The decision to merge Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) with the ministry of Works and Transport has left the authority’s employees anxious and uncertain about what the future holds for them.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In a December 23 letter, Gen Katumba Wamala, the minister for Transport instructed all UNRA employees to hand over office and wait for their benefits to be processed. The merger process, which started in November, is expected to end tomorrow (December 30) with the official handover function at the UNRA offices in Kyambogo.
Yet as we inch closer to the D-Day, some UNRA staff are worried about what will come next for them.
Officially they have been told that they will be given their terminal benefits while those who want will be absorbed into the Works ministry.
This, however, has not calmed the nerves of many who feel the sky may fall on them any time soon.
Two employees of UNRA speaking to Bbeg Media on condition of anonymity said they had been told that they would have to take a massive pay cut to work in a similar role at the ministry.
“I was told that I can’t earn more than the PS in the ministry so If I am to work at the ministry, I will earn like half of what I have been getting at UNRA,” said one of the employees. “This will have a big psychological effect on me even if I am willing to work.”
We have been told that some UNRA employees, who have been earning as much as Shs 15 million per month, should be prepared to take home Shs 6 million if they cross to the ministry of Works.
Another said he was worried that he might not be absorbed in the ministry because there are several people (in the ministry) who do the kind of work he has been doing at UNRA.
He said the only option is to find a job elsewhere although he is not sure he will get the good terms and pay like he enjoyed at UNRA.
We have been told that some UNRA employees have already hit the streets looking for opportuinities. Others left the authority more than a year ago when it became clear that it would be merged.
Yet absorption into the ministry of Works for the UNRA staff will not be as automatic as it is made to sound.
To be absorbed into the ministry of Works, UNRA employees will first have to apply through the ministry of Public Service. They will sit for interviews and those who pass will then be recruited.
Allan Ssempebwa, the head of communication at UNRA said staff who want to join the ministry had been made aware that they could get lower terms.
“They know because the ministry has it own terms and conditions. That is life and we can’t change it but I also think some could get better opportunities at the ministry,” he said.
He said while some UNRA employees were anxious about the merger, a good buffer had been created to cushion them during the merger process.
“They will be given terminal benefits and secondly if they want to join the ministry, they will be absorbed,” he said.
Ssempebwa said some of the critical staff of UNRA had been given short-term contracts by the ministry to enable them to complete ongoing projects because the government wants continuity.
However one of the employees feared that terminal benefits may take long to be paid given the government’s bureaucratic nature, affecting their financial standing.
Asked when terminal benefits would be paid, Ssempebwa said he did not know but sounded hopeful that it would be soon.
At its height, UNRA employed more than 500 people in various departments, spread across the country.