The Industrial Court has dismissed a case lodged by Mathias Bbaale, a former lecturer at Victoria University, who was claiming salary arrears and other damages worth Shs 50 million after the university declined to renew his contract.
The court discovered that Bbaale was not a full-time lecturer at the university, as he had claimed, but a part-time lecturer whose contract simply came to an end at the close of the semester.
Victoria University is a prominent private university owned by businessman Sudhir Ruparelia.
In 2014, Bbaale successfully applied for a full-time lecturer’s job at the university after responding to a newspaper advertisement.
He said he received an appointment letter on October 6, 2014, giving him a two-year contract that started on January 19, 2015, with a monthly salary of Shs 3.2 million.
He said he immediately began teaching but soon realised something was wrong because instead of receiving the monthly salary promised in his appointment letter, the university paid him irregularly and below what he believed he deserved.
He also complained that his National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions were never remitted.
Things came to a head in March 2016 when Bbaale was verbally informed that his name had been removed from the staff list for the new semester.
Confused and frustrated, he sought an explanation from the university’s then Vice Chancellor, Dr Stephen Isabalija, who instead accused him of forging his appointment letter.
Two months later, on May 2, 2016, Bbaale was arrested after the university reported the matter to police. He spent three days in custody at CPS in Kampala on allegations that he had forged the appointment letter that formed the basis of his employment.
Feeling wronged, Bbaale reported the matter to the KCCA Labour Office, which referred the dispute to the Industrial Court after mediation failed.
In court, Bbaale said his employment had been unlawfully terminated. He sought Shs50 million in unpaid salary arrears, future earnings based on the salary he believed he should have received, damages for breach of contract, aggravated damages, general damages, costs, and a certificate of service.
Victoria University maintained that Bbaale had never been employed as a full-time lecturer.
Instead, it argued that he had only worked as a part-time lecturer who was paid Shs 45,000 per teaching hour.
According to the university, his engagement automatically ended at the end of the semester, and therefore there was no unlawful dismissal.
The university further argued that the appointment letter Bbaale relied upon was not genuine.
Its lawyers, Allan Mbonye and Shafik Muteesasira of Mugisa, Nantale and Company Advocates, told court that Bbaale’s document contained several inconsistencies and differed from official university appointment letters.
However, Bbaale’s lawyers, led by John Mike Musisi of JM Musisi Advocates and Legal Consultants, argued that their client consistently maintained he was a full-time lecturer and that the university failed to produce any genuine part-time contract to support its defence.
The lawyers argued that the handwriting expert produced in court did not examine the disputed appointment letter itself but instead analysed the signature on an application letter.
Victoria University insisted that Bbaale was paid according to the number of hours he taught and was only engaged during academic semesters, making him a part-time employee rather than a permanent member of staff.
Testifying in court, Bbaale maintained that he had been interviewed by a panel that included Dr Stephen Isabalija, Dr Mike Kakooza and another university official before receiving his appointment letter.
During cross-examination, however, he admitted that he had never actually received the monthly salary of Shs 3.2 million stated in the disputed appointment letter.
Bbaale also acknowledged signing payment schedules for part-time lecturers, although he said he did so because he had been promised that his salary arrears would later be sorted out.
Dr David Byatike Matovu, the chairman of the university council, testified that during the period in question, only deans held full-time academic positions while lecturers like Bbaale were engaged on a part-time basis.
He said genuine full-time appointments went through a formal recruitment process involving interviews before the Appointments Committee and that the appointment letter produced by Bbaale did not follow the university’s official procedures.
Patrick Mafumbo Wabwire, who had also served as a part-time lecturer before becoming the university’s Quality Assurance officer, testified that both he and Bbaale had been part-time lecturers and that all lecturers at the time worked under semester contracts.
Justice Linda Lillian Tumusiime-Mugisha sided with Victoria University, saying Bbaale failed to prove that he had been employed as a full-time lecturer.
She observed that he never produced evidence showing he had actually been paid the monthly salary stated in the appointment letter or that he had demanded the alleged salary arrears while he was still working.
She also noted that he had accepted payment based on hours worked and had signed payment schedules prepared for part-time lecturers.
“It is abundantly clear from the evidence on record that he was paid for hours worked, which meant that he was not a full-time employee but a part-time lecturer,” she said.
Justice Tumusiime-Mugisha questioned why someone claiming to earn Shs 3.2 million every month would continue accepting hourly payments without formally demanding the promised salary.
On the question of dismissal, she ruled that Bbaale’s employment simply came to an end when his semester contract expired, adding that the university had no legal obligation to renew the contract.
“The termination of his contract by effluxion of time was both procedurally and substantively lawful,” she ruled.
In the end, she rejected Bbaale’s request for a declaration of unlawful termination, dismissed his claim for Shs50 million in salary arrears, rejected his claim for future earnings, and refused to award general or aggravated damages.
However, Justice Tumusiime-Mugisha said Victoria University should give Bbaale a certificate of service, which he is entitled to according to the Employment Act.
