Prime
Strike puts future of Lugazi varsity students in jeopardy
The future of students at Lugazi University is at stake after it emerged that the institution is to wind up it s operations by December 6, 2010 in preparation for a Ministry of Defence college for military science and development. Sources within the university have revealed to Education Guide that talks between the lecturers and university directors have failed to resolve a strike that has paralysed work.
Lecturers withheld the end of year examination scripts and the marks in April this year after discovering that the university had been sold to Ministry of Defence and there were no provisions in the agreement for payment of their salary arrears amounting to about Shs2b.
The Ministry of Defence on July 13 this year paid Shs3b to ank of Africa and DFCU to save the university from liquidation and secured the land titles that had been taken by the banks for
defaulting payment. Although the lecturers were paid Shs200m in salary arrears, they say they are owed Shs2.5b. Mr Milton Turyareba, the chairman of the University Professional and Academic Staff Union said although continuing students have already reported to the University, the strike will continue until management resolve the issue of their salary arrears. The university is currently heavily guarded by 50 UPDF soldiers.
Mr Turyareba says they should have been contacted before the university’s sale. “We were not involved in the transaction and sale of the university although as big stakeholders we were legally supposed to be part of the deal as union leaders. “We wrote to the Ministry of Defence three times and no response was given to us. We have clung to the results because this is the only attachment we have and until we are paid, we shall not release them,” said Mr. Turyareba last week.
He revealed that as lecturers although they know that the university has been sold to Ministry of Defence and is expected to wound up in December, they have never seen the agreement, and don’t know whether it will cater for the future of students and aggrieved parties.“Because we were not involved as a union of workers, our target is until we are paid our salary arrears, we shall not release the results for both continuing students and those supposed to graduate in December,” said Mr. Turyareba. This means that the future of about 4,000 students at Lugazi main campus, Mbale, Iganga, Tororo and Kisoro upcountry academic centres is bleak, as they cant transfer to other Universities without end of year results.
Lugazi publicist, Mr Ronald Hirya, however denied existence of a strike, but said lecturers had just delayed to mark and record marks.“Yes, we are supposed to wind up by December this year. The morale of the lecturers is down, so there are no marks for students to enable them transfer to other universities and allow others to graduate this year but this is going to be sorted out,” said Mr Hirya. Army spokesperson, Lt.Col Felix Kulaigye, said the university is supposed to have closed. “We have already taken over and we are going to use it as a military college for military science and development. Although the students are supposed to have been transferred, I have learnt that students are still there. I am going to cross check with the ministry of state for defence General JJ Odong who is directly in charge to find out why,” he said.
