NIC pays sh5b to Makerere University

Dec 13, 2010

MAKERERE University staff have received sh5b from the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).The money was part of the disputed sh16b the employees say the insurance firm owes them.

By Taddeo Bwambale
MAKERERE University staff have received sh5b from the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).The money was part of the disputed sh16b the employees say the insurance firm owes them.

The chairperson of the university’s teaching staff association, Dr. Tanga Odoi said the money was received on Friday.

“We received the money at 4:00pm and we are waiting for the balance in two months time. For now, exams are on and we are marking the students’ scripts,” he said.

Last week, the workers threatened to lay down their tools again if they did not get the money by the end of the week. The staff laid went on strike two weeks ago over their savings but suspended it two days later after the finance minister, Syda Bbumba, promised that the Government would guarantee the payment of sh10b in two months.

She promised that sh5b would be paid to them in two weeks and that the balance would be paid within two months.

Makerere claims that NIC owes it sh16b which accumulated between 1996 and 2005, when the insurance company operated a staff pension scheme. NIC disputes the amount, saying it owes the university sh7b.

The contract was terminated five years ago, but the workers had failed to access their savings because of the dispute.

It took the intervention of President Yoweri Museveni to end the strike, after he directed Bbumba to resolve the matter amicably.

Bbumba said a special audit to establish the actual amount NIC owes Makerere would be released in two months.

She added that the Government would meet the full cost of the audit, valued at sh500m.

Bbumba noted that if the audit report showed that NIC owed Makerere more than sh10b, the balance would be paid by the Government, but that if the insurers owed the university less, the matter would be solved amicably by NIC and Makerere.

She also said the Government was committed to ensuring that the worker’s funds were protected and paid to them.

A preliminary report on the dispute by the Auditor General points to irregularities in the contract signed between Makerere and NIC.

It shows that NIC was given overwhelming powers in the administration of the pension funds, especially in determining the administration costs, interest rate and the amount a member could withdraw under the scheme.

Odoi said the workers would hold their general assembly in two months’ time to review the progress on the matter.


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