Government has increased the Public Service Wage bill to Shs9.708 trillion for the 2026/2027 financial year and introduced stricter recruitment controls aimed at improving efficiency, accountability and service delivery across public institutions.
Speaking while issuing Establishment Notice No. 3 of 2026, Minister for Public Service Gen. Katumba Wamala, said the ministry remains central to ensuring government institutions are properly structured, adequately staffed and capable of delivering quality services to citizens.
“My ministry remains central to ensuring that Government institutions are properly structured, adequately staffed, performance-driven, and able to deliver quality services to the citizens,” Katumba said, adding that the new guidelines are part of broader reforms to strengthen discipline, protect public resources and improve service delivery.
The new wage bill represents an increase of Shs1.088 trillion from the Shs8.621 trillion allocated in the 2025/2026 financial year. It is more than double the Shs4.2 trillion wage bill recorded in 2018/2019 when government adopted its long-term public service pay policy.
According to the minister, the additional funding will cater for staff already on the payroll, critical recruitment and phased salary enhancement for selected categories of public officers. Beneficiaries include Deputy Chief Administrative Officers, Deputy City Town Clerks, City Division Town Clerks, Assistant Commissioners, Heads of Department in local governments, officers on salary scale U2, teachers in primary and secondary schools, humanities teachers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, as well as ferry captains, grader operators, mortuary attendants and X-ray attendants.
The minister also announced tighter controls on recruitment, warning that no appointments will be approved without prior clearance from the Ministry of Public Service confirming both available wage provisions and approved vacancies.
He said employees recruited without authorization will not be cleared onto the government payroll, describing the measure as necessary to prevent unauthorized recruitment, wage shortfalls and unnecessary financial obligations. At the same time, accounting officers with approved vacancies and available wage allocations were urged to immediately seek recruitment clearance to avoid leaving wage funds unutilized.
Katumba also highlighted the operationalization of the Public Service Pension Fund established under the Public Service Pension Fund Act, 2025. The new scheme will cover public officers appointed on permanent and pensionable terms, including those in ministries, local governments, the teaching service, health service, police and prisons.
He assured public servants and pensioners that the reforms are intended to strengthen retirement security, noting that pensioners under the old scheme will continue receiving payments from the Consolidated Fund while officers transitioning to the new fund will have their accrued pension rights protected through a government retirement bond.
Government entities have also been directed to update employee records on the Human Capital Management System, including National Identification Numbers, dates of birth and appointment details, to facilitate migration to the new pension scheme. Employer and employee contributions of 10 percent and 5 percent respectively will commence on July 1, 2027.
Beyond payroll reforms, the establishment notice introduces mandatory alignment of human resource policies across government agencies, requiring HR manuals to undergo technical, legal and Cabinet approval before implementation.
The ministry is also replacing traditional staff appraisal methods with a Balanced Scorecard performance management framework integrated into the Human Capital Management System. Traditional manual appraisal reports will no longer be accepted for promotions, confirmations or contract renewals.
Other reforms include mandatory five-year Client Charters for all government institutions, digitization of public records through the Electronic Document and Records Management System, implementation of strategic workforce planning, continued restructuring of local government institutions, and the rollout of regional Service Uganda Centres in Kampala, Mbarara, Gulu and Tororo to improve citizens’ access to public services.
