Makerere University to tag salary to work attendance

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University Appointments Board will tag the salary of staff to the number of days they work.

Yusuf Kiranda, the University Secretary says that the policy is aimed at curbing absenteeism of both academic and support staff. According to records, the university employs more than 3000 staff and spends 206 Billion Shillings on salaries annually.

According to Kiranda, the college principals, administrative units, and department heads will submit monthly schedules for their staff to the appointments board as a basis for performance evaluation.

Meanwhile, since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, students at the university have raised complaints of absenteeism of lecturers who claim to prefer physical lectures to online.

Last month when students contested examinations after two weeks of studying, some of the complaints in their online petition were that they had not studied some course units.

Dr. Robert Kakuru, the General Secretary of Makerere University Staff Association noted that while it is a good initiative for the institution, there are likely to be inconsistencies in its implementation. He also questions how practical the implementation will be.

He explained that this being the first time to roll out the policy, the staff are on the lookout to see how it will be managed concerning ensuring that no staff misses payment from complications in the process.

Dr. Deus Kamunyu, the Chairperson of Makerere University Staff Association also noted that the process should not delay salary payment in any way as it will not be tolerated.

“I hope the purported list won’t become a default reason for delays in salary payment,” he said.

*****

URN