Strengthen legal framework to improve governance and minimise strikes

By Professor Venansius Baryamureeba

The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 as amended herein referred to as the Act like any other law did not provide for everything. One of the key functions of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) under Section 5(a) of the Act is to implement the objects of this Act through enacting Statutory Instruments.

NCHE has enacted several statutory instruments to guide the implementation of the Act on matters that cut across higher education institutions. Also section 41(d) of the Act gives powers to each Public University Council to make statutes under this Act on matters that specifically concern that University. Furthermore, section 104 of the Act concerns a private University Charter, main law governing a private university, which gives powers to relevant organs of a private university to come up with statutes on matters concerning that private university.

For quite sometime, Makerere University Council has not come up with key statutes to enable the smooth implementation of the Act. With frequent strikes and other challenges like financial mismanagement and how to share resources among the different cost centres, enacting Makerere University statutes should be given priority by re-activating a Statutes Committee of Council with a clear work plan and deliverables.
 
For example, why is the Makerere University statute on students, convocation, academic, administrative and support staff associations important?  Section 68(1) of the Act provides that each public University may have an Academic Staff Association, Administrative Staff Association and a Supporting Staff Association.

Likewise Section 69(1) and 70(1) provide for students association and convocation. As per Sections 69-70 of the Act, the governance, powers and functions of these associations should be in conformity with the statutes of the University and specifically the constitutions of these associations should conform to the statutes of the University. Section 41(d) of the Act gives powers to the University Council to make statutes under this Act.

The statutes have to be gazetted in the Uganda in order to become law. Makerere University Council has never made a statute to which the constitutions of these associations should conform.

This has been the main weakness in overseeing the activities of these associations because of lack of a legal framework. As a result of lack of legal framework Council has not been able to exercise its authority as a supreme organ over these associations.

The Act has gaps that should have been filled by the Statute on associations. For example, Section 68(2) of the Act provides that all members of academic and administrative and supporting staff shall be eligible to be members of their respective association consequent upon their appointment and taking up their duties.

This does not make it mandatory for every staff to be a member of the respective staff association. So if some members of these staff categories are not members of the associations to what extent can the decisions of these associations bind all the members? What should be the quorum of association meetings?

For example, the version of constitution of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) that I saw provides for a quorum of 20 members. So can 20 members out of the over 1,500 academic staff sit and take binding decisions on all academic staff? The statute should provide for a quorum of at least 50% of all members in instances where staffs are to take impactful decisions on the University like going on strike.

Also decisions like going on strike should be determined by a majority of two thirds of the members. Strikes should be put in the same category as election of Chairperson of the University Council and approval of the budget that are determined by a majority of two thirds of the members as per Section 42(4) of the Act.

To put this into perspective, at the MUASA meeting of 21st December 2016, the decision to suspend the strike was reached at through an open voting where 81 members supported the suspension while 56 voted to continue the strike. Most likely the meeting that called for a strike on 25th October 2016 could have been attended by about 200 members and may be a resolution to go on strike was reached by consensus without even a vote. These are small numbers to determine the fate of over 1,500 academic staff hence the need for a University statute to provide for a reasonable quorum and how decisions are taken among others.

Furthermore, in 2012 the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions (Management of Constituent Colleges of Makerere University) Statute, 2012 came into force that makes Makerere University Colleges semi-autonomous but also provides for staff associations at College level. This necessitates the need to provide for both a popular vote and a college vote just like it is in the United States Presidential system.

The decisions from a general assembly of Makerere University staff that have far reaching consequences on colleges like staff going on strike arrived at through a popular vote should be subjected to ratification by at least a simple majority of the colleges through a college vote.

Allocating a number of votes to each college based on the number of staff in the college would avoid a situation where staff from one large college like the College of Humanities and Social Sciences can meet and take binding resolutions on the whole university through a popular vote.  

The other areas that the association statute should address is how leaders of these associations are elected. Should it be by popular vote or college vote or both. For example, to ensure equity in student guild elections, the college system should be adopted where each college is given a certain number of college votes to determine the winner instead of relying on the popular vote at University level.

This would mean that either the college votes obtained by a candidate would be proportional to the number of popular votes a candidate got or the one who wins the popular vote in a college would take all the college votes depending on the criteria adopted.   

Otherwise as of today most guild presidents at Makerere University come from large colleges denying excellent candidates from small colleges an opportunity to serve in that high office. This further denies the University good guild leadership and hence leads to student governance problems.

The author is a Former Vice Chancellor of Makerere University and a Higher Education Expert