The staff appeals tribunal has ordered Makerere University management to immediately reinstate, Dr Stella Nyanzi at the University, saying her suspension was illegal and unlawful.
Nyanzi was last year indefinitely suspended by vice chancellor Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu on the orders of the appointments board chairman Bruce Balaba Kabaasa for attacking the First Lady and Education minister Janet Museveni on Facebook over ‘incompetence to run the ministry.’
Stella Nyanzi got this news with joy and she immediately went to her facebook account and posted;
People interested in the decision and the orders of the Makerere University Staff Appeals Tribunal, photos of the documents are here. My win is a win for all employees in Uganda. This is our win.
First, I present the orders because they outline the next few steps on this case. Then the fifteen-paged decision summarises the background, arguments, grounds of appeal, authorities, resolution, remedies and signatories to this ruling.
Several questions arise about
1) the caliber and quality of people who sit on the Appointments Board – specifically whether they have the requisite intellectual, moral, professional and ethical credentials to undertake the statutory duties assigned to them;
2) components of Makerere University’s Human Resource Manual that contravene and contradict the Employment Act (2006) such as the stipulated length of a suspension;
3) the boundaries, power and mandate of the Makerere University Staff Appeals Tribunal;
4) the abuse of an existent criminal proceeding to justify the institutional violation of an employee’s labour rights;
5) the abuse of power by the Minister of Education ordering the Appointment’s Board to unduly punish university employees who criticise her for her excesses;
6) the distinction between applying suspension as a disciplinary measure versus its application to legitimise the criminal abuse of an employee’s labour rights;
7) sustained inaction of the Appointments Board, etc.
We shall keep you posted
