The Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) has expressed strong opposition to the university’s decision to introduce a biometric staff attendance management system. The move comes in response to the university’s plan to implement the Integrated Human Capital Management System (HCM) to automate human resource functions in the public service, as communicated by the University Secretary, Yusuf Kiranda.
In an official letter dated October 12, 2023, Kiranda informed all staff members and the university council about the government’s intention to implement the HCM system. Subsequently, a special meeting of the university council convened on March 9, 2023, resulted in the decision to procure and deploy a biometric staff management system, integrated with the HCM module, to ensure staff compliance with time and attendance regulations.
The university council clarified in a letter that the proposed biometric attendance system would involve a physical clock-in process at various locations throughout the university for all staff members.
MUASA Chairman, Robert Kakuru, voiced his concerns regarding this development, highlighting that the move towards digitization of certain academic duties, such as online teaching, could pose significant challenges for the teaching staff.
“We are hired to teach, do research, and perform community service. Some of these functions are being digitized, e.g., teaching online. Biometrics means we abandon online teaching because many staff members share offices, which can be inconvenient when teaching online,” Kakuru stated.
He further emphasized that substantial financial support from donors, like the MasterCard Foundation, had been invested in facilitating online teaching.
Kakuru argued that the biometric system’s rigid schedule, which mandates staff members to clock in during typical 8 am to 5 pm hours, does not align with the actual demands of academic work.
“Sometimes we spend the whole night reading and examining dissertations, writing grants to meet deadlines, and producing articles and books. So, should we also sign in at midnight when we are working? This can only demotivate staff,” he added.
In response to these concerns, University Secretary Yusuf Kiranda clarified that staff members with official clearance to be away from their duty stations would not be required to clock in on days when they have permission to be absent.
“Authorizations to be away from a duty station shall be within the approved university policies and procedures. The respective supervisors will be responsible for clearing the affected staff on the attendance management system,” Kiranda explained.