Salary guide · Uganda
Highest paying government jobs in Uganda 2026/27: the official salary list
The top public salary in the government's 2026/27 circular is the Inspector General of Government at UGX 37,000,000 a month, then the Auditor General at 36,100,000. Here's the list, and the well paid posts a graduate can actually reach.
This ranks the posts in Circular Standing Instruction No. 6 of 2026, the Ministry of Public Service's salary structure from 1 July 2026. All figures are gross monthly pay before tax. It's a list of public posts in that circular only. It doesn't cover private companies, or bodies with their own pay such as URA and Bank of Uganda. The President, ministers, MPs and the UPDF aren't in the circular either, so they aren't here.
| Post, and where it is in the circular | 2026/27 per month |
|---|---|
| Inspector General of Government (Schedule 9A) | 37,000,000 |
| Auditor General (Schedule 9A) | 36,100,000 |
| Executive Director, Presidential aviation crew (Schedule 10A) | 32,165,547 |
| Deputy Inspector General of Government (Schedule 9A) | 32,000,000 |
| Chief Pilot, Presidential aviation crew (Schedule 10A) | 30,257,813 |
| Chief Engineer, Presidential aviation crew (Schedule 10A) | 29,376,518 |
| Captain, Presidential aviation crew (Schedule 10A) | 28,520,891 |
| Pilot, Presidential aviation crew (Schedule 10A) | 27,690,185 |
| First Officer, Presidential aviation crew (Schedule 10A) | 26,883,675 |
| Chief Justice (Schedule 9A) | 26,500,000 |
| Deputy Chief Justice (Schedule 9A) | 25,000,000 |
| Principal Judge (Schedule 9A) | 24,000,000 |
| Justice of the Supreme Court (Schedule 9A) | 23,500,000 |
| Justice of the Court of Appeal (Schedule 9A) | 23,000,000 |
| Judge of the High Court (Schedule 9A) | 22,500,000 |
| Director of Public Prosecutions (Schedule 7-B) | 22,500,000 |
| Director, East African Aviation Academy, Soroti (Schedule 10B) | 22,197,994 |
| Head of Training and Head of Training-Flying, same academy (Schedule 10B) | 21,600,000 |
| Chairperson of a national service commission (Schedule 9B) | 21,200,000 |
| Chief Flying Instructor, same academy (Schedule 10B) | 20,250,000 |
| Deputy Chairperson of a national service commission (Schedule 9B) | 20,000,000 |
| Vice Chancellor, public university (Schedule 12) | 20,000,000 |
| Chief Registrar of the courts (Schedule 7-A) | 20,000,000 |
| Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (Schedule 7-B) | 20,000,000 |
| Head of the Public Service (Schedule 2) | 17,600,000 |
| Professor, public university (Schedule 12) | 15,600,000 |
| Permanent Secretary (Schedule 2) | 15,400,000 |
| Inspector General of Police (Schedule 9A) | 15,400,000 |
| Commissioner of Prisons (Schedule 9A) | 15,400,000 |
| Director General of Health (Schedule 6) | 15,340,000 |
| Chief Administrative Officer, Town Clerk of a city or municipal council (Schedule 2) | 12,750,000 |
We list every post we could read in the circular down to UGX 20,000,000. Below that we show only the best known posts, so many others sit between these lines. The circular is a scan. We read it with text recognition, checked that monthly x 12 equals the annual column for the 2026/27 figures, and compared the top rows with the scanned pages by eye.
Well paid posts a graduate can actually reach
Most of the table is the end of a long career or a presidential appointment. These posts are closer. A science lecturer at a public university earns UGX 8,174,143 a month and a non science lecturer UGX 7,609,299. A Medical Officer, Dental Surgeon or Pharmacist on U4 (Med-1) earns UGX 5,408,476. A Magistrate Grade I or a State Attorney earns UGX 5,200,000. A Teaching Assistant at a public university earns UGX 5,718,179 in science and UGX 4,705,540 outside it.
On the general scale, a graduate scientist on U4 (science) earns UGX 4,000,000. A Flight Attendant with the Presidential aviation crew is also on UGX 4,000,000. A Magistrate Grade II or State Prosecutor starts on UGX 3,000,000.
Your degree can change your pay by millions
This is the most useful thing the circular shows. On the same U4 level, a graduate scientist earns UGX 4,000,000, while a graduate in the professional cadre on U4 Upper earns UGX 798,667 to 940,366 and a graduate in the administrative cadre on U4 Lower earns UGX 601,341 to 798,535. So if you're choosing a course or a post, read which schedule the job sits on, not just the U number.
Legal officers show a similar gap between employers. A State Attorney at the DPP or the Ministry of Justice is on UGX 5,200,000, but a Legal Officer at other public bodies, on Schedule 7-D, is on UGX 1,700,000.
What UGX 5,200,000 leaves you after tax
Gross pay isn't what reaches your account. On UGX 5,200,000, PAYE is 1,448,250. If you're outside NSSF, that leaves UGX 3,751,750 in a month without Local Service Tax. A Medical Officer on UGX 5,408,476 pays PAYE of 1,510,793 and keeps UGX 3,897,683 on the same basis. We haven't confirmed which staff are on pension terms and which are in NSSF for every schedule, so use the calculator and tick the right option for your post.
How these jobs are filled
Public posts go through commissions and published adverts: the Public Service Commission and District Service Commissions for most staff, the Health, Education and Judicial Service Commissions for theirs. Some of the top posts in the table are appointments, not jobs anyone can apply for. Applying is free, and nobody can sell you a post. Our guide on government jobs shows which commission recruits for which job.
Private jobs may pay more or less
We don't list private pay here because we have no official source for it. Very few adverts print a figure: when we counted on 2 November 2026, it was one of the 355 open vacancies on work.co.ug. Our page of employers that publish salary shows it. If you've got an offer from a private employer, set it against these figures after tax with our Compare two job offers tool, linked at the bottom of this page.
Sources
Checked 2 November 2026. Each figure keeps the period and scope of its source.