The Act also provides separate retirement pension for firefighters and police. This is however unique, as most countries have provided retirement benefits to non-government workers and public servants. The Act provides special allowances for members of the special force and the ‘tenancy force’, but these allowances do not exist elsewhere.
Several outfits offering basic financial products such as loan and insurance are operating in Uganda. However, the majority of these services are done in a haphazard manner and do not seem to be regulated by the Government. The Act requires public financial institutions to provide life insurance and death annuity products. It also regulates the pensions system for public servants, retirees, and urban officials. The Act also states that the pensions must be refundable.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has elaborated the Factories Act in order to regulate the informal sector. The Uganda Factories Act, 2000, categorizes factories in Uganda into five streams with a view to regulating the different sectors of the manufacturing industry such as the textile sector, construction and house building, metal and metal products, engineering, electronics, and agriculture. The Act also lays down standards and criteria that govern the construction, operation and maintenance of factories.
The act also provides the necessary tools for community empowerment of small holders in agriculture. This is through the provision of the requirements, standards, procedures and incentives for the production, marketing and payment of agricultural commodity and service contracts in order to promote private sector participation in agriculture. This allows small farmers to generate income from farming and selling their produce.
The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) is a mandatory social health insurance fund for all Ugandans, but coverage is uneven. Ugandans pay medical insurance premiums twice a year, with these premiums deducted from weekly earnings and transferred to the NHIF.
