Concern for non-teaching university staff over Shs 61bn govt cash

On April 3, the ministry of Public Service communicated that government had provided Shs 61bn in the budget of FY 2024/25 for harmonization of salaries at 12 public institutions.

However, non-teaching staff, united under the Public Universities Non-Teaching Staff Executive Forum  (PUNTSEF), have raised concern over the potential diversion of the funds by university top managers, writes YUDAYA NANGONZI.

The funds, earmarked for salary harmonization by the government, are meant to address long-standing wage disparities among university staff at all levels.

This harmonization implies that all staff employed for work that requires similar qualifications are placed in the same salary scale and receive equal salaries, whether teaching or non-teaching staff. Currently, there are also discrepancies between science and non-science teaching staff in public institutions.

The issue of the funds came to light during a meeting convened by PUNTSEF leaders at Kyambogo University last week. According to the PUNTSEF chairperson, Jackson Betihamah, the association has received reports of some vice chancellors considering alternative uses for the funds, such as recruiting new staff and administrative expenses, rather than addressing their salary woes.

“University top managers should sober up and be articulate in whatever they are planning to do with this money. We don’t want to have protracted wars again. This money has not been accidental because we have engaged the government for it since 2014 at different levels of negotiations,” Betihamah said.

He added: “The teaching staff were enhanced twice after us and this kept our salaries behind. Some top management leaders in different universities are trying to convince the Finance ministry to divert part of the money for other uses. We disagree with this arrangement because the money was released for salary harmonization.”

Betihamah insisted that any deviation from the intended purpose of the funds would undermine the welfare of non-teaching staff members – many of whom heavily rely on their salaries to sustain themselves.

In the meeting, PUNTSEF members commended the government for finally fulfilling its commitment to harmonize salaries in public institutions. They highlighted the pivotal role of non-teaching staff in the smooth running of public universities and stressed the need for fair treatment during salary harmonization.

STAFF RESOLUTIONS

The Shs 61bn salary harmonization cash stems from a September 2015 presidential directive to the Finance ministry to release funds to the Education sector.

According to the general secretary of PUNTSEF, Bruce Twesigye, they agreed with the government in numerous meetings then that before non-teaching staff receive full salary enhancement, three things would be done first. These are; auditing the payroll for all public universities, making validation for all universities, and then harmonizing their salaries.

“Unfortunately, the money for harmonization has been provided for and as we gear up for full salary enhancement, the university top brass wants to misuse it,” Twesigye who doubles as a registrar at Makerere University, said. He added that the new money will address salary disparities among the teaching and non-teaching staff that are still wide.

“You find that a lecturer on scale M6.1 when related to a senior administrator on the same scale, receives different money. Yet, before these disparities, we used to have a single-spine payroll where both teaching and non-teaching on the same scale received the same amount. The grand plan is to return to the single-spine structure,” he said.

Makerere University and Makerere University Business School (Mubs) were cited as the lowest-paying institutions for non-teaching staff. To harmonize salaries, all scales that appear below scale 15 should be removed.

At Kyambogo University, the highest-paid non-teaching staff (science) in Scale PU 3 comprising positions such as university secretary, bursar, and dean of students, earn Shs 10.6m and Shs 8.8m for non-science fields. Their teaching counterparts such as professors on the same scale for science and non-science disciplines earn Shs 15.6m.

At the lowest scale of PU 7 with assistant positions in administration, procurement, and registrar, the non-teaching (science) staff earn Shs 5.7m and Shs 4.3m for non-science staff. A non-teaching staff at Mubs who preferred anonymity said the situation is worse on their side.

“The highest-paid people under PU 7 on the government payroll earn Shs 4.3. Under the same scale, you have staff who earn Shs 3.2m and Shs 2.1m respectively,” the staff said.

Asked why three different salaries are paid to people on the same scale, the staff said: “Mubs promoted staff without a wage bill while others were recruited and promoted without a budget. So, the management says when the government gives them money, they will issue right pay pay non-teaching staff in the various scales.”

The disparities in scales at Mubs have been on for five to 10 years.

Meanwhile, in the April 18, 2024 meeting at Kyambogo, PUNTESEF members unanimously agreed to write to the ministries of Education, Finance, and Public Service and to all accounting officers of public universities to ensure that the new money is utilized solely for salary harmonization.

Each public university was also tasked to hold a non-teaching staff general assembly and inform its members accordingly about the new funds and resolutions from the meeting.

They also called for increased accountability and oversight by the relevant government entities and PUNTSEF members to prevent any misuse of the funds by university administrators.

Ministry of Public Service budget allocation for harmonization of salaries for FY 2024/25

nangonzi@observer.ug