Prof.Nawangwe slams ‘Undisciplined’ sacked Makerere staff for petitioning parliament

Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has said the decision by staff members who were recently sacked by the university to petition parliament was an act of indiscipline.

Addressing journalists on Thursday, Nawangwe said it was wrong for the university staff to run to the speaker of parliament who is always ‘busy’ to disturb her with issues that could be addressed by the university.

“When you come to Makerere, you are educated enough to know the procedures that you go through to address such issues which include going to the university council which has a staff tribunal that can sit and decided on the matter,”Prof.Nawangwe fumed.

“It was not a good thing for them to run to the speaker of parliament who is ever busy but if she asks, we shall explain ourselves. ”

A group of 45 senior academic staff recently sacked by Makerere on Wednesday petitioned parliament requesting for an intervention into the circumstances surrounding the manner in which they were relieved of their duties.

“The affected staff were subjected to a sham disciplinary procedure that culminated in their suspensions, termination or dismissal,” the petition read in part.

However, Prof.Nawangwe defended the decision to sack the staff members which he said was inevitable adding that it followed a series of hearings in regards a number of disciplinary cases done by the university’s Appointments Board.

“Some of the cases had been committed as back as 10 years ago whereas other cases included staff who had absconded from duty and got jobs from other institutions like KCCA and UNRA. These never informed us and so we had to relieve them of their duties,”Prof.Nawangwe said.

“Others went abroad for studies but they got jobs and never returned home.

He explained that a big number of the sacked staff(27) had absconded from duty without official notice, others had been engaged in financial fraud which included soliciting bribes from students whereas others had failed to perform their duties.

According to the Makerere University Vice Chancellor, contracts for some members including Dr.Stella Nyanzi had expired and had not been renewed noting that sacking them was inevitable.

“She(Nyanzi) had been contracted for five years and the contract expired. She never requested for a renewal but she kept around the university but a decision was taken to make it known to her that she was no longer part of the university,”Nawangwe said.

He warned members that he would not be blackmailed by anyone by labeling him as a dictator saying he is following the right procedures.

‘’I have seen many people abuse me but I have kept quiet. Calling me a dictator is done by people who want to go away with impunity and think it is the right thing to do.”

“There is need to have sanity at the university  .Let everybody abide by the regulations and see in the Appointments Board will bother them.