The Part-Timer Who's Taking On Makerere University

by Rosebell Kagumire
Over 200 students at Makerere University, in Uganda, could miss their graduation due next January 2009. This is because a part-time lecturer who hasn’t been paid for a year by the university is withholding student’s dissertations and marks until the university clears his monies.
Mr. Booker Sentongo, who has been a part-time lecturer in the Department of Geography at the university since year 2000 on the tourism programme, demands just over Shs 1.6 million ($837 US dollars) accumulated over a period of one year.
According to a letter from the office of Dean Faculty of Arts to Sentongo, over 200 students may not graduate as scheduled in January 2009 if the lecturer does not release the marks in time.
“…reconsider your actions and urgently submit the marks that you are holding because time is running out for students who have to graduate in January 2009. After submitting the marks, you can call on the undersigned to discuss amicable ways of handling the matter of unpaid claims.”
In a letter dated October 15, Sentongo wrote to the head of department saying the faculty had failed to pay him Shs 630,000 ($329) for marking dissertations in the year 2006/007 and other unpaid claims including marking coursework, examinations and field reports amounting to about Shs 830,000 ($434).
In the letter, Associate Professor Abasi Kiyimba Assistant Dean of Faculty of Arts said the non payment of Sentongo’s salary and allowances is because the university is cash strapped.
“The university is experiencing financial difficulties that make its various units unable to meet all their obligations on time,” said Kiyimba.
This is just another example of how the never-ending financial crisis of Makerere University is affecting the quality of education of an institution that was once the best in the region.
“…the scripts, dissertations and marks that you are holding are a property of Makerere University; and by illegally withholding them, you are holding 225 students at ransom,” the letter reads in part.
When contacted, the Head of the Geography department, Prof. Charles Basalilwa at first denied knowledge of the issue before backtracking.
“I don’t know about it, I will have to investigate first,” said Prof. Basalilwa. “I cannot say I know, I simply have no comment.”
According to the letter the university might consider legal action in order to retrieve these marks and dissertations from the lecturer.
Prof. Kiyimba said, “Because you [lecturer Sentongo] have served us for a long time, we are restraining ourselves for the time being from appealing to the law to recover the university property in your possession.”
The university is reportedly facing a financial crisis and could be forced to close earlier than usual. The University Bursar, Mr. Ben Byembabazi, was recently quoted saying the university council had failed to release all the money as budgeted for in the 2008/09 budget and was now appealing to the government to avail the promised contribution.
Government through the Ministry of Finance funds students on the government scholarship scheme and that is the money (non remittal) that has always plunged the university into a financial crisis. The funds that the Council has refused to release are mostly from the internal revenue collected from private students.
In mid-October, members of the University Council and senate while appearing before the parliamentary committee on social services told MPs that the university has time and again operated at a deficit due to failure by the government to remit funds to programmes it’s supposed to fund.
The University Secretary, Sam Akorimo said the institution is now surviving on donor aid and that staff are Shs 10 billion ($5.2 million) short of their wage bill as a result of government’s inaction.
While the actions of part-timer Sentongo are technically illegal, the issue of non payment of staff salary has a big impact on the quality of education students will get from Makerere University.
Sentongo’s case is not isolated as reports indicate that part-time lecturers are generally not paid on time. As recent as September, part-time lecturers’ salaries were delayed for about two weeks. The University owes more than Shs 400 million ($209,000) in arrears for part-time lecturers.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor Lillian Tibatemwa said that her office had not received a complaint from the geography department. The Minister for Education Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire said she would investigate the matter.
Salaries have been a contentious issue at Makerere University and the reason behind numerous strikes by lecturers. In November 2006, Makerere was closed after lecturers’ went on strike demanding a pay raise.