Yes, give Ugandan CJ his rightful dues to avoid Monkey Appetite

Uganda’s Chief Justice is an unhappy man. Justice Benjamin Odoki heads one of three arms of government, the Judiciary. But his monthly earnings are peanuts, compared to what his two counterparts get. Don’t fall off your chair but yes, his monthly salary is less than $2,000. And he is not allowed to engage in any business, so he has to lead his most dignified life on that amount which he has described a pocket change for a Kampala lawyer.

His legislative counterpart, the Speaker of Parliament, earns four times that amount. That is a fairly decent pay for her to lead a normal life. Meanwhile, his Executive counterpart – President of the Republic - probably gets an official salary as little as the Chief Justice but then he does not need it as each and every need of his, including gifts worth millions of dollars that he gives out every year, is paid for by the taxpayer.

In fact, during the writing of the (1995) Constitution, there was a suggestion that the President be paid only a token salary of one shilling per month, because he does not need it anyway.

I think the ridiculous pay for the head of Uganda’s Judiciary is just an oversight that has gone for too long. It should not be blamed on whoever is concerned with determining the emoluments of public officials. Now that the Chief Justice has cried out – he did in the presence of journalists recently – the matter should be resolved expeditiously.

Paying reasonable salaries to people who carry big responsibilities, in this case enormous responsibility, is a necessity that needs not be debated for too long. Already, Ugandans can see the dividends of paying the legislators relatively well.

Agitating

When Ugandan MPs started agitating for higher pay about a decade ago, many people thought they were selfish. But recent developments have shown that a relatively comfortable pay shields MPs from temptations that include manipulation by the Executive. So any MP today who still accepts inducements from the investors or the Executive is naturally corrupt and will remain corrupt with or without reasonable pay.

Imagine if the MPs were only getting $2,000 like the Chief Justice! Would they have had the courage to call extra-ordinary sessions or disagree with the Executive big guns as far as fighting corruption is concerned? But at least with a monthly total of about $8,000, any upright MP can be independent-minded.

Now back to the little matter of the Chief Justice’s peanuts! In management seminars they tell you that if you pay peanuts, you only attract monkeys. Maybe there aren’t enough monkeys yet in the Judiciary to mess it up, but we have already heard reports of magistrates chewing as little as $80 to swing a case in the wrong direction. That is a real Monkey Appetite.

Patronage

In the higher echelons of the Judiciary, the monkeys go by the label of ‘cadre judges’. Their peanuts are served on a plate of political patronages. Even these ones would be liberated if they had a decent pay. In all honesty, a high court judge should not earn less than an MP. It takes years of toil and upright conduct to become a judge. It only takes an election to become an MP.

Some chaps got into Parliament in their early twenties and got overwhelmed by the several million shillings. One bought a rusty pistol at an incredible $3,000 and shot his wife in the mouth.

But such mishaps doesn’t mean MPs’ salaries should be cut. Instead, mature men and women who interprete the law and pass judgement should be paid a reasonable salary, starting with $8,000 for a high court judge. These men and women determine cases worth millions of dollars. That is why the government itself, when it hires private legal practitioners, it pays them no less than a million dollars in consultation.

Then it goes ahead and pays the Chief of Judges who make the ruling $2,000 a whole month. Does it make sense?

buwembo@gmail.com