By Stephen Kalema
Makerere University staff who were sacked last week have been advised to remain calm and use this this festive season to prepare for appeals against the university’s decision.
Last Saturday, Uganda’s oldest public University sacked 45 senior academic staff. The University Vice Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe revealed that majority of the fired academicians were staff who had absconded from duty for over five years, while others were involved in sexual harassment cases.
Now in a joint statement by the University leaders under their umbrella bodies, Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Makerere University Administration Staff Association (MASA) and the National Union of Education Institutions (NUEI), the affected staff have been requested to prepare to appeal to the Staff Appeals Tribunal for reviews.
The leaders have also condemned the university’s move to terminate some of its senior staff.
“The decision to terminate staff is an act of provocation intended to annoy us and threaten us into submission to bad management and clandestine practices that have now become a norm,” statement reads in part
Adding, “We are distressed by such a decision well aware that the list is a tactical mixture of what seem to be genuine cases and violations of basic rights of Staff,”
According the staff leaders, the 45 affected members are scheduled to meet on January 2, 2019 at senior Staff Club at 10am in order to understand their cases and advise accordingly .
“We want the tribunal to sit and listen to these people. This should not be happening in a fair and progressing institution, this should not be happening to them,” said Bernard Mwavu , Vice Chairperson MUASA .
Among the sacked staff is Dr Stella Nyanzi who is currently on remand in Luzira prison over charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication against President Yoweri Museveni.
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