New terms set for opening Makerere

KAMPALA.

Makerere University Council yesterday postponed a meeting it had scheduled with staff and instead met college principals and deans to discuss the possibilities of reopening the university before Christmas.
Yesterday’s meeting agreed that they pay staff their November salary and part of December and asked some of their members to meet the academic staff and convince them to return to work as the university looks for money to pay their incentive arrears.

“It is a tricky situation. At least everyone in the meeting is interested in having the university reopened. We have agreed that November salary be paid and council finds money to pay part of December. But arrears of February to June will be paid at a later time. It is important the university reopens. The students don’t have to report immediately because management has to reorganise themselves,” a source who attended the meeting shared.

The source, close to council but who declined to be named to speak freely, said President Museveni has maintained that council pays the institution’s employees their November salary only if they agree to return to class. In addition, the source said, that the President demanded council to ensure the university is reopened without giving him conditions.

It is these conditions, the source said, that put council chairperson, Dr Charles Wana-Etyem, on pressure that at some point last week, he thought of resigning but was blocked.

He then invited the academic staff on Friday last week hoping to share with them the conditions only to be advised later by the university management that there was need to first engage the college principals and deans before the rest of the university staff.

“There was verbal instruction that they don’t pay our November salary. Now, I understand that President Museveni told council to pay staff their November salary only if they are willing to work. At the same time, he gave a condition that the staff should not give him any condition for reopening the university,” the source said.
The source added: “These conditions were to be sold to academic staff yesterday but management thought it important to first involve their supervisors who are the principals and deans. They are going for a meeting at 4pm today (yesterday) and from that, council will arrange to meet other staff.”

However, Presidential press secretary, Mr Don Wanyama, yesterday said he was not aware of any such developments urging he was with him in eastern Uganda at the weekend.
“I don’t know about the meeting or any letter to that effect. I will be constrained to comment on such,” Mr Wanyama told Daily Monitor in a telephone interview.

Makerere University Academic Staff Association chairperson, Dr Muhammed Kiggundu, yesterday confirmed that council had postponed their meeting indefinitely to meet the college principals.

Signs of panic
When this newspaper later sounded the conditions that council wanted to front before them, Dr Kiggundu said: “They are going to meet college principals before us. I don’t know why they are panicking inviting us and then cancelling. The more they panic, the more they get in trouble. People thought it was easy by closing the university. Now they see it is more too serious.”

He added: “Our engagement will be with Council not government. It will depend on what they put on table for us to go back to work. Salary is our constitutional right. Yah, they have not paid our November salary. But it should not be anywhere in the negotiations because that is not why we went on strike. We are concerned with our incentive which we worked for.”

State Minister for Higher Education, Chrysostom Muyingo in an earlier interview told Daily Monitor that the university will be reopened if the lecturers decided to go back to work. His known telephone number though was not available yesterday when we reached him for a comment on the current development.

The lecturers are demanding payment of their incentive arrears which have accrued since February, totaling to over Shs27billion.
Meanwhile, Dr Abel Rwendeire led Visitation Committee has completed investigations with the university’s top management and is now inviting members of the public to provide information they feel is relevant to their work.

“We have finished interrogating senior management and middle level managers at the university and we are casting the net wider by putting up an advert in newspapers with terms of reference for the public to give us information,” he said.

Asked whether the university staff are cooperating with the committee, he said they were surprised with the enthusiasm the staff have exhibited because they equally want the troubles affecting the university to be resolved once and for all.

“There is a general feeling that the Omaswa probe did not consult widely and that is why it was difficult to implement their recommendations,” he said.

Last month, President Museveni ordered for the indefinite closure of Makerere University following a series of strikes by university staff which drew in students afterwards.

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