By: Isaac Christopher Lubogo
There is a special corner in hell — reserved not for murderers, not for liars, but for bosses who eat steak with one hand while holding back the wages of their workers with the other.
You know them. The ones who say: “We are still processing.”
Processing? Do you process rice for three months before cooking it? Or do you process air before you breathe?
These bosses are professional thieves in suits. Unlike the pickpocket on the street who takes in one swift motion, they rob slowly, with calendars and excuses. Their weapon is not a gun — it is a smile. Their crime scene is not a dark alley — it is an office.
The Tragedy They Cause
Every unpaid wage is not just money withheld; it is rent unpaid, a child sent home for fees, a hospital bill ignored, a stomach that goes to bed empty.
That mother who walks ten miles to work — she carries not only her bag but your unpaid promises.
That father who bends his back in your service — he bends lower still under the shame of telling his children, “Not today.”
That young graduate who works late into the night — he scrolls his phone at dawn, not for likes, but for borrowed mobile money alerts.
And you dare call yourself a leader?
The Philosophy of Greed
Aristotle said justice is giving each his due. Yet the unjust employer believes justice is keeping each man hungry so that he may work harder tomorrow. Oh, the foolishness!
Karl Marx warned: “Labour is the source of all wealth.” But these bosses, blinded by arrogance, imagine wealth grows from their chairs, their signatures, their titles. No — it grows from sweat. And every drop you refuse to pay turns into a curse upon your name.
The Unseen Revenge
Let me tell you, O withholder of wages: workers remember. They may not fight you with fists, but they fight you with silence. They perfect the art of minimum effort.
You get delays instead of deadlines.
You get absence disguised as “sick leave.”
You get smiles as plastic as your promises.
Justice laughs, because you plant dishonour and you harvest mediocrity.
The Thunder of Consequence
Scripture thunders: “The wages of the labourers which you kept back by fraud cry out against you, and the cries have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts” (James 5:4).
Do you hear it? Every coin you withhold is a scream in heaven. Every shilling you deny is a testimony against you in the court of eternity. And heaven’s gavel falls harder than any Labour Tribunal.
The Final Call
So, dear employer, before you sip that expensive wine, remember: it may be sweet on your tongue, but it is bitter in the mouth of the worker’s hungry child. Before you boast of loyalty and “family culture” in the office, remember: families do not starve each other.
Pay the worker. Pay him fully. Pay him on time. For if you do not, his hunger shall become your shame, his tears your inheritance, and his silence your downfall.
And when history writes your name, let it not be recorded:
“Here lies a boss who built castles on the stomachs of the unpaid.”