Archive for category: cooperators

Makerere University academic staff have threatened to lay down their tools ahead of the new semester, in protest of the government’s failure to honor a presidential pledge to increase their salaries.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday last week barely days after the University opened for the new academic year, the acting Chairperson of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association(MUASA) Prof. Edward Nector Mwavu said that his colleagues would stay home until the government addresses their concerns.

The move follows a similar call by the Forum for Academic Staff for Public Universities (FASPU) and the Public Universities Non-Teaching Staff Executive Forum (PUNTSEF). In a joint letter dated August 2nd, the professional associations called upon their members to undertake industrial action. “This is further to reaffirm that you stay at home until our concerns are addressed by government,” the letter reads in part.

The staff accuse the government of reneging on a presidential commitment to progressively increase the salaries of academic staff across all public universities over a 5- year period, the end of which a Professor would earn Shs.15million.

The agreement was reached between President Museveni and the academic staff from all public universities following a similar industrial strike in 2014 before the lecturers agreed to resume teaching.

Now, Mwavu says that the government must rededicate itself towards evaluating the performance of the salary enhancement Scheme. Currently, a non-Science professor earns a gross salary of Shs.8.5 million, Shs.6.5 million shy of the targeted Shs.15million, yet the 5year implementation period of the salary enhancement scheme ended in July this year.

In the just began financial year, the government set aside Shs.15 billion towards salary raise for both teaching and Non-teaching staff in public Universities, but Prof. Mwavu insists that’s “peanuts,” weighed against staff expectations. “Shs.15 billion is a lot of money in figures, but when you try to distribute it across all the Public Universities, it means that a person who was supposed to move from Shs.8.5 million to Shs.15 million might only move to Shs.8.8 million,” he told theCooperator.

He argued that at this rate (Shs.15billion each financial year), it would take the government up to ten years to achieve the commitment made by the president. That, coupled with inflation, and the fact that more hitherto unplanned staff are coming into the payroll means that there is no significant benefit to staff, says Mwavu.

“Last financial year, we received a total of Shs.58 billion for all Public Universities but the staff members who got the highest enhancement received about Shs. 600,000 only. What about Shs.15 billion spread across all public Universities! What will each staff get?” Prof. Mwavu asked.

The Makerere University Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has however called upon the staff to resume work with the new semester, as negotiations continue with the government. The semester resumed on August 3rd with the reporting of First-year students, while the continuing students report today.

Last year, learning at the university came to a standstill for nearly a month as lecturers demanded unpaid arrears from the government worth over Shs. 29 billion. Prof. Mwavu called upon the government to avoid the reoccurrence of a similar scenario this time, arguing that they(Staff) had raised the alarm as early as possible to allow the government to consider their plea in time.

The post MUASA demands government stick to salary promise, or risk strike appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Arua, Uganda: Teachers in West Nile sub-region have appealed to the government to consider paying them according to their qualifications.

Speaking during the launch of WALIMU Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO) funds for the teachers of West Nile on Tuesday, the teachers, mostly from primary and secondary schools blamed their reluctance to upgrade their levels of education on what they called government’s “failure to value their academic papers.”

“We are urging the government to pay us according to our qualifications. For our case as primary teachers, we are getting a salary scale of U7 which is about Shs.400, 000 net whether you are a graduate or a fresh Grade III teacher, and this has demoralized many of us from upgrading,” said Daphine Amajuru, a teacher from Adjumani district.

At the event held at Heritage Courts Hotel in Arua town and graced by First Deputy Prime Minister Moses Ali, the Union(WALIMU) officials also launched a dummy cheque of Shs.499.8million, which has already been disbursed to three teachers’ SACCOs of Adjumani, Nebbi/Zombo and West Nile teachers’ SACCO.

The money is part of the Shs.17.085 billion which was received by WALIMU SACCO from the government of Uganda, as part of the government’s phased pledge to invest Shs.5billion in the teachers’ SACCO. WALIMU SACCO is the umbrella body of all teachers’ SACCOs in Uganda, whose principal role is to foster the growth and development of teachers’ SACCOs in the country.

During the function, Amajuru told Gen.Ali that many teachers were finding it useless to spend their little salaries on upgrading yet the government doesn’t factor in qualifications when determining their pay. She said that as a result, teachers were lacking in motivation, thus affecting the performance of government schools.

She instead proposed that the government set aside funds to assist teachers to upgrade, like is the case with other civil servants in the district.

Amajuru was backed by another teacher, Marino Tabule from Maracha, who argued that time had come for the government to start paying teachers’ salary scales that are commensurate to their level of education.

“When you complete a Diploma especially for primary school teachers, they say that adds you a knowledge advantage, but the pay stays the same. I think that is totally unfair because they don’t consider the fact that you spent a lot on the studies.,” said Tabule.

Meanwhile, Jamal Magezi, a teacher of Onzivu primary school in Arua Municipality attributed teacher absenteeism and by extension, poor performance of government schools to the poor remuneration of teachers, which he said leaves them no option but to look elsewhere to make ends meet, undermining their concentration at school.

“The uncertainty in the fluctuating prices in the market is affecting us so much, a reason we opt to go for quick loans and later run away from classes for fear of being arrested by the financial institutions,” said Magezi.

He welcomed government investment in their SACCOs, saying that it was a welcome relief from exorbitant interest rates of commercial banks.

“Most microfinance institutions have been giving us loans with high-interest rates. You find a teacher borrowing money at an interest rate of between 20 to 30 percent per month, and yet he has other things to do with the same salary. This has forced most teachers to dodge classes because money lenders are following them for their loans,” said Magezi.

In response, Moses Ali assured the teachers that the government was aware of their plight, and promised to present their concerns in Cabinet. In the meantime, he urged the teachers to make use of the WALIMU SACCO funds to supplement their salaries.

“Your number is so big as teachers and this has been a big challenge to the government. But as we prepare to address your problems, use this opportunity to borrow at affordable rates to supplement on your salaries,” he said.

According to Stephen Nabende, the National Board Chairman of WALIMU SACCOs Union, so far, 17, 000 teachers from 185 SACCOs have benefited from the funds in the whole country. He encouraged the teachers in West Nile to form more SACCOS in their respective districts also partake in the opportunity

WALIMU SACCOs Union advances funds to teachers’ SACCOs at an interest rate of 8 percent per annum, and teachers borrow the money at a rate not exceeding 15 percent per year, a rate that’s significantly lower compared to those of commercial banks.

The post Pay teachers according to their qualifications, teachers ask government appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Kamapala, Uganda: A boda boda (commercial motorcycle) cooperative in Makindye, a city suburb, has shaken itself of leadership woes to put a smile on faces of members.

Members of the Kampala Civil Centre Boda Boda Transporters Cooperative Society (KCCBT) say they faced tremendous challenges and were choked to near giving up when a new opportunity came in the mold of a non-governmental organisation, Uhuru Institute for social development.

“Our cooperative reached a point where it seemed to belong to a few chosen members, privileged to receive services from the cooperative,” William Mubiru, a former board chairperson for the cooperative, said.

He said the cooperative society was marred by acute lack of transparency and accountability, leaving the noble cause they had started to uplift their livelihood suffocating.

As things went from bad to worse, they were hit by internal wrangles as the leaders jostled for any crumb they could lay their hands on while blaming one another for the mess.

Mubiru himself faced the wrath of the wrangles as he was impeached for incompetence in 2016.
When members finally pushed for accountability and the leaders could not account for the savings, the cooperative activities came to a standstill but was saved by the approach of Uhuru Institute for social development whose two-day workshop proved a timely retrospective for the cooperative members to reflect upon their past mistakes.

Amissi Basoga, a pioneer member of the cooperative, said they have grown amid both challenges and success. He reveals that he was able to acquire his own motorcycle after more than 12 years of hiring.

He says this was possible through the Freedom Fund from Uhuru Institute that has enabled KCCBT members acquire more than 50 motorcycles.

To him, what has kept them together as a cooperative is the solidarity and trust among members which has been reinforced through training and emphasis on savings culture.

Leonard Okello, executive director of Uhuru Institute, taught the cooperators on how to carry on their administrative work. He challenged them to learn from their forefathers who succeeded in building large cooperatives under great strain in the 60s and 70s.

Okello said the future of Uganda depend on cooperatives and the strength of each cooperative lies on its membership.

“Cooperatives and their Board of Directors (BOD) look exactly as its members. So if you let the BOD down, even you as members lose out,” Okello said.

Ssekuluma Amiri Ssebowa, the treasurer of KCCBT, admitted that when they started the cooperative society in 2015 with just five motorcycles, they had no idea how to run it. This came with a leadership challenge.

He says by November 2016 – a few months after the Uhuru Institute workshop, they had saved Shs1.8 million, contributions from the 42 members they had at the time.

Today, they are in thousands targeting over Shs18 million by the end of December 2019.

“You can forget the past but you cannot forget what the past taught you,” reflects Mubiru, who recognizes that they have come from far.

He said this teaches the new leadership to be more transparent, accountable and democratic; saying he has faith in the current leadership of Lasto Ssemakula.

The post Makindye Boda Boda Cooperative Shakes off Leadership Woes to Uplift Members appeared first on The Cooperator News.