Makerere University Business School Academic Staff Association (MUBASA) members have threatened to lay down their tools over the government’s failure to harmonize staff salaries.
“We met the president in December but none of these ministries or technocrats we have engaged has really shown a commitment to have the matter solved by July. We are running out of time and we realized that July is just a few weeks away but we have not received any commitment,” Chairperson MUBASA, Brian Muyomba said.
Muyomba also said that they don’t mind whether the university is closed if their issues are not addressed.
“We have developed a culture of diplomacy and not striking. It should be clear that the time we resolve and resort to such methods, it means we can’t do anything. If closing down the University will solve the problem, then so be it because this is a ten-year problem,” he added.
The lecturers revealed that in the meeting they had last year with the head of state, this problem was supposed to be resolved by July this year, but not so much has been achieved.
The lecturer’s strike comes at the time when the government is in advanced stages of ensuring that schools resume following the closure of learning institutions in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.