The great Ugandan taxation paradox: A Presidential call for universal salary tax exemption of all civil servants, particularly Teachers and Lecturers
SALUTATIONS AND NATIONAL GREETINGS
Dear General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda and Commander-in-Chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF); distinguished leaders of government; soldiers, police officers, prison officers, medical professionals, teachers, lecturers, researchers, all civil servants and fellow Ugandans: Salaams, warm patriotic greetings and revolutionary greetings of national development!
I convey these greetings from Gulu University, Rotary Clubs of Uganda, the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), Quality Education Consultancy Ltd (QECL) and OPUL Skilling Foundation Africa (OSFA), whose motto is “Innovative Skilling as Medicine to Extreme Poverty.” Through our long-term institutional commitment, QECL and OSFA aspire to facilitate 20 million business start-ups, accelerations and innovations and contribute to the creation of 40 million decent and sustainable jobs across Africa by 2035. These ambitions are rooted in the conviction that education, innovation, entrepreneurship and human capital development are indispensable engines of national transformation.
Taxation: the lifeblood of national development, not an enemy of government employees
Mr President, allow me to begin by affirming that I fully understand and appreciate the indispensable contribution of taxation to national development. I am not an enemy of taxation, an advocate of tax evasion or an economic romantic who imagines that roads, hospitals, schools, electricity infrastructure, security systems, public universities, agricultural transformation and social services can be constructed through presidential speeches and patriotic applause alone. Taxes are the financial bloodstream of government, the economic fertiliser that nourishes public infrastructure and the collective contribution through which citizens finance their common destiny. Without sustainable domestic revenue mobilisation, even the most ambitious National Development Plan risks becoming a beautiful architectural drawing without bricks, cement or roofing materials. I recognise that PAYE and other tax revenues support the provision of essential public services and the functioning of government. My argument, therefore, is not against taxation as an instrument of national development; it is about the principles governing who is exempted, why particular categories receive preferential treatment and whether such treatment reflects fairness, equity and national priorities. A tax system must not become a political dining table where some servants receive exemption on golden plates while others are instructed to contribute from empty pockets.
Commending President Museveni: Recognizing Medical professionals is a progressive welfare intervention
I sincerely commend Your Excellency, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, for announcing on 13 November 2026, during the closing ceremony of the 10th Uganda Medical Association (UMA) Grand Doctors’ Conference at Soroti University in Soroti District, the proposed removal of taxes on the salaries of medical personnel. I equally acknowledge your commitment of UGX 125 billion as seed capital for a medical doctors’ Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO). These commitments demonstrate recognition of the financial pressures confronting medical professionals and the importance of improving their welfare, financial stability and capacity to serve the population. Your comparison of medical personnel with soldiers, police officers and prison officers was particularly significant because it opened a national conversation about the relationship between public service, occupational sacrifice and salary taxation. As reported by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation on 13 November 2026, you stated that medical workers should retain their current earnings through the proposed tax waiver. This is a commendable gesture. However, Mr President, a good policy idea should not become an island of privilege in an ocean of public-sector inequality. When one professional group receives a welfare intervention, it should inspire government to examine the circumstances of other equally indispensable groups rather than create another layer of occupational differentiation. We applaud the opening of the door; we respectfully request that the entire public-service family be allowed to enter.
The Education Paradox: Taxing the roots while celebrating the fruits
Mr President, here lies the philosophical and economic paradox that deserves your immediate attention: the medical professionals whose salaries you have promised to exempt, the soldiers who defend our sovereignty, the police officers who maintain law and order and the prison officers who administer correctional institutions have all, at different stages of their lives, benefited from the hands of teachers. Before a doctor could hold a scalpel, someone introduced that individual to letters, numbers, science and the discipline of learning. Before a soldier could understand military strategy, a teacher helped develop the intellectual foundation upon which that understanding was built. Before a police officer could interpret the law, investigate crime or prepare a professional report, someone taught that officer how to read, write, reason and communicate. Teachers are therefore not merely employees occupying classrooms; they are architects of human capital, manufacturers of professional possibilities and custodians of the intellectual infrastructure of the nation. To exempt some of the fruits of education while overlooking the roots that produced them creates what I call the Educational Fiscal Paradox. It is like a farmer who celebrates the mangoes, sells the harvest, rewards the market vendors and taxes the roots of the tree for daring to nourish the branches. Mr President, you cannot sustainably celebrate professional excellence while neglecting the profession that helps produce it.
There should be no Government-favored Civil Servants: All professions are interdependent
With due respect, Mr President, no profession possesses a divine monopoly over national importance. Soldiers are indispensable, but they also need teachers to educate their children, doctors to treat their illnesses, engineers to construct their barracks and agricultural specialists to strengthen food security. Police officers protect communities, but they cannot automatically become veterinary doctors when their cattle fall sick; they need qualified veterinarians. Medical doctors save human lives, but they depend on teachers for their education, engineers for hospital infrastructure, laboratory scientists for diagnostic investigations, pharmacists for medicines and agricultural professionals for food security and nutrition. Teachers, in turn, depend on doctors for healthcare, police officers for security, engineers for learning infrastructure and farmers for food. This is the Multidisciplinary Interdependence Principle: no profession stands independently because every profession is a customer, beneficiary, collaborator or supporter of another profession. The African proverb reminds us that one finger cannot crush a louse. Even the strongest lion depends on the forest ecosystem. Why, then, should government create a hierarchy of supposedly more deserving and less deserving public servants? National development is a relay race, not a solo performance. Every professional carries a different baton, but all are running towards the same national destination. There should be no God-favoured civil servants and no government-orphaned professionals.
The Classroom is the mother and father of all professions
Education is not simply one profession among many; it is the foundational institution through which virtually every other profession acquires its knowledge, competencies, ethics and professional identity. The teacher is the intellectual midwife who helps deliver doctors, engineers, accountants, judges, economists, scientists, diplomats, military officers, entrepreneurs and national leaders. Even the President, Parliamentarians and senior government officials once encountered teachers who helped shape their intellectual journeys. In this sense, education is both the mother and father of professional development. The school is the nursery of national productivity, while the university is the laboratory in which human potential is refined into specialised expertise. To neglect teachers and lecturers in discussions of public-service welfare is to confuse the visibility of the harvest with the importance of cultivation. An African-inspired humorous proverb says: “When the child who was carried on the mother’s back becomes a king, the throne should not make him forget the shoulders that carried him.” Mr President, the medical doctor may save a patient today, but the teacher helped prepare the doctor for that responsibility yesterday. A nation that invests in the welfare of doctors while overlooking the welfare of educators risks treating the symptoms of professional development while neglecting its intellectual origins.
The Constitutional and Fiscal Justice Question: Equal Dignity, Unequal Tax Treatment
The principle of equality before the law and equal protection of the law, recognised under Article 21 of Uganda’s Constitution, should inform our national discussion about public-sector welfare. I recognise that equality does not necessarily require identical treatment in every circumstance; certain occupations may have distinctive operational risks, conditions of service and legitimate welfare considerations. However, such differences should be supported by transparent, rational and defensible policy reasons. The concern is that when salary tax exemption is presented as a welfare intervention for selected occupational categories, government should explain why other public servants facing economic pressures, professional responsibilities and demanding working conditions should remain outside the policy framework. Uganda’s Income Tax Act, 1997, particularly Section 21(1)(p), expressly addresses the official employment income of specified security personnel, subject to the statutory provisions. The proposed medical exemption now raises a broader question of legislative consistency. Could Parliament and the Ministry of Finance examine an amendment or another appropriate legal framework to extend equivalent relief to teachers, lecturers, administrative officers, agricultural extension workers, scientists, social workers and other qualifying civil servants? Fiscal justice should not be determined by the colour of a uniform, the prestige of a profession or the political volume of an occupational association. It should be guided by reason, fairness, affordability and the public interest.
Biblical and Qur’anic Wisdom: Justice Must Not Reward the Harvest and Forget the Labourer
Both the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an provide compelling moral foundations for equitable public-service welfare. Luke 10:7 declares that “the labourer is worthy of his hire,” while 1 Corinthians 12:12–26 teaches that, just as every part of the human body is indispensable, every profession contributes to the functioning of society. Similarly, Qur’an 4:58 and 16:90 command justice, fairness and excellence in human affairs, while Qur’an 5:8 warns against departing from justice. These sacred teachings remind us, Mr President, that fairness must never be determined by professional titles, uniforms or political influence. A doctor needs a teacher, a soldier needs an engineer, and every profession depends on others. Extending tax relief to teachers and all qualifying civil servants does not diminish the recognition given to doctors and security personnel; it enlarges the circle of justice. After all, a government should not reward one limb while neglecting the rest of the national body, nor celebrate the harvest while forgetting the labourers who nurtured the roots.
The International Perspective: Learning from Other Countries without Copying Their Policies Blindly
Uganda should also examine international tax practices to understand how different jurisdictions balance public-service remuneration, occupational benefits and national revenue mobilisation. The United States, for example, generally treats military salaries as taxable wages, although certain allowances and specific benefits receive different tax treatment. Canada provides a targeted tax deduction that effectively exempts qualifying income earned by members of its armed forces and police officers deployed on designated high- and moderate-risk international missions; this is not a blanket exemption for all their salaries. Similarly, European Union institutional employees are subject to a separate EU tax on their EU-paid salaries and are exempt from national taxation on those same salaries under the applicable privileges and immunities framework. These examples demonstrate that international tax systems often distinguish between ordinary employment income, special operational circumstances and institution-specific arrangements. They do not establish that universal tax exemption for all public servants is a global standard. Rather, they show that governments can design differentiated tax measures for legitimate reasons and must consider their fiscal implications. Uganda should therefore undertake a comparative policy review involving countries with relevant public-service remuneration systems, including African jurisdictions, before determining the most sustainable approach. We should learn from the world without importing policies blindly. The ultimate objective must remain an equitable Ugandan solution that recognises the contribution of all civil servants.
The Salary-Welfare Paradox: Why Increase Gross Salaries When Government Can First Examine Tax Relief?
Mr President here is low hanging fruit for you to level with teachers, lecturers and other civil servants, I respectfully propose that before government embarks on another round of salary increments for teachers and university lecturers, it should first examine the possibility of universal salary PAYE exemption for all qualifying civil servants. This is not an argument that salary enhancement is unnecessary; teachers and lecturers have legitimate expectations for improved remuneration, professional progression and better working conditions. However, a tax exemption, if legally and fiscally feasible, could increase workers’ disposable income without necessarily requiring an equivalent increase in their gross salaries. Consider a teacher who receives a modest salary and must meet rent, food, transport, children’s school fees, healthcare, family obligations and professional development costs. Every shilling deducted from an already constrained income affects household welfare. By removing PAYE from qualifying public-service salaries, government could provide immediate relief to workers while conducting a longer-term review of the public-sector salary structure. I call this the Take-Home Income First Principle: before asking how much more government can add to the payslip, examine how much of the existing salary can fairly remain in the employee’s pocket. Nevertheless, the proposal must be supported by a transparent assessment of revenue losses, expenditure priorities and alternative revenue sources. A good welfare policy must be compassionate to employees without becoming financially reckless towards the country.
The African parable of the cooking pot: Do not feed the fire and insult the firewood
Imagine an African village where the chief prepares a grand feast to celebrate the harvest. He rewards the cook, praises the pot, thanks the guests and applauds the delicious food. However, when the firewood supplier arrives, the chief orders him to pay a special levy for having contributed to the preparation of the meal. The supplier asks, “My chief, without the firewood, would the pot have cooked anything?” The chief replies, “You are not the food, so you do not deserve the reward!” The villagers burst into laughter because they recognise the foolishness of the chief’s reasoning. Mr President, this is the danger of celebrating professional outcomes while overlooking foundational contributors. Doctors are important, but so are teachers. Soldiers are important, but so are engineers. Police officers are important, but so are social workers and community educators. The African wisdom behind this parable is simple: when you eat the fruits, remember the roots; when you celebrate the meal, remember the firewood. It would be a tragic national comedy if those who educated the beneficiaries of tax exemption remained excluded from the same welfare consideration. Let us not create a public-service kitchen in which some workers enjoy the meat while others are instructed to survive on the smoke.
The National Call to Action: Make Universal Civil-Service tax exemption a Presidential legacy
Your Excellency, I respectfully call upon you to initiate a national policy dialogue aimed at harmonising salary tax exemption across the entire Ugandan public service. Let the proposed medical personnel tax waiver become the starting point of a broader reform rather than the final destination of a selective welfare policy. I appeal to you to direct the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the Ministry of Public Service, the Ministry of Education and Sports, the Ministry of Health, the relevant public-sector institutions and Parliament to examine the legal, administrative and fiscal requirements for universal PAYE exemption for qualifying civil servants. Teachers and lecturers must be explicitly included in this national conversation, alongside agricultural extension workers, scientists, engineers, administrative personnel, social workers and other public servants. The policy should be designed to avoid creating new inequalities between public servants and other low-income workers, while protecting essential government revenue and public investment. I further appeal for meaningful consultation with teachers’ unions, university staff associations, civil-service organisations and professional bodies. Mr President, the country has celebrated many infrastructure projects and institutional achievements under your leadership. A comprehensive public-service welfare reform that recognises the contribution of every civil servant could become another enduring legacy. Let history remember a presidency that did not merely reward visible uniforms and professional titles but recognised the collective human capital that keeps Uganda functioning.
A Retirement gift to Uganda’s Civil Servants: Let every public servant feel valued
Finally, Your Excellency, as you reflect on your long years of national leadership and the future of Uganda beyond your presidency, I respectfully propose that universal salary tax exemption for qualifying civil servants become a landmark retirement gift to the men and women who have dedicated their productive lives to serving the Republic. Let it be a legacy of fairness that reaches the classroom in Kitgum, the lecture theatre in Mbarara, the hospital in Soroti, the barracks in Moroto, the police station in Kampala, the prison facility in Luzira and the government office in every district. Let the teacher who has spent decades educating the children of Uganda feel that government remembers the sacrifices made in the classroom. Let the lecturer who has supervised generations of graduates know that intellectual labour is valued. Let every civil servant understand that national development is a collective responsibility and that no profession is a forgotten child of government. Do not allow the branches to enjoy the sunshine while the roots are denied nourishment. Do not allow the fruits to receive exemption while the roots continue carrying the tax burden. Let this be your legacy: One Uganda, One Public Service, One Principle of Fiscal Fairness. History may forget the exact words spoken at a conference, but workers will remember policies that improved their lives. The greatest retirement gift is not merely a monument bearing a leader’s name; it is a lasting reform that makes ordinary people’s lives more dignified.
A FINAL PRESIDENTIAL APPEAL
You’re Excellency, we are not asking government to abolish taxation, but to harmonize salary tax exemption for all qualifying civil servants. Do not exempt doctors and security personnel while overlooking the teachers and lecturers who helped produce them? Do not reward the fruits while taxing the roots! Let every public servant enjoy equal consideration because nation-building is a collective responsibility.
GOD BLESS UGANDA, GOD BLESS AFRICA. LONG LIVE H.E MUSEVENI ,the PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA!
Dr. Opul Joseph, PhD
Lecturer, Gulu University & Chief, Kitgum Campus Gulu university
Founder, Quality Education Consultancy Ltd (QECL)
CEO, OPUL Skilling Foundation Africa (OSFA)
President, Rotary Club of Soroti Central
Life Member, Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS)
Email: [email protected]
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