A union wants the planned lay off of Moi University lecturers to be shelved, arguing that it would violate various laws and guidelines issued by the government.
Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) said in a letter to the university’s acting Vice Chancellor Kiplagat Kotut that the redundancy plans had no legal or financial justification as it would be in violation of the Employment Act, the Constitution, and Commission for High Education standard and guidelines for university academic programmes, among others.
UASU called for the immediate suspension of the notice until pertinent issues they have raised are resolved.
The cash-strapped university issued a notice on April 2 on plans to lay off staff as part of the cost-cutting measures.
The decision comes three months after a new management team was appointed to salvage the institution.
“An analysis of breaches on your part leads to a conclusion that the intended redundancy is solely occasioned by your failure to comply with the laws and guidelines,” the union said through lawyer Titus Koceyo.
Newly employed
Mr Koceyo pointed out that the institution was yet to inform the union of the criteria used to identify staff to be affected by taking into account their seniority, skill, ability, and reliability as required by section 40 (1) (c) of the Employment Act.
“You are required to list down the staff in terms of the years they were employed, skills they have and ability so that a senior staff is not declared redundant and a newly employed staff is retained or a more qualified staff is declared redundant whereas a less qualified is retained,” the union said.
The letter pointed out that the administrative staff currently outweighs the technical staff and had Moi University complied with the guidelines on management and terms and conditions for board members and staff corporates, there would be no need for layoffs.
Mr Koceyo further added the Public Service Commission guidelines for the development and review of resource management required the institution to observe the ratio of 70:30 of technical staff to administrative support.
“You need to first comply with this requirement before proceeding with your intended action,” the letter added.
While requesting information on the staff/student ratio, Mr Koceyo pointed out that the planned redundancies would affect the said ratio.
He added that the guidelines for university academic programmes stated that a lecturer's workload shall be 40 hours per week which included teaching, preparation of examination papers, marking scripts, tutorials, preparation of teaching, supervision of academic work, and research among others.
“Your intended action will definitely affect this ratio hence the need for you to avail to our client information on the current ratio and the intended ratio after the redundancy,” the letter added.
In the notice, Prof Kotut had promised to give details of the employees to be affected and the proposed timelines for the process.
The university’s notice explained that the move was necessitated by a reduction in revenue, as well as a decline in student enrolment and a huge wage bill.
The Ministry of Education appointed a new management team to salvage the financially troubled university and to reclaim its lost glory.
