Makerere University council has, in a bid to enforce the presidential directive of indefinitely closing the campus, suspended financial transactions where payments for incentive arrears of striking lecturers fall.
While meeting on Thursday, November 3, council resolved: “All financial transactions should be suspended except for critical cases within the approved budget which shall be approved by the Vice Chancellor and communication to the University council.”
But Campus Bee has learnt that the said incentive arrears that amount to Shs 30 billion ha not even been budgeted for in this financial year 2016/2017, yet it’s the university and not the government that is supposed to pay this money.
This means that once financial transactions are suspended, even the payment for the one month that the university council chairman Eng Dr Charles Wana-Etyem had promised to effect within November will not be made.
Additionally, a good number of Government Sponsored students had not yet received their Living Out Allowance (LOA) which is money meant to pay rent as a result of these students not being allowed to sleep in halls of residence with in the campus.
It has also been learnt that students who miss out on this LOA after the closure of the semester have always found it hard to get it, with most of them giving up due to the lengthy process that one is always required to go through.
The suspension also means that the staff on contract may also not be paid.
Among other resolutions that were made include closing entrances to all university buildings, closure of all commercial entities within the university with exception of banks, beefing up security to ensure safety, suspension of all events that were scheduled to take place within the university.
In the same council meeting, the reopening date was not discussed
Campus Bee will keep you posted.
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