Push for juicy retirement deal: Former RDCs meet Kadaga

Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has promised to fast track a law on the retirement benefits of Resident District Commissioners (RDCs).

Appointees of the president, the former RDCs and deputy RDCs told Kadaga they “go home with nothing” upon retirement.

On July 13, the ex representatives of President Yoweri Museveni in various districts delivered their petition to Kadaga, making a number of proposals on how government can address their plight.

After meeting the retired senior citizens, Kadaga said they had requested her to ensure that parliament enacts a law “in which former RDCs and their deputies will be facilitated.”

They also asked the Speaker to ensure that the proposed law takes into consideration all RDC and their deputies who will have retired by the time it comes into force.

They also want the law to spell out termination of their contracts to offer them enough time to prepare their exit instead of the current scenario where the appointing authority can announce a reshuffle and kicks some into unemployment.

They made it clear they want a law that will have “a retroactive effect” and “streamlines exit of RDCs to provide ample notice of at least six months of impending termination.”

Kadaga thanked RDCs and their deputies “for bringing stability and order in some areas” and noted that they “raise good policy issues” because “there is need to address RDCs’ benefits and tenure.”

“I will forward the petition to the Committee of Presidential Affairs for action and also bring it to the attention of Parliament,” she said.

The RDCs’ demands come on the heels of a new law that offered the judiciary better retirement benefits, including a monthly pay.

Most Ugandan workers retire into poverty since they are neither part of social security saving schemes nor receive retirement packages from government.