Kyambogo on the spot over promotions

A group claims the university’s Appointments Board is ‘secretly’ considering some staff for promotions.

BACKGROUND

Kyambogo University’s woes began in mid-September after teaching staff downed their tools, accusing the V/C, Prof. Isaiah Ndiege, of running down the institution and undermining staff.

This led to a three-week closure of the institution and Prof. Ndiege was sent on forced leave for 50 days. But before his leave could expire, the University Council, the top decision-making organ of the institution, recommended his sacking, even after an ad hoc committee had exonerated him.

With the dust settling on the sacked Kyambogo University Vice Chancellor, Prof Isaiah Omolo Ndiege’s tenure, the University top management is in the spotlight again over ‘clandestine’ staff promotions.

According to documents seen by Education, the University Appointments Board is ‘secretly’ considering a section of staff members for promotions which some staff describe as ‘unjustified’.

The aggrieved group claims that those  calling for  the institution’s Appointments Board for quick promotion are part of the group that braved the tides of fighting Prof Ndiege, whose fate currently hangs in the hands of the High Court.

In one of the letters, a staff member accuses the University Human Resource Department of promoting staff without approval from the Appointments Board, failure to execute staff performance monitoring appraisal and irregular extension of contracts for redundant staff without approval from the Appointments Board.

The letter also highlights irregular appointments over time, which have led to incompetent staff, poor or lack of action on indiscipline cases among certain staff members, among other evils.

“The criteria for promotion of public servants are clearly stipulated in the Uganda public service standing orders and other related laws. Kyambogo University shouldn’t and cannot act in error of the existing laws,” Mr Jackson Omalinga, a support staff at the university, says in one of the letters dated August 16 and addressed to the Dr Samuel Kiggundu, the chairman Appointments Board.

Other leaked documents from the University Human Resource Department, point out to seven eligible employees who were denied promotions on grounds that their first degrees were in finance related disciplines, although a review of the specifications did not specify any disciplines.

Sources in the university also revealed a lot of growing in-fighting amongst the institution’s top management since the sacking of Prof Ndiege, with each party wanting an upper hand in the decision making at the institution.
The university currently employs at least 1,116 people, of which 421 are teaching staff.

No cause for alarm
But Dr Kiggundu said there was no cause for alarm, insisting that no final decision had been taken on the matter yet. “We are currently holding a series of meetings and those are some of the issues we are discussing and when a decision is taken, we shall communicate it to the stakeholders,” he said.

The University Spokesperson, Lawrence Madete, could not confirm nor dismiss the said documents on grounds of not having seen a copy of them. “The university is considering promotion of all staff on merit rather than any devious means,” Madete noted, adding that, even before the altercations between staff and Mr. Ndiege erupted in August this year, the issue of promotions was top on the agenda.

In   August, the university had promised to raise the staff monthly top up allowances by 5-16 per cent, depending on one’s salary scale. However, the move did not materialise due to  the staff strike that rocked the institution and later culminated into  the sacking of Mr Ndiege over accusations of running down the institution and undermining staff.

However, he has since sought legal redress to challenge his dismal which he insists was based on blackmail.

assenkabirwa@ug.nationmedia.com