Teachers in Kisoro have threatened to lay down their tools if the hard-to-reach allowances are not reinstated in new Town Councils.
This was revealed by the Chairperson Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) Kisoro District branch, Mr. Matata Alex.
He says he received multiple complaints from teachers whose salaries have since been slashed. The allowances were slasjhed down starting with April salaries, leaving many teachers in despair.
Matata says he has already informed the UNATU head office in Kampala of an impending strike by the affected teachers.
He explains that the terrain in most Town Councils remains hard-to-reach, and scrapping off the allowances is being insensitive.
According to Matata, teachers in the Town Councils of Rukundo, Nyanamo, Nkuringo, Rubuguri and others spend much on transport and find it hard to access water, electricity, medical care and others, on top on non-motorable roads.
“A teacher in Nyanamo, Rukundo and other areas spends too much to access a school. How can you cut off the hard-to-reach allowances?” He wondered.
“If this issue is not resolved, we shall not return to schools next term,” threatened Mr Matata.
in 2010, parliament approved a 30% allowance for teachers in remote areas.
Bufumbira North Member of Parliament, Hon. John Nizeyimana Kamara, weighed in, as he castigated the District Local Government for scraping off the teachers’ allowances.
According to Hon Kamara, a former teacher, the decision affects most teachers in the urban areas of greater Bufumbira North.
These include Rubuguri, Nkuringo, Mupaka and Rukundo Town Councils, which remain hard-to-reach, despite the urban status.
Hon Kamara also claimed that teachers in the Town Councils of Bufumbira South and Bufumbira East such as Cyanika, Chahafi and Bunagana were not affected.
Hon. Kamara also wondered how teachers in Rukundo Town Council can also be affected, yet it has not been operationalised.
The three-term legislator asked the Kisoro District Speaker to call for an emergency council sitting to harmonise on the move, which he attributed to the Chief Administration Officer (CAO).
He noted that most Town Councils in Kisoro were created for specific reasons, ranging from tourism to business.
Kamara added that he would discuss the matter with his fellow Members of Parliament from Kisoro for a joint decision.
The Kisoro District Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Hajji Badru Mayanja has dismissed claims that teachers in selected Town Councils in the district had their hard-to-reach allowances scrapped off.
However, the CAO Kisoro District, Hajji Badru Mayanja, explains that government policy abolishes hard-to-reach allowances for civil servants working within urban areas.
Mr Mayanja says a recent instruction from the Central government directed him to scrap off the allowances.
According to him, MPs disgruntled by the move should seek redress from the Parliament, where the policy can be reversed.
Discussion about this post