Lubanga, Makerere is quite different!
Apr 07, 2008
EDITOR—I could not agree more with President Museveni for proposing that all permanent secretaries ought to have an MBA. Why? Because current management practices require that every decision should have a business value attached to it.
EDITOR—I could not agree more with President Museveni for proposing that all permanent secretaries ought to have an MBA. Why? Because current management practices require that every decision should have a business value attached to it.
I was taken aback when the education permanent secretary, F. X. Lubanga, proposed that salaries of academic staff at Makerere University should be reduced to match with the rest in other public universities.
Lubanga should realise that conditions pertaining in universities are different to the extent that even their recruitment policy is different. For example, for one to be a lecturer at Makerere University one must have a PhD whereas in other public universities a Masters is enough.
Does Lubanga also want to apply uniformity here? The PS sought to ensure uniformity (the conservative view of traditional civil servants) rather than accept to face the realities of the current labour market at play.
Universities the world over are not managed like primary schools. The PS should know that training of university academic staff is a very expensive venture to the government and all efforts must be made to retain them.
Whereas government meets the entire wage bill of staff at other public universities, the Makerere University Council meets the bigger part of staff salaries in a bid to retain them. It should not surprise the PS that the whole of Kyambogo University and many other universities in Uganda do not have a single professor.
Even after re-advertising both in the local and regional media, Kyambogo University cannot attract suitable candidates for the post of vice chancellor! The situation would have been different if the position being advertised was for a permanent secretary.
Whereas a professor leads a dog’s life, the less trained permanent secretary is chauffeured in expensive government vehicles with enormous allowances! Public officials should be restrained from making careless statements that only serve to hurt the economy.
That is where Museveni beats all when it comes to making a bargain. He always seeks to listen first before taking a decision that can adversely hurt the country. The Kyambogo scenario should not be replicated at Makerere by the likes of Lubanga.
Phillip Odoi
University of Reading, UK
I was taken aback when the education permanent secretary, F. X. Lubanga, proposed that salaries of academic staff at Makerere University should be reduced to match with the rest in other public universities.
Lubanga should realise that conditions pertaining in universities are different to the extent that even their recruitment policy is different. For example, for one to be a lecturer at Makerere University one must have a PhD whereas in other public universities a Masters is enough.
Does Lubanga also want to apply uniformity here? The PS sought to ensure uniformity (the conservative view of traditional civil servants) rather than accept to face the realities of the current labour market at play.
Universities the world over are not managed like primary schools. The PS should know that training of university academic staff is a very expensive venture to the government and all efforts must be made to retain them.
Whereas government meets the entire wage bill of staff at other public universities, the Makerere University Council meets the bigger part of staff salaries in a bid to retain them. It should not surprise the PS that the whole of Kyambogo University and many other universities in Uganda do not have a single professor.
Even after re-advertising both in the local and regional media, Kyambogo University cannot attract suitable candidates for the post of vice chancellor! The situation would have been different if the position being advertised was for a permanent secretary.
Whereas a professor leads a dog’s life, the less trained permanent secretary is chauffeured in expensive government vehicles with enormous allowances! Public officials should be restrained from making careless statements that only serve to hurt the economy.
That is where Museveni beats all when it comes to making a bargain. He always seeks to listen first before taking a decision that can adversely hurt the country. The Kyambogo scenario should not be replicated at Makerere by the likes of Lubanga.
Phillip Odoi
University of Reading, UK