Judicial officers including deputy registrars, assistant registrars, and chief magistrates, are frustrated with the government for not following through on promised salary increases.
They claim the government has gone back on its commitment to raise their pay, causing tension within the judiciary.
On June 30, 2025, the Ministry of Public Service issued Circular Standing Instruction (CSI) No.1 of 2025, outlining salary structures for the 2025/2026 financial year. The government allocated Shs 8.5 trillion for salaries, an increase of Shs 724 billion from the previous year.
According to the circular, deputy registrars’ monthly salaries were set to rise from Shs 12.5 million to Shs 12.75 million, assistant registrars’ pay would increase from Shs 10.5 million to Shs 12.75 million, and chief magistrates’ salaries would go from Shs 9.8 million to Shs 12.75 million.
The judiciary initially welcomed this news, as it aligned with President Museveni’s promise to improve judicial officers’ salaries. At the Annual Judges Conference earlier in 2025, the president had said, “We are now in a position to do something for you, provided we reduce wasteful spending. Our goal is to ensure judicial officers and scientists earn salaries comparable to the best in the region.” His words were met with applause from judicial officers.
However, when the officers received their July 2025 salaries, they were shocked to see no increase. Upset, they wrote to Pius Bigirimana, the judiciary’s permanent secretary, asking for the issue to be fixed. On August 18, 2025, Bigirimana issued a circular stating that the salary increases for deputy registrars, assistant registrars, and chief magistrates were included in the June 30 circular by mistake.
He explained that a top management meeting on August 13 revealed the error. The cabinet had only approved salary increases for specific groups, such as chief administrative officers, undersecretaries, commissioners, city town clerks, and municipal town clerks not judicial officers.
Bigirimana noted that the judiciary’s salaries had already been adjusted under the Administration of the Judiciary Act, and the cabinet had not discussed or approved further increases for judicial officers. On July 23, 2025, the Ministry of Public Service sent a letter clarifying the mistake, and Bigirimana’s circular instructed the judiciary to stick to the previously approved salary structure from cabinet minute extract No. 177 (CT 2021).
This news caused widespread disappointment among judicial officers.
Controversy
A member of the Public Service Commission, speaking anonymously, explained that judicial officers were excluded from the salary increase because the judiciary is an independent body responsible for setting its own salaries.
However, a chief magistrate, who also chose to remain anonymous, called this reasoning flawed. They pointed out that chief magistrates are classified as commissioners under the Public Service, and other commissioners in independent institutions like medical doctors, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Ministry of Justice, Uganda Police Force, and Uganda Prisons Services—received the Shs 12.75 million salary increase as outlined in the June 30 circular.
The chief magistrate argued that reducing their salaries is unconstitutional. They cited Regulation 31 of the Administration of the Judiciary (Judiciary Service) Regulations, 2025, which states that salary increases for judicial officers should be decided by the cabinet, considering economic conditions.
The officer wondered: “If we’re independent, why are we included in the public service circular? If this independence works against us, we’d be better off returning to the Public Service.”
The situation remains unresolved, and there are signs that the affected judicial officers may go on strike in the coming days if their concerns are not addressed.
