Managing $2.1b for Only $2000! No Way.

Managing $2.1b for Only $2000! No Way.. Check it out:
(The Monitor (Uganda) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) The government is once again up in arms against the Daily Monitor over a story that President Yoweri Museveni told his cabinet that he wants an improvement of his salary.

The President, according to the story, told his 'colleagues' that he expected an improvement in his remuneration when an enabling law is in place. Mr Museveni earns a paltry Shs3.6 million (about $2,000) a month.

As a citizen and a patriotic one at that, I see absolutely no problem with a Chief Executive Officer of a four trillion shillings (about $2.159 billion) enterprise also known as the Republic of Uganda earning a befitting salary.

CEO Museveni not only pulled this country out of a seemingly bottomless pit but has also successfully turned it round to a profit-making giant in the Great Lakes Region.

Besides, the President has always argued that managing the affairs of Uganda is a sacrifice; he has not taken leave ever since he started the struggle some good 40 years ago.

He's been the most loyal servant of all that the country has had in its 43 years of independence, of which he has been driver for 20 solid years and still countinuing.

Over the 20 years he has been the president you find that nearly 20 of the 24 hours that make a complete day, Museveni shuttles from one corner of the country to another without showing signs of fatigue and has never mumbled in discomfort.



Who then deserves a pay rise more than Museveni? Compare his Shs3.6 million salary to the work he does, the dedication and passion with which he pursues it and you will know that either he does not know his rights or we, his employers, are blind to rewarding good service.

When the elections of 2001 came, many of his supporters urged us to give him a "thank you" term in office. This, they argued, was necessary as a bonus for his dedication to serve.

Surprisingly today these are the same people struggling to outdo each other in denying that our most loyal worker has asked for recognition of his efforts by improving his paycheck!

There is no dispute that Museveni's current salary is far lower than that of many an executive in this City whose companies are surprisingly worth much less.

I would have expected all the Kajuras, the Nsibambis and the Kabushengas to be demonstrating in support of Museveni's salary increment and the "Yellow Girls" threatening to strip themselves naked if the President were not rewarded accordingly, rather than waste the country's scarce resources and time attacking a poor journalist and newspaper for raising this matter of great national importance.

I am certain that the CEO of the Red Pepper tabloid earns much more than our President's Shs3.6 million, so why the hullabaloo?

Is it not a fact that poor remuneration demotivates workers and tempts those who control resources to abuse them? Is it also that poor pay is responsible for the high rate of brain drain? Cut the crap and support our President; give him a salary rise. It has been overdue.

Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)

Copyright 2006 All Africa Global Media
The opinions and views expressed in comments, blogs, etc. are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of TMC, TMCnet, or its editors. TMCnet reserves the right to edit, delete, or otherwise make changes to the content that appears on these pages at its own discretion and as it deems necessary.

Listed below are links to sites that reference Managing $2.1b for Only $2000! No Way.:

Around TMCnet Blogs

Latest Whitepapers

TMCnet Videos