By Roy Hezron
University Academic Staff Union (UASU) Multimedia University (MMU) Chapter Secretary Onesmus Maluki, who also doubles up as the union’s National Organising Secretary, has lamented over the welfare of part time lecturers at the university who haven’t been paid since 2018.
Speaking to Education News in a recent interview, Maluki said the treatment vested upon the lecturers is very unfair and inhuman since they have bills to pay.
“Part-time lecturers have not been paid since 2018 yet they are expected to work diligently. How will they pay their bills? How have they been surviving all this while?” He posed.
Maluki revealed that part time lecturers at the institution handle more classes compared to their full time counterparts
“Full-time lecturers can only manage a quarter of the classes so the other three-quarters are managed by part-time lecturers,” he added.
He wondered how it was possible for someone who hasn’t been paid for so long to still wake up and go to work.
The organizing secretary pointed out that it’s possible the lack of good cash flow in universities is to blame for such scenarios.
He noted that to save the cash stripped public universities and enable them meet their budgetary obligations, the government should either increase its capitation to public universities or allow for the increase of fees from the current Ksh 16,000 to Ksh 48,000.
“If either of those isn’t done, public universities will continue struggling financially.” He concluded.
