For more than 30 years, Prof Jean Barya lectured at Makerere University’s School of Law. When the time came for him to retire in 2020, he applied for a post-retirement contract, like many other staff had successfully done in the past.
The university rejected his application because other people at the School of Law could teach his course, and over the last decade, his research output had been dismal.
Barya appealed to the university’s staff tribunal, which heard the case and ruled in his favour in May 2024. The tribunal also ordered Makerere to pay Barya Shs 100 million as damages.
The university declined and took the matter to the High Court, and the case was handed to Justice Simon Peter Kinobe, whom Prof Barya had taught a course, Comparative Law, as an undergraduate Law student in the 1990s.
Last month, Justice Kinobe answered the university’s prayers when he ruled that the university staff tribunal acted outside its legal mandate by hearing complaints from Barya and Prof Wilfred Lajul, who were no longer members of staff, and secondly, by awarding damages, a power reserved for courts of law.
In its application for judicial review, Makerere argued that post-retirement contracts are discretionary and not an entitlement, even when eligibility criteria are met.
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Justice Kinobe agreed. In his ruling, he stated that a post-retirement contract does not arise automatically and cannot be imposed on the university.
“I have read the applicant’s human resource manual and find nothing therein that makes the grant of a post-retirement contract mandatory. It would therefore be legally untenable for this court to compel the applicant to retain an individual whose employment terminated upon reaching the mandatory retirement age,” Kinobe ruled.
He said by entertaining appeals from retired professors, the iniversity tribunal acted beyond its powers. Kinobe also faulted the tribunal for delivering its ruling years outside the timelines set by law.
“There are timelines within which the tribunal should render its decision. These timelines are set by statute and cannot be ignored or disregarded,” he said.
On the issue of damages, Justice Kinobe was categorical that university tribunals cannot award compensation.
He cited Rule 34(7) of the Makerere University Staff Tribunal Rules, which expressly prohibits the award of damages and costs.
Kinobe described as “irrational” the tribunal’s order directing Makerere to pay damages within three months, noting that the university is a public entity operating within strict budgetary frameworks.
In the end, Justice Kinobe quashed the tribunal’s rulings, barred professors Barya and Wajul from enforcing the awards, and ordered the tribunal to operate strictly within the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act and its own rules.
Each party was ordered to bear its own costs, with Kinobe noting that the dispute involved public institutions serving the same public interest.
