Prof Nawangwe moves to streamline management of human resource

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe has come out to streamline human resource.

In recent years, Makerere has faced a series of human resource-related challenges and clashes most of which have failed to be addressed internally and have ended up in courts of law. This has cost the university huge sums of money in endless litigation.

In a letter dated May 11, 2020, addressed to college principals, deans of schools and heads of department, Prof. Nawangwe attributes the challenges to lack of human resource planning.

“Staff were either appointed or promoted in December 2018, without considering the financial implications, leading to a serious deficit on the payroll. As a consequence, a big number of staff who were recruited did not get a salary for eight months. Those who were promoted did not get salary increment for the same period,” reads the letter in part.

Nawangwe has now directed the heads of the department to plan for human resources for at least five years ahead. He also says that promotion of academic staff will no longer depend on the established structure but available wage bill.

Prof. Nawangwe also points to challenges that have been experienced with awarding and renewing post-retirement contracts which are said to be indiscriminate. He adds that it will not be tolerated as the appointments board will be very careful while approving the contracts.

Nawangwe also criticized several professors and associate professors who become ineffective immediately after they were promoted.

“…some refuse to supervise graduate students or participate in teaching. Most do no write research funding proposals while others take on full-time positions in other organizations or concentrate on consultancies,” Nawangwe notes.

Although Makerere University Academic Staff Association-MUASA Chairperson, Prof Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi acknowledges the efforts taken by the Vice-Chancellor to address the challenges, they insist that the problems have been persistent.

Kamunyu also says that Prof. Nawangwe and his administration should walk the talk and stop posturing cosmetic statements.

However, another professor who preferred anonymity notes that the Vice Chancellor’s directives have some anomalies that need to be looked at critically. He singles out section 6.6 of the human resource manual about the criteria of awarding a post-retirement contract.

“In his letter, it appears to be number one of the criteria. This doesn’t appear anywhere in the manual. Implementing it means the manual must be amended,” the professor highlights.

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URN