Gulu University lacks funds to recruit staff — VC

By Umaru Kashaka  
 
Gulu University has not been allocated any funds for staff recruitment for the last two financial years, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Jack Nyeko has said.

Appearing before the committee on education and sports on Friday to discuss the University’s budget for the financial year 2013/2014, Nyeko said the University needs over sh1.7bn to recruit 73 academic staff.

“The number of staff is now 416. Out of this, 235 are academic staff and 181 are non-teaching staff. We need to recruit more because every year we lose 5 staff members on average to other well-paying institutions,” Prof Nyeko told the committee, chaired by the Pallisa County MP, Jacob Opolot.

The Vice-Chancellor added that the University owes its staff sh1.7bn in gratuity and no fund allocation was made to have them paid.

“Funds are also inadequate for practical trainings for Faculties of Agriculture and environment students, medicine students and laboratory requirements,” he said.

He noted that every year the University suffers from development budget cuts, something he said had hampered the development of the University.

“In the year 2012/2012 we approved sh1bn for development but sh500m was released, and in the previous year it was sh750m. And yet we need to procure additional 2, 000 acres of land, to carry out evaluation and compensation of land owners and to process land titles for already acquired land,” he argued.

The University, he said, had approved sh21bn for this financial year.