Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 419534,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/419534/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 228,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that this House now adjourn to discuss a matter of national importance and this is the issue of the stalemate that has led to the strike. Right now, all members of staff of public universities are on strike. Students have been left in a situation where they cannot attend to their lectures and are in hardship. The strike has actually entered its sixth day today morning. That means a lot is being lost in terms of resources, both financial and human. It has thrown the public universities into confusion. This is an issue that needs to be addressed and I think it is important for us to discuss it. The whole dispute started with a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between 2010 and 2013 that was actually gotten into by all public universities and the Government. At that time, about Kshs7.8 billion was allocated to public universities. This was going to be distributed into two tranches or two bunches, each of equal amounts of about Kshs3.9 billion. That was agreed in 2012. That money was meant to be given as salary increment at a rate of about 14.4 per cent in house allowance and 33 per cent as salary increment. When the money came, it was meant to be disbursed because an agreement had already been made. The first payment of Kshs3.9 billion was distributed, but there was a dispute even about that distribution which I will go into later on. The first payment was effective December, 2012 and it was paid to the university staff. The second phase is the one that has been problematic. If the money was paid to the universities - and there is a dispute whether it was paid to the universities or not - it should have been distributed then to the various universities as salary increments and allowances. That is what the CBA stipulated. That was the expectation from the teaching and non-teaching staff. According to the Secretary General of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU), that is, Muga K’Olale, the money, if it was paid to the universities, was not used to pay for the specified allowances. Instead, it was used to pay casual labourers, hire more staff; in certain cases, it was used for expansion of various projects that the universities have been engaging in. At other times, it was used to hire extra hostel The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}