Shs 1m per month for teachers as promised by Besigye is untenable- Frank Tumwebaze

The Minister for Presidency Frank Tumwebaze has said Besigye’s promise to pay teachers Shs 1m per month is unsustainable.

Frank Tumwebaze said Besigye’s promise of Shs 1m per month teachers is untenable

The minster posted on his wall as follows; Its good for Dr Besigye to pledge shs 1m per month for a primary teacher. And with the current numbers of about 130,000 government enrolled teachers, shs 1m per month per teacher translates to shs 130billion per month and 1.6trillion per year. While this would be a good dream for the teachers, the question here is; how will Besigye finance sustainably that huge recurrent expenditure without causing adverse effects to the economy? Will he order job cuts? Will he not pay and increase salaries of other equally deserving civil servants (doctors, nurses, police, army etc) some of whom earn much less than a primary teacher?

Kizza Besigye said if elected as the president he will pay teachers 1m per month

Or will Besigye quadruple the current tax rates so as to raise the required revenues? If this becomes his strategy, still the anticipated income won’t be realized since business outfits will no longer be profitable because of the prohibitive tax rates and will close shop. Either way, his promise becomes untenable.