At least 120 non-teaching staff at Makerere University have petitioned President Yoweri Museveni, demanding answers over why they were excluded from a recent salary harmonisation exercise intended to align pay and job grades across all public universities.

The affected employees, including administrative assistants, laboratory assistants and senior clerical officers, argue that while colleagues at other public universities benefited from the reforms, they remain on lower salary scales despite performing higher-level duties.

Bruce Twesigye, general secretary of the Public Universities Non-Teaching Staff Executive Forum (PUNTSEF), said the harmonisation exercise, initiated in 2019, was designed to eliminate a long-standing anomaly in which staff at Uganda’s oldest public university earned less than counterparts at newer institutions for equivalent ranks and responsibilities.

“In the 2024/2025 financial year, the government injected Shs 61.13 billion across public universities. Makerere received Shs 12.64 billion specifically to align the employment terms, nomenclature and pay of 1,099 non-teaching staff with public service structures,” Twesigye said.

He noted that while other universities implemented the new salary structures, Makerere has lagged behind, leaving more than 120 administrative and support staff on outdated pay grades despite carrying out duties attached to higher positions.

Documents from the ministry of Public Service, staff petitions and other correspondence point to concerns over uneven implementation of the harmonisation exercise. The records indicate that some employees remain on lower salary scales even though funds allocated for their upgrades were either left unutilised or returned to the Treasury.

One example involves administrative assistants deployed in Makerere’s schools and colleges. Many perform duties ordinarily assigned to assistant academic registrars, including managing student records, admissions and other academic processes. Under the university’s previous human resource structure, they were on salary scale M7, earning about Shs 4.4 million per month.

Following a job evaluation by the ministry of Public Service, which included staff validation and payroll audits, the officers were reclassified as assistant academic registrars on salary scale PU6.2, increasing their monthly pay to about Shs 5.9 million.

Instead of implementing the upgrade, university management allegedly created a parallel position of assistant administrative officer under the lower PU7 scale, with remuneration comparable to the phased-out M7 grade, while the affected employees continued performing the higher-level duties.

A review of the approved university establishment also shows that the position of assistant administrative officer does not exist within the Academic Registrar’s department, where the affected staff are deployed.

Similar discrepancies appear in other categories. The university lists 51 assistant administrative secretaries, yet the approved establishment provides for only 17 positions. According to the harmonisation schedule, 28 officers in this category were allocated Shs 398.34 million for salary enhancement, but the funds have not reached them.

Nine senior clerical officers are also awaiting redesignation as records assistants. Under the harmonised structure, they were expected to move from salary scale PU14, earning about Shs 1.3 million per month, to PU10, which attracts Shs 3.33 million. A total of Shs 224.2 million was allocated for this category.

Similarly, 23 laboratory assistants were redesignated as assistant technicians during the harmonisation process, a move intended to raise their monthly pay from Shs 1.3 million on scale M15 to Shs 3.48 million on PU10. However, they continue to receive the old salaries.

In their petition to the President, the non-teaching staff argue that the delayed implementation has demoralised workers and undermined efficiency at an institution that prides itself on being among the region’s leading universities.

“The majority of the affected staff are holding positions that are oversubscribed and therefore fall outside the university structure. Some of the affected staff are in positions that are dead-end in nature and cannot attract further promotion,” the petition states.

Questions have also emerged over the fate of the unspent funds. Since January 2025, Makerere has reportedly returned Shs 1.7 billion of the Shs 12.64 billion allocated for harmonisation to the Consolidated Fund. Staff and officials at the ministry of Public Service are questioning why money earmarked for specific salary adjustments was not utilised when other public universities implemented the exercise without major challenges.

The dispute follows months of internal engagements that produced little progress.

Documents show the affected employees formally raised the matter with university management in December 2024. They subsequently held several meetings and submitted multiple letters but say they received only verbal assurances.

It was not until August 1, 2025, that the university’s Appointments Board considered the grievances and responded individually to the affected staff. In letters addressed to former administrative assistants, the board acknowledged that the position had been abolished under the harmonised structure but maintained that the officers had been fairly upgraded to assistant administrative officer on salary scale PU7.

“The Board agreed that you were fairly and justly harmonised,” reads part of a letter signed by chief human resource officer Deus Tayari Mujuni.

However, that position appears to conflict with the official harmonisation schedules issued by the ministry of Public Service. The approved costed establishment for Makerere indicates that 28 administrative assistants were redesignated as assistant registrars, a position that staff argue accurately reflects the responsibilities they continue to perform in the university’s schools and colleges.

In March this year, the affected staff escalated the matter to the Ministry of Public Service after meeting then minister Muruli Mukasa and other ministry officials.

The ministry subsequently wrote to Makerere University seeking explanations over complaints raised by administrative secretaries, clerical officers, laboratory assistants and other affected staff categories. Acting permanent secretary Irumba Roger Kaija directed the university to respond by April 1, 2026.

A reminder was issued on May 4, but by the time of publication, the university had not submitted a formal response.

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