Advertisement

Police use tear gas to quell riot at Makerere University

Tuesday November 01 2016
Makerere image

Makerere University students join their lecturers in a strike over pay. PHOTO | DAILY MONITOR

Police have used tear gas to disperse rioting students at Makerere University Tuesday morning.

The students joined the strike to add pressure to the University administration to resolve a conflict with members of the teaching staff over unpaid arrears.

The lecturers downed their tools two weeks ago. Student leaders resolved on Monday they would join the strike unless the lecturers resumed teaching immediately.

The strike comes a day after the university council failed to agree with the lecturers under their umbrella Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) on when their outstanding arrears will be paid.

The lecturers are demanding $9 million in arrears for the last eight months since February 2015 to June and another $5.5 million from June to date which the university has failed to pay since 2015 when government agreed to increase their allowances in the 2015/2016 national budget.

Makerere has suffered recurrent strikes for years. They tend to follow a pattern of non-teaching staff, teaching staff and students causing significant disruptions to learning and teaching. Makerere in main and oldest University in Uganda and has been ranked among the top in Africa and the world, which ranking is threatened by the frequent unrest.

Advertisement

The current strike by lecturers has disrupted learning and is likely to affect end of semester examinations.


Advertisement