How VCs bungled rollout of Sh1.6b CBA cash payout

Universities Academic Staff Union(UASU) Secretary-General Dr Constantine Wasonga addressing a presser on imbalanced implementation of 2017-2021 CBA by Universities. [ Jenipher Wachie, Standard]

Details have emerged how vice-chancellors of public universities bungled implementation of staff salaries, leading to a near loss of Sh1.6 billion.

Officials of three university workers unions said that an audit on payment of the salaries revealed that most institutions used skewed methods to reward staff.

This was part of Sh6.6 billion salaries under 2011 to 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The money was to benefit about 30,000 members of the Universities’ Academic Staff Union (UASU), Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions and Hospital Workers (KUDHEIHA) and Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU).

It also emerged that those six universities are yet to fully implement the CBA. The six are Egerton, Kisii, Murang’a, Embu, Rongo and Technical University of Kenya (TUK).

Officials of the unions have claimed the VCs were planning to rip off their members.

‘‘We saved the taxpayers as a result of that audit Sh1.6 billion because when we were complaining that the vice-chancellors have bungled the CBA money and remained with balances nobody believed us,” said Constantine Wasonga, UASU secretary-general.

He was flanked by KUDHEIHA Secretary General Albert Njeru and Dr Charles Mukhwaya of KUSU.

They blamed VCs for implementing the CBA haphazardly against the court direction and also retaining balances.

Njeru said their workers have been toiling in vain to know their rightful staffing positions. ‘‘Workers have been working in positions where they should not be. In terms of grading, you find that a worker has been in the same grade and a causal employee for almost 20 years,’’ said Njeru.

Mukhwaya said the VCs of the six universities should either honour the CBA or stand with the workers to demand for their pay. ‘’I also call upon the six vice-chancellors to resign because they are in contempt of court on CBA.”

According to the unions, the first three years were well paid but problems started after the third year.

‘‘For example, different methods were applied to calculate arrears for members of staff for the period between July 2017 to June 2019,” said Wasonga.

He said six methods were used to calculate arrears for the staff in the same grade.

“They included simple horizontal method, swinging, stepwise which were different from the diagonal method, which we had agreed on,’’ said Wasonga.

Wasonga cited an instance where through the horizontal method, an employee in the same grade and with the same qualification got Sh134,112. 

The staff got Sh40,452 in swinging horizontal and Sh146,040 using the stepwise method. While on the diagonal method, the staff got Sh295,860.

He said a majority of universities — Bomet, Chuka, Cooperative, Garissa, Jomo Kenyatta, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kibabii, Kisii, Koitalel, Nairobi and Masinde Muliro — used the horizontal method.  

Only three universities — Alupe University College, Maasai Mara and Turkana — used the diagonal method. ‘’They paid the arrears for three years as negotiated and we congratulate them,’’ he said.

Laikipia, Machakos, Rongo and Technical University used the stepwise method, while Egerton, Kirinyaga, Dedan Kimathi and Kaimosi Friends University College used the swinging method.

Multi-Media University was cited for not using any of the methods. Also, 25 universities were commended for paying monthly salaries correctly as per January 15, 2021 judgement but they did not pay arrears. Wasonga also said that there are some universities from which the union could not get the rates they were using. 

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