Museveni gives half of his monthly pay to coronavirus fight

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni Tuesday said he would commit part of his monthly salary to the fight against the further spread of Covid-19 in his country.

While updating Ugandans on his government’s efforts in the fight against the spread of the virus pandemic, Mr Museveni, in a televised address, said he would take a pay cut and donate part of his salary to the National Covid-19 Response Fund.

"You remember your people normally pay me some little money. They pay me Ush3.6 million ($947). NRM takes about 20 per cent. On the other remaining Ush2.7 million ($710), I will instruct Janet to sign Ushs1.4 million ($368) each month to the fund. Janet is the one who receives that money. I never follow up on that,” Mr Museveni said in response to a question from a Ugandan on why public servants have not committed their salaries to the fight against the virus like in other African countries.

Virus cases

Uganda has registered 79 confirmed cases of the virus with 52 recoveries.

Nigerian lawmakers, Rwandan top civil servants, Kenya’s top government officials and more recently Malawi’s Cabinet have committed their salaries to the Covid-19 fight.

In Rwanda, politicians and top civil servants agreed to donate their April salaries to welfare programmes to help the poor cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said the salary sacrifice would show "solidarity" with the people who have been under a tough lockdown and strict curbs on freedoms in order to contain the spread of the virus.

Lawmakers in Nigeria also agreed to forgo their salaries as contributions towards the Covid-19 fight.

Kenya’s president and top government officials also took salary cuts for the same reason.

In Malawi, President Peter Mutharika also announced taking a 10 per cent salary cut along with his ministers.