Kyambogo confirms over 600 staff, extends semester

Kyambogo University Council has confirmed the appointment of 672 teaching and non-teaching staff and extended the second semester by a month. 
According to a July 22 circular addressed to the university community, a total of 520 non-teaching staff, who were hired by the appointments board to take up key positions in the new structure and 152 academic staff, have been confirmed. 
The academic staff include lecturers (75), deans of faculty, schools and institutes (13), and heads of department (52).
The university staff early this year petitioned the university council protesting the appointment of deans and heads of departments, saying it was conducted illegally.
However, the council has upheld the appointments, saying it was done in line with appointment guidelines.

Meanwhile, the university council declined to validate a total of 15 teaching and non-teaching staff for a range of reasons.
“At its special meeting held on July 20, the council noted that the appointments board is still considering the matter of 10 non-teaching staff, who declined to be validated, and also declined to appoint two staff on contract to different positions of senior lecturer and professor,” the circular signed by the council chairperson, Dr Gorreti Nakabugo, reads in part.
The council also approved the dismissal of one staff in the department of electoral and electronics engineering for absconding from duty. 
In an interview with Monitor yesterday, the Vice Chancellor of Kyambogo University, Prof Eli Katunguka, said the staff, who was dismissed, had another job in Dubai and wanted to work in two places at the same time.

Services were also withdrawn from two teaching staff and one non-teaching staff for reasons this newspaper is yet to know. 
Asked why the semester was postponed, Prof Katunguka said: “The students had appealed for an extension of the semester because a majority of them missed online lectures that were conducted in the first four weeks when the semester reopened.” 
He added that some students spent more time doing their internships and school practice.
The vice chancellor said the senate recommended to the university council an extension of the semester by four weeks to give ample time to students and lecturers to finalise the work they missed.

Other approvals
Meanwhile, the university council approved the procurement and recruitment plan for the financial year 2022/2023 and the budget estimates of Shs140.7b. 
The university council also considered the petition from the university staff tenants concerning the eviction notices issued by the university secretary. The petition has been sent to the estates and works committee to study and make recommendations to the council.
This means that the eviction of legal tenants was put on halt until the petition is disposed of.