At Shs 100 million per month, Dr Suruma earns five times more than Mbabazi

Dr Ezra Suruma (left) earns Shs 100 per month while Amama Mbabazi gets Shs 20 million

Dr Ezra Suruma is the highest-paid senior presidential advisor in Uganda, records show.

According to the ministerial policy statement for the Office of the President, Suruma, a senior presidential advisor on finance and economic planning, earns Shs 100 million every month. Suruma is on a full-time contract.

At this rate, Suruma earns five times more than former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, who gets Shs 20 million per month. Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, also a former prime minister, earns Shs 20 million. Both Mbabazi and Rugunda are listed as special presidential envoys.

Among former prime ministers, Kintu Musoke,who is a senior presidential advisor, is the lowest paid and earns Shs 17 million.

Museveni’s brother, Gen Salim Saleh, who is listed as senior presidential advisor on defence, earns Shs 17 million.

Dr Betty Namukwaya, the senior presidential advisor on Agriculture, is the second-highest-paid advisor after Suruma. She earns Shs 90 million per month. Namukwaya, who holds a doctorate in Molecular Biotechnology, is a plant scientist and has widely published papers on the genetic modification of plant cells.