The minister of Justice and Constitutional affairs Gen. Kahinda Otafiire faced a problematic afternoon when the wedged another attempt aimed at persuading State prosecutors to resume work.
This meeting between the minister of justice and state prosecutors under the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) was held at Africana hotel in Kampala.
Speaking to the learned colleagues, Kahinda called for need of being considerate and empathetic for the innocent people under custody.
He also promised to forward their issue to the ministry of Finance to ensure that their grievances are addressed.
“Iam here because I know what you are going through, I know you need the salary increment and this is still underway therefore I beg you to resume work because you are denying our innocent inmates justice by delaying their case hearings.” Kahinda implored the team amidst the booing.
This meeting follows almost a month long strike of prosecutors demanding an increased salary.
Prosecutors are by default government lawyers in criminal cases but according to the current salary structure under DPP, the lowest ranking prosecutor (State prosecutor) earns a monthly gross pay of Shs644,963 whereas the highest ranking prosecutor at the rank of senior principal State attorney, gets a gross monthly pay of Shs2.1m.
These says it is unfair to them as they handle complicated cases like terrorism, corruption and murder.
However, according to their president David Baxter Bakibinga said no amount of words would sway them this time to abandon the strike as was done in July when they were promised that their grievances would be worked upon.
“This time we will not resume work without anything tangible done. We shall wait for them to consult as we go on with the strike. We will go back after government acting on our demands.”
