Makerere Gets 6 New Professors, Imam
After a long wait, Makerere University has announced staff promotions naming six professors and four others who have been elevated to Associate professorship.
Nineteen others have been promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer and 32 to the rank of Lecturer, Masaka LC-V Chairman, Jude Mbabaali, a member of the University Council said in a post on his Facebook page.
“We had halted the said promotions for some years due to wage constraint. But we have been working tirelessly to resolve the Makerere wage challenge and finally, funds were obtained from government for the said promotions. The said promoted Professors and Associate Professors will now be earning a new monthly salary of Shs 15 million and Shs 14 million per month respectively. A Senior Lecturer will earn Shs 12 million,” Mbabaali announced.
The last promotions were handled in December 2018 when the former Makerere University Appointments Board promoted 170 academic staff, 127 of whom were on short term contracts, and also recruited 109 academic staff resulting in a shortage of Shs 7.59 billion in staff salaries.
As a result, most of the staff missed pay for eight months. Those who were promoted didn’t get a commensurate salary pay rise.
A human resource audit carried out by management showed that the university owed the said staff Shs 14 billion.
The University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe said that the matter has since been resolved since the University wage bill and budget have been reconciled.
“Management and Council have been working tirelessly to resolve the Makerere wage challenge and obtain funds for promotion,” said Prof Nawangwe in a statement addressed to all staff.
Prof Nawangwe said that with the resolution of a wage deficit, management is now confident that staff promotions will resume within the available wage budget.
Available statistics indicate that Makerere spends approximately Shs 166.8 billion annually on the payment of over 3,000 staff.
Among the new appointments is that of Dr. Sowedi Juma Mayanja as the University Imam. He replaces Imam Ahmad Sam Ssentongo who reached the retirement age.
Dr. Mayanja who has been a staff at the Islamic University In Uganda (IUIU) holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sharia (Islamic Law), a Master’s degree in Sharia (Islamic Law) and a PhD in the same field plus a Diploma in Law from the Law Development Centre (LDC).
