Since its establishment in 2003, Kyambogo University has known turbulence due to strikes by students, academic and non-teaching staff. The university is now in the throes of a search for a substantive vice chancellor. YUDAYA NANGONZI has been talking to staff and student leaders about what kind of leader they are hoping for.
Last week, Prof Eli Katunguka-Rwakishaya, the university’s acting vice chancellor (VC) and Prof Geoffrey Bakunda from Makerere University Business School were the only successful candidates to compete for the position.
It has taken the university council some years to fill this position following the exit of former VC Prof Isaiah Omollo Ndiege in 2012. Jackson Betihamah, the chairperson of Kyambogo University Senior Administrative Staff Association (KYUSASA), says Ndiege’s exit offered an olive branch to the university.
“I don’t have any kind words for Prof Ndiege because he messed up this university and we don’t want council to make the same mistake,” Betihamah says. “We want a vibrant VC who knows our history and is ready to govern people along the Kyambogo strategic plan.”
Betihamah says they want a leader who is sociable and capable of building teamwork, and address staff challenges like understaffing and academic progression; one who will ably utilise the university’s abundant but idle resources like land.
“We need a VC who is respected by everybody but also respects us. I do not expect to directly get a warning letter from a VC,” says Betihamah. “I have my immediate supervisor and before him, there is a head of department. Such people should be utilised.”
HANDLE STRIKES
Kyambogo staff are still divided since the merger of the three institutions; Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK), Uganda National Institute of Special Education (UNISE) and Kyambogo Institute of Teacher Education (ITEK) in 2003 to create the university. Kyambogo’s two substantive vice chancellors, Prof Lutalo Bbosa and Ndiege saw their exit majorly due to staff concerns.
However, Rev Dr Grace Lubaale, the chairperson of Kyambogo University Academic Staff Association (KYUASA), advises that the new VC should work towards uniting the staff.
“We shall continue striking as long as we have useless fellows. Whoever does not fulfill what we want, we shall chase them,” Dr Lubaale says.
Lubaale, also head of the teacher education department, says the VC must have qualities in himself that will build and make others perform their duties.
“I am looking at a VC who is a leader, manager, pro-people and corrupt-free. There, we shall move on well with him,” Lubaale says.
Currently, Kyambogo has 360 academic staff, about 100 of them being PhD holders, which Lubaale feels need to be increased. Betihamah says staff strikes can easily be eluded at the university once staff tensions are harmonized.
“Right now, we need our promotions. A perfect VC must be able to at least [allow] the director of human resource to do his work very honorably. If you are listening and willing to work with people, I think there is a lot that we can learn from each other,” he said.
MOTIVATE STAFF
Michael Eladu, the chairperson of the National Union of Educational Institutions – Kyambogo branch, is particularly interested in a VC who will motivate the already-demoralized staff.
Eladu says the university operates without a medical insurance scheme yet staff have a lot of unpaid allowances that would cater for their health needs. At times, the university asks them to pay their bills so that they refund.
“It also takes decades to get these refunds. A person like me gave up because sometimes you put it in your claim and it disappears. You have to keep on resubmitting,” Eladu says. “You need to do a vigorous follow-up if you want the money. The lucky few get, but a bigger number don’t claim for this money.”
He adds that in May this year, a draft medical insurance policy was prepared and submitted to the university secretary. However, this has not yet been discussed by council and top management.
“This should be the new vice chancellor’s first priority if he is to find a good landing position because it is a very contentious issue,” Eladu says.
STUDENTS CONCERN
In the entire storm that has been at Kyambogo, students have been heavily affected. This time, the guild president, Lawrence Lugalavu, is calling for a pro-students VC who will serve all students without taking special interest in a particular group of students and staff, as was the case in the past.
“There is no way of avoiding these small groups from cropping up but we shall minimize them. Kyambogo has many complex issues but we want them to end,” Lugalavu says.
He adds that the VC must have the zeal to promote students’ research projects and remunerate staff to ensure that students write exams and receive results on time.
TIME TO WORK
Former staff are also watching events at Kyambogo. For instance, Dr Moses Twesigye-omwe is a former lecturer of UPK and later Kyambogo University. He is now principal at Uganda Technical College in Kichwamba, and says it is time for the new VC to unite staff and start work.
“The biggest old problem in Kyambogo is for a leader wanting to serve a particular group of people instead of uniting them. These things should not happen again in a great university that is capable of molding graduates with the requisite skills for the job market,” Twesigye-omwe says. He adds that the VC should be more assertive, and not act like a politician.
Dr Twesigye-omwe says the staff’s attitude of using students to fight fellow staff which escalates into strikes must also change. In order to succeed in the position, he urges the lucky candidate to always dialogue with staff and students on every matter and once he needs to take action, the human resource manual has ‘very interesting’ clauses and penalties on errant staff.
Dr Lubaale is urging the academic staff to work professionally and genuinely in all things they do – teach students, do research, supervise students, and engage in community service.
nangonzi@observer.ug