Makerere staff to get 20% salary increment

By Innocent Anguyo

After days of shuffling through the Makerere University budget, the university management has found money enough to give the staff a 20% pay rise.

A week-and-a-half ago, Makerere staff laid down their tools over failure by the University Council, the institution’s supreme decision making body, to give them a 100% pay increment.

However, that decision did not go down well with the Government. Jessica Alupo, the education minister, subsequently ordered the University Council to open the university within two weeks, saying the Government did not have the money to bankroll the pay rise for the staff.

The striking staff then beseeched the university management to find money from internally-generated resource envelopes to effect the increment.

If implemented, Makerere’s contribution to its wage bill will rise to about sh51b per annum from the current sh31b.

Yesterday, the Makerere Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu, revealed that the management had unearthed sh20b to bankroll a pay rise for the staff after undertaking a thorough reallocation of the budget.

Ddumba said the sh20b was enough to give the staff a 20% wage increment. He, however, noted that the 100% pay rise was impossible since the university could not find the money to foot it.

He said they will reallocate money initially meant for foreign travels, workshops, allowances and roads to beef up the wages of the staff.

Efforts to reach Loius Kakinda, the spokesman of the staff, over the proposal were futile as he was in a meeting.