MAK lecturers to get sh7b NIC cash
Nov 29, 2010
MAKERERE University lecturers have called off their strike after the Government offered to pay the sh16b pension debt the National Insurance Corporation owes them.
By Taddeo Bwambale
MAKERERE University lecturers have called off their strike after the Government offered to pay the sh16b pension debt the National Insurance Corporation owes them.
President Yoweri Museveni directed the Ministry of Finance to pay off the debt.
Consequently, officials from the Ministry of Finance met a team from the Makerere University Staff Association (MUASA) on Saturday, before the University Council met yesterday to approve the deal.
MUASA held a general assembly yesterday in which the lecturers resolved to resume work. “ We have resolved to suspend the strike as we wait for our demands to be met,†MUASA chairman, Prof. Tanga Odoi, said after the meeting last evening.
“We are happy that examinations will start tomorrow. Students have been reading and preparing for them. We shall use a vehicle and go round (the campus) telling them that exams will go on as scheduled,†Odoi explained.
MUASA’s meeting was attended by finance minister Syda Bbumba, her colleague for higher education Mwesigwa Rukutana, the deputy secretary to the treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, and the commissioner for pensions at NIC.
Odoi attributed the persistence of their pension saga to a contract, which gave the insurance company powers to determine the administration costs, interest rate and the amount a member can withdraw under the scheme.
The staff boss blamed the officials of the university who signed the policy that bound the university and staff to the terms.
Odoi thanked the president for his intervention and for ensuring that their demands are being met. He also commended the students for remaining calm.
Bbumba said the President had directed the Ministry of Finance to meet MUASA officials and come up with an agreement.
“I wish to confirm that funds will be found to pay a conditional amount of sh10b within two months, pending finalisation of the audit and actuarial valuation by the auditor general,†she said.
Bbumba added that the ministry would pay Makerere in two installments, sh5b within two weeks and another sh5b within a period not exceeding two months.
According to Bbumba, the special audit evaluation will establish the right amount of money owed to Makerere.
NIC’s contract with the university ended five years ago, but the company had not paid the staff. While Makerere says the company owes sh17.7b to its employees, the corporation claims it only has a sh13b debt. The money is owed to teaching and non-teaching staff as well as unions.
The money is said to have accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated a deposit administration plan for Makerere’s staff pension scheme. Since the contract was cancelled, both sides have been meeting, but failed to agree on the amount.
In December 2009, NIC announced the sale of the Government’s 40% stake to the public. The other 60% shares are owned by Industrial and General Insurance PLC, a Nigerian firm. MUASA opposed the move, arguing that it needed to have their savings sorted out first.
The minister also said the costs of the audit, estimated at sh500m, would be met by the Government. Initially, NIC and Makerere were supposed to meet the bill.
According to the letter the minister wrote to Makerere committing itself to sort out the wrangle, if the audit report showed that NIC owes Makerere more than sh10b, the balance would be paid by the Government. If it showed the insurers owe the university less, the matter will be solved amicably.
MAKERERE University lecturers have called off their strike after the Government offered to pay the sh16b pension debt the National Insurance Corporation owes them.
President Yoweri Museveni directed the Ministry of Finance to pay off the debt.
Consequently, officials from the Ministry of Finance met a team from the Makerere University Staff Association (MUASA) on Saturday, before the University Council met yesterday to approve the deal.
MUASA held a general assembly yesterday in which the lecturers resolved to resume work. “ We have resolved to suspend the strike as we wait for our demands to be met,†MUASA chairman, Prof. Tanga Odoi, said after the meeting last evening.
“We are happy that examinations will start tomorrow. Students have been reading and preparing for them. We shall use a vehicle and go round (the campus) telling them that exams will go on as scheduled,†Odoi explained.
MUASA’s meeting was attended by finance minister Syda Bbumba, her colleague for higher education Mwesigwa Rukutana, the deputy secretary to the treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, and the commissioner for pensions at NIC.
Odoi attributed the persistence of their pension saga to a contract, which gave the insurance company powers to determine the administration costs, interest rate and the amount a member can withdraw under the scheme.
The staff boss blamed the officials of the university who signed the policy that bound the university and staff to the terms.
Odoi thanked the president for his intervention and for ensuring that their demands are being met. He also commended the students for remaining calm.
Bbumba said the President had directed the Ministry of Finance to meet MUASA officials and come up with an agreement.
“I wish to confirm that funds will be found to pay a conditional amount of sh10b within two months, pending finalisation of the audit and actuarial valuation by the auditor general,†she said.
Bbumba added that the ministry would pay Makerere in two installments, sh5b within two weeks and another sh5b within a period not exceeding two months.
According to Bbumba, the special audit evaluation will establish the right amount of money owed to Makerere.
NIC’s contract with the university ended five years ago, but the company had not paid the staff. While Makerere says the company owes sh17.7b to its employees, the corporation claims it only has a sh13b debt. The money is owed to teaching and non-teaching staff as well as unions.
The money is said to have accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated a deposit administration plan for Makerere’s staff pension scheme. Since the contract was cancelled, both sides have been meeting, but failed to agree on the amount.
In December 2009, NIC announced the sale of the Government’s 40% stake to the public. The other 60% shares are owned by Industrial and General Insurance PLC, a Nigerian firm. MUASA opposed the move, arguing that it needed to have their savings sorted out first.
The minister also said the costs of the audit, estimated at sh500m, would be met by the Government. Initially, NIC and Makerere were supposed to meet the bill.
According to the letter the minister wrote to Makerere committing itself to sort out the wrangle, if the audit report showed that NIC owes Makerere more than sh10b, the balance would be paid by the Government. If it showed the insurers owe the university less, the matter will be solved amicably.