Lecturers got their money, say public varsity chiefs

Public universities have denied claims that they diverted money meant for paying lecturers’ salaries to other purposes.

In a statement sent to newsrooms last evening, the Association of Public Universities of Kenya argued the money was used for “the intended purpose” but admitted there had been variations between what they requested and what the government gave.

“Due to the approximations that may have been made while the universities were submitting the payroll data to get their disbursement from the ministry, some universities were left with surpluses, and in a few cases, deficits from the funds they received,” the association said.

The statement signed by Jomo Kenyatta University VC Mabel Imbuga and her Maseno University counterpart Dominic Makawiti further said the institutions had since returned any excess monies they received or applied to be refunded any extra costs they incurred in implementing the 2010/13 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

“The funds received for the implementation of the 2010/13 CBA were used for their intended purpose.”

The statement was in response to last Sunday’s threats by the institution’s lecturers and non-academic staff who issued a strike notice accusing the management of reneging on the deal.

The lecturers said the vice-chancellors had failed to obey the CBA that gave them Sh7.8 billion that was to be paid in two tranches.

PATIENCE STRETCHED

The Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) and Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu) held a joint media conference and gave the government only a day to resolve their grievances or face a strike.

Uasu represents lecturers while Kusu is for all professional workers at the universities.

The lecturers raised a number of issues, including using the money for other purposes such as paying pension and gratuities, allocating funds to university colleges that were not in existence when the agreement was sealed and depositing of the money in personal accounts.

Uasu Secretary-general Muga K’Olale, said their patience was running out and they were ready to boycott lecture rooms.

“The tension in our universities is reaching fever-pitch. The salary review and the house allowances have not been done as agreed. We have realised that most of the money has been used for other purposes not agreed on,” Mr K’Olale said.

The union officials said they wrote to the Ministry of Education on December 31 giving the Cabinet Secretary 14 days to respond to their concerns regarding the pay dispute.

The money arose from talks between a joint negotiations committee of the Inter-Public University Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) and the government to pay the unions over two phases of Sh3.9 billion each.

But the Association says each university has paid out all the money “according to the schedules that were worked out and agreed upon by the IPUCCF and the unions.”