Makerere lecturers threaten to strike over monthly allowances

A letter Pulse Uganda has since gotten hold of was issued to both teaching and non-teaching staff informing them of the administration’s decision to halt monthly allowances. This confirmed the source’s allegations.

The letter, which was issued on June 26 by the University secretary, Yusuf Kiranda, indicated that the administration had taken the decision to halt the allowances following a directive from the Government.

According to Kiranda, the University began providing non-pensionable benefits to all academic staff members, from teaching assistants to professors and administrative personnel, starting at the M4 scale, in 2008.

He clarified that the University had been given permission by the Ministry of Finance to use the allowances for employee advancement.

The chairperson of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association, Dr. Robert Kakuru, told Pulse Uganda that the University staff are planning to meet next week to determine a course of action, thus pointing to the likelihood of a possible sit-down strike.

Additionally, the institution began offering clinical allowances to a portion of the faculty in the former Faculty of Medicine (now College of Health Sciences).

This came about after the employees went on strike that same year in favour of an increase to a livable wage.

Statistics show that a total of 1674 employees out of 3,366 made the aforementioned allowances, costing the university sh3.4 billion annually in non-pensionable and clinical allowances.