 Court Clerk/Interpreter Shs218,500 Shs226,945 Driver Shs193,179 Shs251,132 Ag Chief Registrar Shs3,257,000 Shs4,234,100 Secretary to Judiciary Shs2,415,920 Shs3,140696
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 04:56:16 +0000
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