By Ronaldo Kalangi
All the three associations handling Makerere University strike have resolved to continue laying down their tools after Vice Chancellor Prof.Banabus Nawangwe refused to implement their resolutions.
Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MAUSA), Makerere Administrative Staff Association (MASA) and National Union on Education Institutions (NUEI) recently agreed to halt strike on grounds that VC would immediately call off the suspension of all the suspended staff members.
They demanded to lift the suspension of Bennet Magara and Joseph Kalema; both leaders of the Makerere Administrative Staff Association (MASA) and Dr. Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi, the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) Chairperson, who were suspended for alleged misconduct and violation of the terms of their employment that led to chaos at the ivory tower.
All the University staff held a meeting and agreed that Prof. Nawangwe must be forced to chew his curd and call back all the affected members back to office so that business can run normally but what has shocked the staff is that the VC is not heeding to their resolutions up to the day they had given him. In the meeting held on 11th February at the University’s main hall, all staff unanimously agreed to continue with the strike until Prof.Nawangwe accepts their resolutions.
As the meeting had just started, there was a scuffle when some members suspected that Amos Ddembe attached to College of Health Sciences who supports Prof. Nawangwe had entered meeting with a pistol and later police was called to handle the situation.
Deputy MUASA Chairperson Prof. Mwavu has also called upon the Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe to respect the staff’s resolutions and withdraw the suspension of their colleagues so that lectures can resume.
Meanwhile,prof.Nawangwe has issued a statement calling for closure of Makerere University law school for allegedly ‘mis-leading’ and ‘inciting’ other departments of the university into endless strikes. Nawangwe said in his statement that the school would be closed indefinitely.
With this, Parliament has been forced to intervene by summoning the VC and the Chairman of the University council Lorna Magara to appear before the parliament’s Education committee on Wed.
| In current state, most of the students who reported back for a new semester have been left stranded as there are no lecturers to attend to them due to strike and the students have threatened that if the University council does not resolve the current impasse between the management, they will also join the strike. |
