Makerere Lecturers Resume Strike

A section of Makerere University lecturers have again laid down tools demanding a review of the salary incentive just a month after the general strike ended.

Makerere University lecturers on have resumed the strike

In a decision communicated to the students by the academic board at the Law School, lecturers announced that they would not be teaching the evening students until the allowances that were attached to the evening programme are availed to them.

The lecturers in the School of Law want the current salary incentive reviewed and evening allowances reinstated. The allowances were scrapped in September and consolidated in the 70% incentive given to lecturers to call off a two-week strike. The University lecturers under their Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) had staged a sit-down strike in August demanding a 100% pay rise.

As part of the deal, evening students in the School of Law, College of Business and Management Studies and the College of Engineering and Design lost 10 hours of teaching time as Saturday lectures were cut out. According to the current time-table, a lecturer interfaces with a student for 8 hours a day as compared to the human resource manual approved minimum of 10 hours.

After the negotiations held to end the previous lecturers strike in September, it was agreed that all allowances be drawn into a pool, consolidated and then passed on as a 70% salary incentive to all staff. The deal initially agreed to by MUASA has now drawn barriers as some lecturers complain they are teaching more hours than they are paid for.

Muhammed Kiggundu, the MUASA chairman, said he was not aware of the strike but noted that the challenges towards the payment of the incentive are only going to make them stronger.

Students at the Law School are currently holding a boycott of lectures until the management and lecturers resolve the stand-off.

Attempts to get Ritah Namisango, the university spokesperson, for comment were futile as her known numbers were switched off.