Kampala — A total of 32 Kyambogo University lecturers have been dropped by the Education Service Commission.

The dismissed lecturers, according to the education ministry, had expired contracts and others were under-qualified. Some lecturers were above 60 years, which is the civil service retirement age.

The sacking was based on the validation exercise which was ordered by the Cabinet to verify the academic qualifications of the staff and their pay following persistent strikes. The exercise was conducted from April 28 to May 8 last year.

It covered 445 lecturers out of a total of 488. A total of 26 lecturers were on study leave and the absence of 17 others was not accounted for. About 32 lecturers were not verified because their academic papers were still being investigated.

The education ministry has already paid the retirement benefits of the affected staff members. A total of 34 members got sh350m, the ministry said in a report. It recommended that 344 lecturers be retained, 23 redeployed and 30 promoted.

The validation commission also wanted one lecturer disciplined for sexual harassment and two for double payment from two government institutions. The commission said the university deviated from the regulations by appointing assistant lecturers and teaching assistants on permanent terms.

It noted that many appointment letters did not indicate whether the holder was on probation or not. In addition, most departments lacked senior lecturers and only 11 of the 32 senior lecturers were qualified.

The report said the university did not have an associate professor or professor, apart from a visiting one. The commission also noted that staff was inappropriately deployed, adding that many lecturers had not advanced their qualifications.

Sources at the university said most of the recommendations had been implemented. Problems started when the university was created by merging the former Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo, the Kyambogo Polytechnic and the Uganda National Institute of Special Education.

Each institute had its own staff on different terms of service.