Makerere University is planning to build a hotel, a hospital and a housing estate in efforts to offset costs of paying its workers. This, they intend to do, with the help of a developer. The Vice Chancellor, Prof Ddumba Ssentamu, on June 19 wrote to President Museveni, asking him to find them an investor to utilise the institution’s idle land for putting up the infrastructures. This development, which is part of a wider scheme to ease Makerere’s dependence on government, comes at a time when the 90-year-old institution is tussling with lecturers over broken promises to increase their pay by 100 per cent. According to Prof Ddumba, the university wants to set up a teaching hospital at Katanga and a housing estate at Makindye, both Kampala suburbs, so that they can become sources of income. The institution has four acres of land in Kololo, 14 acres in Makindye, Katanga 1 (10 acres), Katanga 11 (10 acres) and 30 acres in Katalemwa and Kasangati. “…to reduce dependence on government funding but also take over the university wage bill, as is the case in other public universities,” the letter read in part. Prof Ddumba sought audience with the President after the institution’s staff warned they would not return to work unless their pay was revised in the new academic year by 100 per cent., The university also wants the government to increase the non-wage recurrent bill from Shs14.8 billion to Shs34.8 billion, to take care of utilities, teaching materials, stationery and books. “The poor state of laboratories has resulted in science-based students doing fewer practicals than projected in each semester. There is lack of teaching space. We request that you cover pension arrears of retirees amounting to Shs32 billion,” Prof Ddumba wrote. With the university failing to forge a way forward, the lecturers resumed strike action on August 7 after suspending it on May 5. Their demand has now caused a confrontation, with the government giving a two-week ultimatum to the University Council to open the university with those willing to work. But this has left management in confusion. For instance, in a finance planning and administration committee report to the university council on the status of the institution, it indicated that the institution was “experiencing unprecedented financial constraints after accumulating arrears to the tune of Shs68 billion as of June 30. The university receives Shs166 million for capital development, which is not enough to support renovation of halls of residence, according to Prof Ddumba. For instance, he explained that part of Lumumba Hall, the biggest male hall of residence, has remained closed for more than six years because of its poor state, which has continued to cause student unrest. In 2006, the government promised to take over the entire university wage bill, which has to date not materialised. Currently, Makerere University is indebted to a tune of Shs68 billion. The government subvention to the University in wage and non-wage has been static for the last five years at Shs55 billion per year despite the increases in costs. The university has thus found it difficult to clear pension arrears in the region of Shs50 billion because of the constrained resource it has and the fact that it contributes Shs30 billion annually to the wage bill. There has been increase in the cost of utilities (electricity and water), approximately by 75 per cent, translating into about Shs2 billion increase per year and yet revenues from the government have been static. Food prices have significantly gone up to the effect that the university requires an extra Shs1.5 billion per year to feed government-sponsored students yet no extra funds have come from government. The introduction of the internship policy meant an extra Shs1.2 billion requirement for government - sponsored students per year. However, no extra funding was received from government. The biological children scheme has since attracted tax, which the university had not planned for.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 03:35:53 +0000
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