Makerere University staff and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service are set to meet on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, to discuss unresolved staff salary arrears. This meeting aims to address concerns raised by the university staff, who have been on strike since last week due to unpaid salaries.
The meeting was confirmed by Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the acting Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who announced that the Permanent Secretary had called for a discussion on salary harmonization. These salary issues also affect staff members at other public universities, highlighting the widespread nature of the problem.
“I am pleased to inform you that a meeting has been called by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Service, to discuss and comprehensively address the issues of salary harmonisation, which have also been expressed by the staff of other public universities,” stated Prof. Mukadasi in a letter to the Makerere Guild President, Lubega Nsamba, dated October 14, 2024.
The letter was a response to Nsamba’s earlier request for Makerere University’s management to engage in dialogue with the striking staff to ensure they return to work. Nsamba emphasized that students have been missing lectures since the staff declared a sit-down strike on Monday last week.
The outcome of the upcoming meeting is crucial as it will determine whether the strike will be called off, allowing students to resume their academic activities. The discussion will likely focus on both immediate salary arrears and broader issues of pay harmonization across public universities.
