By Joseph Tumushabe

11^th June 2012: Chris Kassami says they are increasing salaries by between 6-15% but not recruiting more nurses. Don’t clap. The Ministry of finance has never increased salaries for the civil service in real terms (or dollar terms).

All they do is actually adjust for inflation during the budget. The purchasing power of that so called increase ends up being lower than the previous year’s salary. But they will never tell you this.

If the salary increase does not seem to translate into more food on your table, more fuel for your car or better status than to borrow from a friend before the end of the month, take heart. It was not meant to and you are to blame. Because you thought you were safe and smart not to join the W2W protests.

If only you knew. The so called increase does not match the 18% inflation rate! What it means is that your salary looses 18% of its value every quarter of a year. In other words, you need at least 18% of the money you earned in May to be able to afford the goods and services you did in May by August.

In effect, therefore, even if you earned twice what you did last year, you would not be able to afford what your salary could have earned at the same level now! If Ugandans knew this, or what it translates into in real life, they would have chased the economic managers out of Uganda into Lake Victoria.

The real elephant in the house is how much your salary gets taxed. Just add-up the difference between the gross pay and the net pay on your pay slip. Multiply this by 12 months. Factor in the interest rate the money will earn to whoever takes that difference.

Add the amount you will spend on paying the salaries of teachers for your children, add your medical bills. Add the losses you made when your car broke down after hitting a pothole. Add what you lost when electricity was cut. Ask yourself if by December 15th you will be having that amount as your savings on the account.

In sum, on top of being under-paid, you are cheated by the tax man. And you will still be wondering why someone’s daughter should be delivering their grand child in a German Hospital and shopping cosmetics in New York? It is because you think you are intelligent and smart not to play a role in politics or because you think you are in the kintu!

I do not mean to depress you. I meant to let you know that while you slave away to get a job, while you slave away to keep it, while you slave away to meet your daily needs, while you go hungry and deny yourself every luxury and leisure time, someone is eating on your behalf.

All because you think you are smart not to play a role in determining how your money gets used and to buy your priorities (affordable consistent electricity and water, better health, better paid teachers) without you having to pay double for them.

Did I say double? Sorry I meant quadruple. Because the same thief has now appointed a cousin or in-law as a Director in the company giving you poor services that are also highly taxed for his daughters’ benefits and badly run by relatives of his/hers that have no clue how such businesses should be run after getting several years of scholarship that should have been yours.

And all because you think W2W participants are idlers. Go and work even more to make them eat better.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.