Kyambogo varsity staff demand 300% pay-rise

THE demand for a pay-rise by Kyambogo University Academic Staff has taken a new twist with the staff demanding an increment of 300 per cent.

The staff in a heated National Union of Educational Institutions (NUEI) Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday resolved that only increasing their pay-rise by 300 per cent like the top management will salvage the situation.
 

KYUASA members also resolved to take their fight to the floor of Parliament.

 

They have, apart from petitioning education minister Jessica Alupo, also engaged NUEI to assist them.
 

Musa Okello, NUEI general secretary, described the salary increments of top management staff as 'illegal and oppressive.'
 

Education Minister Jessica Alupo recently summoned top Kyambogo University bosses to justify what she described as the 'astronomical' salary increases by top management.
 

Kyambogo University governing council, the institution’s top decision-making organ, recently endorsed a salary increase of over 150% for most of its staff this financial year.
 

The move was geared towards motivating staff, averting strikes over low pay and improving academic standards.
 

 

Under the new structures, the vice-chancellor is to earn a monthly salary of sh15m, compared to sh7.4m which Makerere University pays its vice-chancellor Prof. Venensius Baryamureeba.
 

The figure includes basic salary plus top-up allowances.  The council also doubled the salary for each of the deputy vice-chancellors from sh6m to sh12m a month.
 

At Makerere, a deputy vice-chancellor earns sh7.1m monthly. Kyambogo University secretary, who is the accounting officer, is to get sh9m, up from sh2.24m a month.
 

The monthly pay for the bursar, academic registrar, librarian, and dean of students is to go from sh2.1m to sh8m. Such officers earn about sh6.8m at Makerere.
 

The council also endorsed a sh4.6m monthly pay for its professors up from sh3.1m. Makerere pays its professors sh2.9m.

Other academic staff members at the rank of associate professor are to earn sh3.6m, up from sh2.8m while senior lecturers will receive sh2.9m, up from sh2.5m. But surprisingly, the lowest paid person at M15 will now earn from Shs470,000, up from Shs430, 000 under the new proposed salary increment.

 

The salary increment was due to start this academic year after approval by the Ministry of Education.
 

“The entire staff has resolved that their salaries be increased by 300 per cent, nothing less, nothing more,” Okello said.
 

“The planned salary increment is discriminative because it alienates lower staff. It is illegal because contractual employees need not increase salaries without signing new contracts.

 

It is inconsistent because it violates the provision of the law in respect to section 62 of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act."
 

New Vision on Wednesday learnt that minister Alupo was yet to approve the budget passed by the University Council.
 

In a letter dated June 20 (Ref. ADM/137/174/01) signed by Alupo and addressed to the chairperson of Kyambogo University Council (James Okalebo), the minister rejected the university budget for 2011/12 describing it as ‘inconsistent’.
 

“The submission by the university secretary is not consistent with the provision of Section 62 (2), as the summary does not provide the estimates of income and expenditure of the university.
 

This, therefore, is to inform you that your budget has not been approved and the University Council will be accountable for the consequences of non-approval,” Alupo affirmed.
 

 

Section 62 (1) of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 as amended requires the University Council, within a period of three months before the end of each financial year, to make and submit to the Minister of Education and Sports for approval, estimates of the income and expenditure of the public university for the next ensuing year.
 

Akorimo, in his submission to the education minister in a June 6, 2011 letter, said the budget was approved by the council at a special meeting held on June 1. 

What Akorimo attached in the minister’s letter was a half-page summary of the approved budget for the financial year 2011/12.
 

KYUASA in a June 5 letter to the chairperson of Kyambogo University Council made it clear that they would not allow discrepancies in salary payments.
 

“We categorically reject the current proposed salary elevations which have been set by other university administrators other than the vice-chancellor and his deputy above that of the lecturer.
 

"If management is in position to give other university administrators a basic salary of sh5m, we then expect the basic salary for a lecturer to be at the same level,” said the KYUASA members at Wednesday's meeting.

 

Alupo made the reaf