Luweero District Deletes 56 Staff From Payroll

Fifty six civil servants in Luweero have been deleted from the payroll for alleged absenteeism and absconding from duty. The affected include 36 teachers and 20 health workers. An internal deport from the district, shows that the affected staff were deleted from the payroll between April and July this year. 

Eustace Gakwandi, the Luweero Chief Administrative Officer, says some of the affected staff skipped work for over 30 days while others were on and off duty without authorisation from their supervisors. The Public Service standing orders requires all civil servants to seek authorisation from their supervisors in case of absence from duty. Gakwandi says the misconduct of the staff paralyses service delivery to residents, adding that they will submit the names of the affected staff to the District Service Commission for dismissal and replacement. 

Sections (A-N), (F-D) and (F-T) and Establishment notice no.4 of 2009 mandates the CAO to impose sanctions on officers who abscond from duty. Bernard Okello, the Senior Human Resource Officer Luweero District, says some of the affected workers resumed work when they didn't find money on their accounts. He however, says they declined to pay the workers for the previous months since they didn't work. 

Okello says some of the staff gave flimsy reasons to justify their absence from duty. Vincent Kasoma, the head teacher St. Paul Bumbu Primary school, says the abscondment of two teachers from his affected teaching of learners. He identifies the affected teachers as John Bosco Niyonzima and Morris Kasule. According to Kasoma, he asked both teachers to report for work in vain. 

Another affected teacher told URN on condition of anonymity that she failed to live at the school where she was posted due to lack of basic facilities like water, power, food and poor pay.  The teacher has since secured another job in Kampala although she is yet to resign officially from her teaching job. Richard Ssembajjwe, the chairperson Uganda National Teacher'' Union-Luweero branch, says most of the affected teachers left for greener pastures in South Sudan and Iraq.

 

 

He says some of the teachers set up private businesses where they spend most of their time to boast their incomes. Ssembajjwe has asked government to improve the living conditions of its staff to encourage them to stay at work. Hussein Kato, the Deputy Luweero Resident District Commissioner recently made an impromptu visit to Kibengo Health Center where he found only one of the 11 staff in duty. In 2014, Government decentralized the payment of salaries to the district in a bid to curb irregularities and improve staff supervision.