Wilson Muruli Mukasa, Minister of Public Service
There are 301,600 vacant positions in Government Ministries, Agencies and Departments as at December 2024, according to a report from the Ministry of Public Service.
Health and education sectors account for the largest shortfall despite the high unemployment rates especially among youth in Uganda.
“As at December 2024, the total approved establishment for Uganda’s Public Service stood at 658,104 positions, of which 356,504 were filled, translating into an overall fill rate of 54 percent and a staffing gap of 301,600 positions (46%).When compared to 2023 figures of 661,935 approved positions and 366,574 staff in post, with a 55 percent fill rate, there is a slight decline of 2.7 percent in staffing levels and a 1 percent drop in the fill rate,” says the report on the State of Human Resource in the Public Service 2024 that was published on 16th October 2025 on the Ministry of Public Service website.
According to the report, despite women outnumbering men in Uganda, out of 888 key positions analysed, only 232(26%) are held by women, further highlighting the gender disparities in Uganda’s public sector.
“The data shows that only 54 percent of the approved establishment for the Public Service in 2024 were filled, leaving 46 percent vacant. This means that nearly half of all public service positions remain unoccupied, posing serious implications for the quality and efficiency of service delivery. The high staffing gap is primarily attributed to factors such as inadequate wage provisions and expansion of staff structures in health sector without corresponding recruitment,” as added further in the report.
Although the 2024 National Housing Survey data indicates that about 43.54 percent of Uganda’s total population were aged 0 to 14 years, 54.27 percent were aged 15 to 64 years and 2.19 percent were 65 years old, the Ministry of Public Service revealed that the youths aged 18-29years occupy only 8.6% of the positions in public service. The minimum age for joining the Uganda Public Service is 18 years and the maximum age is 60 years.
The report shows that Government employs 14,333 women and 16,447 men thus totalling to 30,780 youths aged 18-29 years. The findings reveal that; the largest part of the workforce falls within the 30–39 years (35.1%) and 40–49 years (33.6%) age groups.
“This presents a strong middle cadre with potential for leadership grooming and career development, but also suggests that the pipeline for younger workers is shrinking. Additionally, 78,277 workers (22%) are in the 50–59 age bracket, and an additional 2,703 employees (0.8%) are aged 60 and above, signaling that about one-quarter of the workforce will reach retirement age in the next 5–10 years. This highlights a critical need for proactive succession planning to mitigate the loss of institutional memory and technical expertise,” the report reads in part.
The Ministry of Public Service says males are occupying 60 percent of the filled positions against females’ 40 percent.
The Ministry of Public Service further revealed that while there is sex equality in some roles such as Chairpersons and Secretaries to Commissions (50%), and Justices and Judges (50%) most leadership positions remain male-dominated.
“For instance, only 10 out of 22 Permanent Secretaries (45%) are women. Female representation declines further in other critical roles, with women constituting just 25 percent of Heads of Government Agencies and Departments, and 25 percent of Resident District Commissioners. The disparities are more pronounced among Heads of Referral Hospitals (18%), Chief Administrative Officers (15%), City Town Clerks (10%), Heads of Public Universities (9%) and Municipality Town Clerk (6%). At the technical leadership level women comprise on only 21 percent of Directors and 27 percent of Commissioners,” the report says.
This report is based on administrative data sourced from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPS), Human Capital Management (HCM) System, Programme Budgeting System (PBS), and other agency-specific payrolls. These systems support routine HR functions such as payroll processing, staff establishment control, and workforce analytics.
It should be noted that Wilson Muruli Mukasa, the Minister of Public Service, recently cleared 130 Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments to recruit 6,853 staff in FY 2025/2026.
Wilson Muruli Mukasa, Minister of Public Service, made the revelation while addressing the media at Uganda Media Centre on November 11, 2025.
“.. One Hundred and thirty (130) Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments were issued clearance to recruit a total of 6,853 employees worth Ugx. 124,874,302,165 in FY 2025/2026,” Muruli said.
