MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT RENEW CALLS FOR MINIMUM WAGE

Legislators on the Parliamentary Forum on Labour, Decent Employment and Productivity have renewed the call for the government to set a minimum wage.
The legislators, who had convened for training on policy-making, said the fate of Ugandan workers has been left at the mercy of employees which has exposed many to exploitation and poor pay.
Ms Sarah Opendi (Tororo) said there is a lot of exploitation of workers especially, in the private sector, noting that everyone employs Ugandans at the rate they want and because people want employment they simply work.
Workers MP Margaret Rwabushaija said laws on the welfare of employees need to be handled with urgency, adding that Uganda is the only East African country without a minimum wage.
Pius Wakabi (Bugahya MP) said they are prepared to advance their arguments to sway the government on the idea of a minimum wage.
The 10th Parliament in 2019 passed the Minimum Wage Bill, 2015 that sought to set up a minimum wage determination mechanism across different sectors of the economy.
This was, however, rejected by President Museveni, who argued that putting a cap on pay would keep away investors.
While the legislators have not found any figure, the Minimum Wages Advisory Board in 2017 recommended Shs136,000 as the lowest pay for any worker