Lectures resume at Makerere University

Sep 26, 2011

LECTURES kicked off at Makerere University on Monday as the institution emerged out a month-long strike which had been staged by staff over their pay and pension funds.

By Conan Businge

LECTURES kicked off at Makerere University on Monday as the institution emerged out a month-long strike which had been staged by staff over their pay and pension funds.

The University had been closed by the University council, to adequately get solutions to the staffs’ grievances. It was re-opened last Friday, after the staff reached a consensus with the Government.

All units of the University were operational by Monday morning.
Much as the University is back to full operation, some of the students could be seen reporting in the course of the day; meaning they missed the kick-off of serious academic work.

The Government on Thursday signed an agreement with Makerere University undertaking to clear sh16.7bn pension arrears which NIC owes the university staff. The staff has set the signing of the agreement as a condition which the Government had to fulfill before they accept to resume work.

The staff last month went on strike, demanding for the swift release of their sh16.7b pension funds from the national insurance corporation (NIC) on top of a salary increment of sh8m for the lowest paid members of the academic staff.

The sh16.7b accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated a deposit administration plan (DAP) for the university's pension scheme.

A recent report by the Auditor General indicates that NIC owes Makerere sh26.9b, twice higher than both the corporation and the university were earlier quoting.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});