Museveni asks Makerere to end strike
Aug 26, 2010
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked Makerere University staff to end the sit-down strike that started on Monday over pension funds.
By Taddeo Bwambale
and Brian Mayanja
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked Makerere University staff to end the sit-down strike that started on Monday over pension funds.
Museveni, who met top university officials at State House in Entebbe yesterday, assured the administrators that the National Insurance Corporation would pay their money.
He promised tough action against NIC top management if they became complacent.
“The President said in the unlikely event that NIC fails to pay the money, the Government would take full responsibility towards the depositors and will deal with the proprietors of NIC as it did with the defunct Greenland Bank in the past,†a State House statement said.
Makerere staff declared a sit-down strike on Monday, contesting the Government and university council’s failure to recover their pension funds from NIC, whose contract to run the staff pension scheme ended in 2005.
The money is said to have accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated the staff pension scheme.
Both parties have disagreed on the amount. NIC insists that it owes sh13b, while the university claims sh17.7b.
The meeting that lasted about four hours was attended by the Makerere University vice-chancellor, Venansius Baryamureeba, the chairman of the staff association, Tanga Odoi, the director for higher education, Elizabeth Gabona, representatives from the university council and administration staff association and the National Union of Educational Institutions.
Museveni said the strike was punishing innocent students, who have nothing to do with the dealings between NIC and the university.
According to a letter to the university administration, the President said the staff had a right to transfer their pension funds from NIC after the expiry of the stipulated time.
He urged both parties to seek guidance from the Auditor General to establish the actual amount that NIC owes the staff within three months.
Speaking after the meeting, the chairperson of the teaching staff, Tanga Odoi, said the discussions were “very fruitfulâ€.
“Our discussion with the President was positive. We shall present what we discussed with him to the general assembly, after which we shall make our resolutions known to the public,†Odoi said.
The meeting will take place today at the University Main Hall.
Meanwhile, the retired staff yesterday acknowledged receipt of the sh413m which NIC agreed to pay to eligible staff.
On Monday, finance minister Syda Bbumba met both parties.The university council also met on Tuesday but both meetings did not resolve the matter.
The situation at the main campus remains calm, although students said the university management should end the strike or they will join.
and Brian Mayanja
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked Makerere University staff to end the sit-down strike that started on Monday over pension funds.
Museveni, who met top university officials at State House in Entebbe yesterday, assured the administrators that the National Insurance Corporation would pay their money.
He promised tough action against NIC top management if they became complacent.
“The President said in the unlikely event that NIC fails to pay the money, the Government would take full responsibility towards the depositors and will deal with the proprietors of NIC as it did with the defunct Greenland Bank in the past,†a State House statement said.
Makerere staff declared a sit-down strike on Monday, contesting the Government and university council’s failure to recover their pension funds from NIC, whose contract to run the staff pension scheme ended in 2005.
The money is said to have accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated the staff pension scheme.
Both parties have disagreed on the amount. NIC insists that it owes sh13b, while the university claims sh17.7b.
The meeting that lasted about four hours was attended by the Makerere University vice-chancellor, Venansius Baryamureeba, the chairman of the staff association, Tanga Odoi, the director for higher education, Elizabeth Gabona, representatives from the university council and administration staff association and the National Union of Educational Institutions.
Museveni said the strike was punishing innocent students, who have nothing to do with the dealings between NIC and the university.
According to a letter to the university administration, the President said the staff had a right to transfer their pension funds from NIC after the expiry of the stipulated time.
He urged both parties to seek guidance from the Auditor General to establish the actual amount that NIC owes the staff within three months.
Speaking after the meeting, the chairperson of the teaching staff, Tanga Odoi, said the discussions were “very fruitfulâ€.
“Our discussion with the President was positive. We shall present what we discussed with him to the general assembly, after which we shall make our resolutions known to the public,†Odoi said.
The meeting will take place today at the University Main Hall.
Meanwhile, the retired staff yesterday acknowledged receipt of the sh413m which NIC agreed to pay to eligible staff.
On Monday, finance minister Syda Bbumba met both parties.The university council also met on Tuesday but both meetings did not resolve the matter.
The situation at the main campus remains calm, although students said the university management should end the strike or they will join.