Dismissed Makerere staff wins case

A tribunal has ruled in favour of a Makerere University member of staff who was dismissed last year for alleged insubordination, failure to hand in marks in time and sexual harassment, among others

Mr Perez Arinaitwe, the former university accountant, appealed the dismissal before the University Staff Tribunal, arguing that the appointment board did not give him a fair hearing.

The chairperson of the tribunal, Justice Patrick Tabaro, yesterday ruled that Mr Arinaitwe’s suspension was illegal and the university management must reinstate him and pay him the equivalent of 10 months of the salary he has missed.

“The accused was not given an opportunity to interact with the board to give his plea hence his right to a fair hearing as enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda was neglected,” Justice Tabaro said.

“There was only one hearing by the Appointments Board and the matter was concluded without hearing from the accused [Arinaitwe]. This was wrong and must not be repeated again,” he added.

Management faulted
Judge Tabaro said there was no investigation carried out by the department where the accused was working and neither did the university lawyers have evidence against him. The lawyer of the accused, Mr Isaac Ssemakadde, welcomed the ruling, saying the university management should respect the tribunal’s decision and reinstate his client within the given 19 days.

The university secretary, Mr Yusuf Kiranda, in an interview said they will abide by the ruling of the tribunal.
At least 19 staff of the 46 dismissed staff appealed the before the tribal and the hearing of their cases is still underway.

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