Everest Turyahikayo
Human Resource Consultant
I recently presented a paper at a conference in which I urged human resource managers in Uganda to propose amendment of the Employment Act to accommodate provisions for breastfeeding employees. The need to provide an environment in which female employees can freely breast feed their babies at the work place should be prioritized.
Most employers grant sixty days of maternity leave to female workers to allow them recover from the labour pain. This period also enables mothers to breast feed their babies for their healthy growth. After this period, employees are supposed to report to work. Some workers leave their two month old babies to house maids or relatives. Others surrender these babies to day care centres. Some employers especially in the private sector may not grant any maternity leave at all. In this case, these employees have two options. The first option is to choose raising families and give up formal employment. In this option, survival becomes difficult as families need money. The second option is to join formal employment and give up raising families. If every mother took this option, the world would face extinction as no one would procreate.
Psychologists like Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg and Carl Rogers tell us that mothers establish a strong relationship with their children in the process of breastfeeding and the time spent together during infancy. This relationship is a great determinant of positive human behaviour right from childhood to adulthood. Research by psychologists has shown that there is a strong variation in behaviour among children who had more time with their mothers and those whose mothers abandoned them at home or day care centres for jobs. Whereas a big percentage of adults who grew up with their mothers exhibited good behaviour approved by society, the reverse was true with children from upper class families whose mothers were busy making money outside home. Children from peasant families whose mothers had enough time with them had exhibited behaviour whereas most children from families where mothers spent much time at their place of work had deviant behaviour.
There are negative consequences on the employer arising from female employees who leave their infants at home. First, performance of such employees slackens because as their breasts get filled with unsucked milk, they tend to develop fever. This makes them disconfortable and puts them in pain. As normal human beings, this category of workers miss their babies and the time they would spend performing assigned tasks is spent thinking about the infants they left at home. They sit in their offices physically while mentally they are at home.
It is important that the employment Act be amended as a matter of urgency to compel employers provide venues where breastfeeding employees can have a break time and breastfeed their babies. USA and Canada labour laws provide good examples of how this is properly done. There is need to sensitize employers on the importance of maternity leave. If our mothers had given up producing us inorder to make money, Uganda would probably be without people! The working environment should allow mothers raise their children without interference. At the same time breastfeeding employees should balance between work and raising children. This calls for equity and fairness in the contract of employment.
There is need to establish Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Uganda. Such a commission will handle maters related to the welfare of employees including affirmative action in recruitment, fairness in remuneration, observance of safety and health policies of employees and any complaint lodged by employers.
Monday, September 19, 2011
NETWORK MARKETING CAN CURB UNEMPLOYMENT
Everest Turyahikayo
Human Resource Consultant
Network Marketing (NM) is a lucrative business that should be embraced by not only job seekers but also people who want to make additional income in their free time. Network marketing is not about hawking products of a company as some people think. It is about telling your friends, colleagues, or relatives about the goodness of a product or service of a company. This can be done by telephone, sms or email. I have always advised people to join companies that specialize in a variety of products people use. Such products include washing and cleaning products, products for cleaning household items. Other products may include laundry, bathing and body care, food supplements, herbals and agricultural inputs. As long as people continue to exist, such products will be on demand. I have seen young people in their senior six vacation turning into millionaires through network marketing. I have also seen university students retiring on the graduation day. They retire after generating millions of money through network marketing while at campus.
There are several benefits in network marketing business. People become their own boss as the network business is a personal business. There is also financial freedom since people accumulate millions of money in just few years, thereby making it possible to meet all financial needs. The issue of robbing Peter to pay Paul does not arise if one is in the network marketing business. All members in the network team get monetary benefits from the contribution of the whole team in respect of network building. This business provides solutions to employees whose meager salaries cannot afford them to meet basic necessities of life. Employees can do this business in their free time such as weekend and other public holidays. As you become more advanced in the business, a good network marketing company pays you leadership and training bonus.
Non-monetary benefits include sponsored travels to some of the most beautiful and prestigious cities of the world. In such places, people meet and interact with other successful business men and women across the globe. There are free training sessions in which everyone is encouraged to share their success stories with group members. People learn communication skills and confidence building techniques. A lot of time is at ones disposal to plan and invest the accumulated money. The list of the benefits in network business marketing is endless. Not all network marketing companies can offer all these benefits. One should carefully identify a network marketing company that offers a variety of benefits.
The good news is that some Ugandans have started embracing this venture. In the near future, it will be shameful for one to complain of lack of employment. Network marketing, if embraced, can absorb all people interested in work. It is a business for all people regardless of their background or status. I have seen professional managers, engineers, medical doctors, university professors, former housemaids, security guards and waitresses give testimonies of how network marketing business has improved their lives.
Some people express uncertainty about the reputation and credibility of network marketing business companies. It is easy to ascertain whether a network company is serious about offering opportunities to people. The number of years such a company has been in business and how wide it has spread across countries reveal its impeccable quality of services or products. It is wise to join a company that has existed for over 50 years or a company that has spread in many countries. The profile of its founders and transparency in conducting business play a big role. By attending some training sessions you are able to make an informed decision before joining a network marketing company.
Human Resource Consultant
Network Marketing (NM) is a lucrative business that should be embraced by not only job seekers but also people who want to make additional income in their free time. Network marketing is not about hawking products of a company as some people think. It is about telling your friends, colleagues, or relatives about the goodness of a product or service of a company. This can be done by telephone, sms or email. I have always advised people to join companies that specialize in a variety of products people use. Such products include washing and cleaning products, products for cleaning household items. Other products may include laundry, bathing and body care, food supplements, herbals and agricultural inputs. As long as people continue to exist, such products will be on demand. I have seen young people in their senior six vacation turning into millionaires through network marketing. I have also seen university students retiring on the graduation day. They retire after generating millions of money through network marketing while at campus.
There are several benefits in network marketing business. People become their own boss as the network business is a personal business. There is also financial freedom since people accumulate millions of money in just few years, thereby making it possible to meet all financial needs. The issue of robbing Peter to pay Paul does not arise if one is in the network marketing business. All members in the network team get monetary benefits from the contribution of the whole team in respect of network building. This business provides solutions to employees whose meager salaries cannot afford them to meet basic necessities of life. Employees can do this business in their free time such as weekend and other public holidays. As you become more advanced in the business, a good network marketing company pays you leadership and training bonus.
Non-monetary benefits include sponsored travels to some of the most beautiful and prestigious cities of the world. In such places, people meet and interact with other successful business men and women across the globe. There are free training sessions in which everyone is encouraged to share their success stories with group members. People learn communication skills and confidence building techniques. A lot of time is at ones disposal to plan and invest the accumulated money. The list of the benefits in network business marketing is endless. Not all network marketing companies can offer all these benefits. One should carefully identify a network marketing company that offers a variety of benefits.
The good news is that some Ugandans have started embracing this venture. In the near future, it will be shameful for one to complain of lack of employment. Network marketing, if embraced, can absorb all people interested in work. It is a business for all people regardless of their background or status. I have seen professional managers, engineers, medical doctors, university professors, former housemaids, security guards and waitresses give testimonies of how network marketing business has improved their lives.
Some people express uncertainty about the reputation and credibility of network marketing business companies. It is easy to ascertain whether a network company is serious about offering opportunities to people. The number of years such a company has been in business and how wide it has spread across countries reveal its impeccable quality of services or products. It is wise to join a company that has existed for over 50 years or a company that has spread in many countries. The profile of its founders and transparency in conducting business play a big role. By attending some training sessions you are able to make an informed decision before joining a network marketing company.
MISUSE OF ICT REDUCES EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
By Everest Turyahikayo
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can provide remedy to many performance related challenges in organizations. One challenge that can be overcome due to ICT is poor organizational communication. Traditionally, communication in organizations used to be effected through the use of notice boards, meetings, and internal memos delivered to offices by office messengers. Many organizations could be overwhelmed by tons of waste paper and high costs of purchasing stationary. The need to employee full time workers to organize and keep these documents became inevitable. As a consequence, hard copy files and documents started competing with employees for space. Organizations would communicate with the outside environment by use of posting letters and office telephones. There were no mobile phones to ease communication.
Today, this communication mechanism has been made archaic by the introduction of ICT. Organizations use electronic gadgets to communicate not only internally but also to the outside world. Instead of employing office messengers, officers communicate through emails, twitter, facebook, blogs, Skype, yahoo messenger to mention but a few.. Organizations can use Facebook to discuss corporate issues with colleagues who may not be able to meet physically. Instead of discussing on phone with someone overseas about urgent issues in an organization, modern organizations use email, facebook, YouTube, twitter among others.
Websites are gradually replacing the traditional methods of advertizing which used to be radios and one or two public television stations. They are becoming the primary source of information about services or products offered by respective organizations. Yet, organizations offering consultancy services can use this channel to look for business all over the world. Many companies use facebook to get feedback from the consumers of their products or services.
Organizations are investing heavily in ICT because it is cost effective and makes corporate governance easy. However, ICT can easily be misused by employees thereby reducing employee productivity. As you read this article, an employee in a corporation is busy surfing the internet to find some funny pictures or messages they will email to their friends in other organizations. The time they would spend working to meet targets is wasted surfing the internet for irrelevant materials. Facebook can be used as a tool to search for intimate relationships. When employees cheat employers of their time by building personal social networks through facebook, we say facebook has been abused.
The marginal propensity to misuse ICT by communicating irrelevant issues is high because of its addictive nature. Instead of increasing productivity of employees, ICT can reduce performance of workers in organizations. Without regulation and sensitization, ICT cannot meet the purpose for which it was intended. I suggest the following measures in ensuring that employees use ICT for the effective and efficient performance of their duties and responsibilities.
There is need to train employees in organizations about the proper use of ICT. It is not enough to install ICT and leave it to the workers to choose how to use it. Every organizational strategic objective hinges on the use of ICT as a means to achieve it. Training employees on how best they can manipulate ICT to achieve organizational objectives is fundamental.
Sometimes workers need self judgement in discerning why and when to use ICT. Some scholars like John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham advise that people can make good decisions in a given situation if only they follow the principal of utilitarianism. That is, a decision that creates happiness for the greatest number of people is considered good. Another scholar Immanuel Kant in his philosophy of categorical imperativism advises human beings to act in such a way that if everyone acted in a similar way, the world would be a better place. I find these views important in guiding employees about the use of ICT in organizations.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can provide remedy to many performance related challenges in organizations. One challenge that can be overcome due to ICT is poor organizational communication. Traditionally, communication in organizations used to be effected through the use of notice boards, meetings, and internal memos delivered to offices by office messengers. Many organizations could be overwhelmed by tons of waste paper and high costs of purchasing stationary. The need to employee full time workers to organize and keep these documents became inevitable. As a consequence, hard copy files and documents started competing with employees for space. Organizations would communicate with the outside environment by use of posting letters and office telephones. There were no mobile phones to ease communication.
Today, this communication mechanism has been made archaic by the introduction of ICT. Organizations use electronic gadgets to communicate not only internally but also to the outside world. Instead of employing office messengers, officers communicate through emails, twitter, facebook, blogs, Skype, yahoo messenger to mention but a few.. Organizations can use Facebook to discuss corporate issues with colleagues who may not be able to meet physically. Instead of discussing on phone with someone overseas about urgent issues in an organization, modern organizations use email, facebook, YouTube, twitter among others.
Websites are gradually replacing the traditional methods of advertizing which used to be radios and one or two public television stations. They are becoming the primary source of information about services or products offered by respective organizations. Yet, organizations offering consultancy services can use this channel to look for business all over the world. Many companies use facebook to get feedback from the consumers of their products or services.
Organizations are investing heavily in ICT because it is cost effective and makes corporate governance easy. However, ICT can easily be misused by employees thereby reducing employee productivity. As you read this article, an employee in a corporation is busy surfing the internet to find some funny pictures or messages they will email to their friends in other organizations. The time they would spend working to meet targets is wasted surfing the internet for irrelevant materials. Facebook can be used as a tool to search for intimate relationships. When employees cheat employers of their time by building personal social networks through facebook, we say facebook has been abused.
The marginal propensity to misuse ICT by communicating irrelevant issues is high because of its addictive nature. Instead of increasing productivity of employees, ICT can reduce performance of workers in organizations. Without regulation and sensitization, ICT cannot meet the purpose for which it was intended. I suggest the following measures in ensuring that employees use ICT for the effective and efficient performance of their duties and responsibilities.
There is need to train employees in organizations about the proper use of ICT. It is not enough to install ICT and leave it to the workers to choose how to use it. Every organizational strategic objective hinges on the use of ICT as a means to achieve it. Training employees on how best they can manipulate ICT to achieve organizational objectives is fundamental.
Sometimes workers need self judgement in discerning why and when to use ICT. Some scholars like John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham advise that people can make good decisions in a given situation if only they follow the principal of utilitarianism. That is, a decision that creates happiness for the greatest number of people is considered good. Another scholar Immanuel Kant in his philosophy of categorical imperativism advises human beings to act in such a way that if everyone acted in a similar way, the world would be a better place. I find these views important in guiding employees about the use of ICT in organizations.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
everestpublications: everestpublications: everestpublications: EAST AFRICAN COMMON LANGUAGE NEEDED
WHO SHOULD SAVE UGANDA FROM UNETHICAL ADVERTISEMENTS?
For a couple of years now, I have seen a number of unethical advertisements pinned alongside roads, notice boards of various universities, print and electronic media. Visit any university in Kampala and see people advertising themselves that they offer services in doing course works, dissertations, assignments and research proposals. Any one who went through university education will agree with me that students learn by doing assignments, course works through research. Unfortunately, students look for people to do academic work for them. In some universities, a course work contributes 40% to the final semester examination.
If students score 35% in a course work they have bought, it means they will need to score 15% in the final exam to attain 50% pass mark. At the end of the course, students will obtain grades for which they contributed only 15%. This does not only contribute to the academic suicide, but also brings incompetent and unprofessional jobseekers on the labour market who lack research skills. No country has developed economically, politically and socially without doing research. For university authorities to tolerate such adverts in the premises of universities, means they either condone the practice or some insiders especially lecturers- who would be the first complainants, participate in doing course works for students to make a living.
There are also adverts on Kampala streets about jobs available in Dubai, South Africa, London and USA. The owners of these adverts indicate their telephone contacts but no physical address or the name of organization is available. A telephone contact can not be subsititute for physical address. In any case, the two are complementary. One would expect that any individual or organization charged with connecting Ugandan jobseekers and the employers abroad is registered and recognized by government, and utilises the relevant ministry under proper channels. Otherwise in future, the country risks facing problems of human trafficking, slavery and sexual exploitation perpetuated by unethical recruiters. Many Ugandan jobseekers invest a lot of money in education; money which is earned through sweat and blood. Completing studies and you are subjected to exploitation defeats logic, but also discourages majority poor parents in educating their children.
I have also seen adverts in Kampala calling people with short manhood and rough womanhood to go for elongation and smoothening of their manhood and womanhood respectively. This has indeed caused some embarrassment to parents. A friend of mine was recently dropping his children to school and his nine year old son asked him what manhood meant and how it could be elongated. Whereas he managed to describe manhood, he felt embarrassed in explaining the rationale for elongating manhood. After dropping the children, he shed tears in his car as the children were entering the school gate. He was lucky that his son did not ask him about smoothening womanhood! Perhaps many parents have similar stories to tell. The fact that the owners of these adverts do not reveal where they operate from except when called on phone, is a manifestation of their lack of licence to offer such services. The consumers of such services are put to risk since they deal with companies that can not sue or be sued. It also makes it hard to trace providers of such services in the event of complaints about them.
Adverts of pastors on radio stations calling people to pay before they submit prayers are common. Why would someone pay inorder to ask a pastor intercede for him to God? Perhaps these pastors are not registered and therefore not recognized by the Association of pastors in the country. But failure to condemn these unethical and ungodly adverts makes people think the salvation is being commercialized! The same applies to many herbalists who claim in their adverts to cure all diseases on planet earth. The earlier these unethical adverts are discouraged the better for Uganda.
Everest Turyahikayo
Human Resource Consultant
Kampala
For a couple of years now, I have seen a number of unethical advertisements pinned alongside roads, notice boards of various universities, print and electronic media. Visit any university in Kampala and see people advertising themselves that they offer services in doing course works, dissertations, assignments and research proposals. Any one who went through university education will agree with me that students learn by doing assignments, course works through research. Unfortunately, students look for people to do academic work for them. In some universities, a course work contributes 40% to the final semester examination.
If students score 35% in a course work they have bought, it means they will need to score 15% in the final exam to attain 50% pass mark. At the end of the course, students will obtain grades for which they contributed only 15%. This does not only contribute to the academic suicide, but also brings incompetent and unprofessional jobseekers on the labour market who lack research skills. No country has developed economically, politically and socially without doing research. For university authorities to tolerate such adverts in the premises of universities, means they either condone the practice or some insiders especially lecturers- who would be the first complainants, participate in doing course works for students to make a living.
There are also adverts on Kampala streets about jobs available in Dubai, South Africa, London and USA. The owners of these adverts indicate their telephone contacts but no physical address or the name of organization is available. A telephone contact can not be subsititute for physical address. In any case, the two are complementary. One would expect that any individual or organization charged with connecting Ugandan jobseekers and the employers abroad is registered and recognized by government, and utilises the relevant ministry under proper channels. Otherwise in future, the country risks facing problems of human trafficking, slavery and sexual exploitation perpetuated by unethical recruiters. Many Ugandan jobseekers invest a lot of money in education; money which is earned through sweat and blood. Completing studies and you are subjected to exploitation defeats logic, but also discourages majority poor parents in educating their children.
I have also seen adverts in Kampala calling people with short manhood and rough womanhood to go for elongation and smoothening of their manhood and womanhood respectively. This has indeed caused some embarrassment to parents. A friend of mine was recently dropping his children to school and his nine year old son asked him what manhood meant and how it could be elongated. Whereas he managed to describe manhood, he felt embarrassed in explaining the rationale for elongating manhood. After dropping the children, he shed tears in his car as the children were entering the school gate. He was lucky that his son did not ask him about smoothening womanhood! Perhaps many parents have similar stories to tell. The fact that the owners of these adverts do not reveal where they operate from except when called on phone, is a manifestation of their lack of licence to offer such services. The consumers of such services are put to risk since they deal with companies that can not sue or be sued. It also makes it hard to trace providers of such services in the event of complaints about them.
Adverts of pastors on radio stations calling people to pay before they submit prayers are common. Why would someone pay inorder to ask a pastor intercede for him to God? Perhaps these pastors are not registered and therefore not recognized by the Association of pastors in the country. But failure to condemn these unethical and ungodly adverts makes people think the salvation is being commercialized! The same applies to many herbalists who claim in their adverts to cure all diseases on planet earth. The earlier these unethical adverts are discouraged the better for Uganda.
Everest Turyahikayo
Human Resource Consultant
Kampala
Monday, February 28, 2011
Evereyone Needs a Manifesto
During the recent presidential and parliamentary campaigns, all contesting candidates had manifestos. The word manifesto originated from Latin manifestum meaning clear or obvious to the eye. Today manifestos are generally understood as public declarations of principles and intentions, often political in nature. These principles and intentions can originate from individual political candidates in a non-party political system or from a group of members within a political party. As such, manifestos clearly indicate priority areas which must be tackled by the political candidate. Most of these areas include health, roads, education, agriculture, security and good governance free of corruption. There is a tendency by some people to think that individual politicians can fulfill whatever they promise in their manifestos without a collective effort.
One former US president John F. Kennedy once said “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. If this remark was to be made at every political rally, supporters of a political candidate would know that before they ask their candidate to produce a manifesto, they must first have theirs. A collection of individual manifestos make a community manifesto. Community intentions, desires and needs have an impact on the national development.
Quite often, some politicians seeking re-election find it difficult to convince their electorate why they did not fulfils me promises. Surprisingly, one finds that at the community and household level, there are people who did not fulfill their obligations. It is common to see some parents who do not sent their children to school yet there is free primary and secondary education for all. Even when the government establishes garbage collection centres, some people choose to throw garbage wherever they choose. When the government established health units at the parish level, some people continued with their old ways of visiting witch doctors for simple illnesses like cough and malaria. Politicians can design and implement very good manifestos. However, without a collective effort, and realizing that development starts at the individual level, little success can be attained.
In respect of this therefore, every responsible citizen must have an individual manifesto. Individual manifestos can make corporate organizations flourish. Communities can move forward with everyone implementing their manifestos. Objective personal manifestos can help to eliminate all the evils in society.
Individual manifestos that spell out personal or household priorities enhance accountability at that level. If households can account for their plans, activities and expenditure of family resources, then accountability at the political levels is simplified. People tend to be vigilant about issues affecting their affairs when they understand the implications of certain courses of action. If they do not have individual manifestos, they become passive. They sit on the development band-wagon without knowing the next destination.
Manifestos have financial implications as they depict sources of funds to implement the plans. At the household level, manifestos would act as a driving force towards resource mobilization. If the government has introduced NAADS or constructed a feeder road, how do families intend to make use of such initiatives? I have travelled on some Ugandan roads especially Iganga-Mbale and Tirinyi roads only to see people drying cassava and maize on these roads. Such roads can be made more meaningful than just drying cassava.
Apart from assisting households to assess themselves, manifestos provide a time frame within which to implement certain plans. In this direction, individual citizens can assess themselves after a given period of time to see if they fulfilled their promises before blaming politicians. However, as supervisors of government programmes, politicians should keep an ear to the ground in guiding communities and participating in assessing their development challenges.
Everest Turyahikayo
Human resource Consultant
Kampala
One former US president John F. Kennedy once said “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. If this remark was to be made at every political rally, supporters of a political candidate would know that before they ask their candidate to produce a manifesto, they must first have theirs. A collection of individual manifestos make a community manifesto. Community intentions, desires and needs have an impact on the national development.
Quite often, some politicians seeking re-election find it difficult to convince their electorate why they did not fulfils me promises. Surprisingly, one finds that at the community and household level, there are people who did not fulfill their obligations. It is common to see some parents who do not sent their children to school yet there is free primary and secondary education for all. Even when the government establishes garbage collection centres, some people choose to throw garbage wherever they choose. When the government established health units at the parish level, some people continued with their old ways of visiting witch doctors for simple illnesses like cough and malaria. Politicians can design and implement very good manifestos. However, without a collective effort, and realizing that development starts at the individual level, little success can be attained.
In respect of this therefore, every responsible citizen must have an individual manifesto. Individual manifestos can make corporate organizations flourish. Communities can move forward with everyone implementing their manifestos. Objective personal manifestos can help to eliminate all the evils in society.
Individual manifestos that spell out personal or household priorities enhance accountability at that level. If households can account for their plans, activities and expenditure of family resources, then accountability at the political levels is simplified. People tend to be vigilant about issues affecting their affairs when they understand the implications of certain courses of action. If they do not have individual manifestos, they become passive. They sit on the development band-wagon without knowing the next destination.
Manifestos have financial implications as they depict sources of funds to implement the plans. At the household level, manifestos would act as a driving force towards resource mobilization. If the government has introduced NAADS or constructed a feeder road, how do families intend to make use of such initiatives? I have travelled on some Ugandan roads especially Iganga-Mbale and Tirinyi roads only to see people drying cassava and maize on these roads. Such roads can be made more meaningful than just drying cassava.
Apart from assisting households to assess themselves, manifestos provide a time frame within which to implement certain plans. In this direction, individual citizens can assess themselves after a given period of time to see if they fulfilled their promises before blaming politicians. However, as supervisors of government programmes, politicians should keep an ear to the ground in guiding communities and participating in assessing their development challenges.
Everest Turyahikayo
Human resource Consultant
Kampala
Sunday, February 27, 2011
REDUCING RETIREMENT AGE IN UGANDA CREATES HUMAN RESOURCE GAPS
Many job seekers in Uganda feel that reducing retirement age in the public service can help to create more jobs. I wish to differ from this thinking because of the fact that in some government departments, manpower has never been enough. The health sector for example, has always had fewer doctors than the required number. At the moment, the doctor-patient ratio is 1:20,000 patients. This is rather an absurd situation. Even if a doctor worked for twenty four hours, it would be impossible to handle 20,000 patients a day. Reducing the retirement age for doctors may create personnel deficiency in Uganda.
Ugandan institutions of higher learning have never had enough qualified academic staff. The title Professor in Uganda is associated with a grey haired old man or a wrinkled old woman who has excelled in research and teaching in universities. These professors are engaged in teaching instead of enabling them to research and publish. This is because involving them in purely research and administration will create manpower gaps on the academic staff line-up. Moreover, most of the professors in Uganda are nearing the current retirement age or have already reached it. This however does not mean that most of them have out-lived their effectiveness in academic performance. Professors who have joined private universities after retiring from the public service have excelled in their work. Reducing the retirement age of university academic staff to 55 years could weaken public universities.
The Ugandan judiciary is another sector that will be affected. Whereas the retirement age for judges and justices is a bit high compared to other public servants, there is a growing tendency among young lawyers to join the private practice. This is the area where there is more money. If the retirement age of state attorneys, magistrates and judicial officers in various public departments is lowered to 55 years, Uganda will have to borrow additional lawyers from other countries. Any policy on retirement age in Uganda should provide for the introduction of fixed term contracts of employment in some departments like health, education and judiciary. The contract should cover only staff who have reached the retirement age but are still capable of performing in their profession.
Everest Turyahikayo
Kampala
Ugandan institutions of higher learning have never had enough qualified academic staff. The title Professor in Uganda is associated with a grey haired old man or a wrinkled old woman who has excelled in research and teaching in universities. These professors are engaged in teaching instead of enabling them to research and publish. This is because involving them in purely research and administration will create manpower gaps on the academic staff line-up. Moreover, most of the professors in Uganda are nearing the current retirement age or have already reached it. This however does not mean that most of them have out-lived their effectiveness in academic performance. Professors who have joined private universities after retiring from the public service have excelled in their work. Reducing the retirement age of university academic staff to 55 years could weaken public universities.
The Ugandan judiciary is another sector that will be affected. Whereas the retirement age for judges and justices is a bit high compared to other public servants, there is a growing tendency among young lawyers to join the private practice. This is the area where there is more money. If the retirement age of state attorneys, magistrates and judicial officers in various public departments is lowered to 55 years, Uganda will have to borrow additional lawyers from other countries. Any policy on retirement age in Uganda should provide for the introduction of fixed term contracts of employment in some departments like health, education and judiciary. The contract should cover only staff who have reached the retirement age but are still capable of performing in their profession.
Everest Turyahikayo
Kampala
YOUTHS SHOULD DESIST FROM VIOLENCE
It is perturbing to observe that the youths in Uganda dominate groups that engage in violence. Whenever I watch news on TV and there is a violent demonstration, it is common to see youths on the front line. Pictures of people clashing with police are always flooded by the youths.
The youths, for example, dominated in the violent demonstration against the Mabira forest give away. When the Kabaka was allegedly stopped from visiting Kayunga District, I watched on TV majority of the youth clashing with police. Some of these youth did not even know why they were demonstrating. They jumped on the ‘band wagon for leisure’ without knowing that they could get injuries.
When the Kasubi Tombs caught fire, I saw the youth dominating and causing insecurity for people who had visited the scene to express their sympathy to the Buganda government. The same youth participated in the violent demonstrations against Kisseka market give away to an investor. Surprisingly, some youth did not even know where the market was located. They just rushed to participate in the clashes with the police.
I have watched news on TV of the ‘Kiboko squad’. It has always made me wonder why all the youths holding big sticks are youths. The most recent shock to me was that of terror suspects of July 11. Most of them looked youthful. And even when they were being brought before the courts of law, they were rather jovial and not remorseful. Could some of them be addicted to violence? This is an unfortunate situation that must stop.
The following strategies can help the youth to live a violent free life in Uganda.
• The ministries of Education and that of gender, Labour and Social Development should register youth in their various urban areas and train them in entrepreneurship skills. Such training should equip the youths with skills of managing small businesses, brick laying, urban farming, weaving, carpentry and pottery.
• The government should buy land and lease it to the youth in the major urban areas where they can start income generating projects.
• Youth who are already in small businesses like boda boda cyclists, wheel barrow pushers, hawkers, and market vendors should be encouraged to run and manage SACCOS. They can be encouraged to utilise micro-finance institutions available in most urban towns in Uganda. Through the ministry of finance, the youth should be equipped with knowledge of behavioural finance. This will help the youth not to extravagantly spend their hard-earned cash.
• The youth who have not attained primary and secondary education should benefit from the government programmes of Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education. These programmes are offered free and can generate long term benefits to the youths. These programmes should be made compulsory so that every Ugandan attains an elementary level of education.
• Urban- rural migration should be encouraged. The youths should be encouraged to return to their villages and participate in agriculture and agribusinesses. This should be done through imposing development tax. This tax should be paid by every Ugandan of 18 years and above. Unlike the graduated tax, this should be paid by both men and women. With this, the youths will move to areas where they can engage in meaningful production.
• When these strategies are fully implemented, Ugandan youth shall be occupied most of the time. They will have not time to engage in violent demonstrations. Uganda will be peaceful, productivity will increase and there will be an accelerated national development.
Everest Turyahikayo
Human Resource Management Specialist
Kampala
The youths, for example, dominated in the violent demonstration against the Mabira forest give away. When the Kabaka was allegedly stopped from visiting Kayunga District, I watched on TV majority of the youth clashing with police. Some of these youth did not even know why they were demonstrating. They jumped on the ‘band wagon for leisure’ without knowing that they could get injuries.
When the Kasubi Tombs caught fire, I saw the youth dominating and causing insecurity for people who had visited the scene to express their sympathy to the Buganda government. The same youth participated in the violent demonstrations against Kisseka market give away to an investor. Surprisingly, some youth did not even know where the market was located. They just rushed to participate in the clashes with the police.
I have watched news on TV of the ‘Kiboko squad’. It has always made me wonder why all the youths holding big sticks are youths. The most recent shock to me was that of terror suspects of July 11. Most of them looked youthful. And even when they were being brought before the courts of law, they were rather jovial and not remorseful. Could some of them be addicted to violence? This is an unfortunate situation that must stop.
The following strategies can help the youth to live a violent free life in Uganda.
• The ministries of Education and that of gender, Labour and Social Development should register youth in their various urban areas and train them in entrepreneurship skills. Such training should equip the youths with skills of managing small businesses, brick laying, urban farming, weaving, carpentry and pottery.
• The government should buy land and lease it to the youth in the major urban areas where they can start income generating projects.
• Youth who are already in small businesses like boda boda cyclists, wheel barrow pushers, hawkers, and market vendors should be encouraged to run and manage SACCOS. They can be encouraged to utilise micro-finance institutions available in most urban towns in Uganda. Through the ministry of finance, the youth should be equipped with knowledge of behavioural finance. This will help the youth not to extravagantly spend their hard-earned cash.
• The youth who have not attained primary and secondary education should benefit from the government programmes of Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education. These programmes are offered free and can generate long term benefits to the youths. These programmes should be made compulsory so that every Ugandan attains an elementary level of education.
• Urban- rural migration should be encouraged. The youths should be encouraged to return to their villages and participate in agriculture and agribusinesses. This should be done through imposing development tax. This tax should be paid by every Ugandan of 18 years and above. Unlike the graduated tax, this should be paid by both men and women. With this, the youths will move to areas where they can engage in meaningful production.
• When these strategies are fully implemented, Ugandan youth shall be occupied most of the time. They will have not time to engage in violent demonstrations. Uganda will be peaceful, productivity will increase and there will be an accelerated national development.
Everest Turyahikayo
Human Resource Management Specialist
Kampala
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