By Joseph Lamin Kamara
There was protest on Fourah Bay College campus by some members of the junior staff of the college who threatened to withhold their services because their employers “refused to increase their salaries as promised”.
Joseph Turay, who appeared to be leading the protest, said they were out in the open for two things: “the failure of the college administration to increase our salaries and the indifference of our president.”
He claimed that government had added a minimum sum of Le 480,000 to the salaries of all civil servants in the country and that it took effect since January this year with other government run institutions.
He said that their parent body, the Artisans Public Works Union, had met with them in March and assured that they had met with the college administration, which was ready to pay all drawbacks.
“To date we have not received those drawbacks. Our president is totally indifferent to us in all of this,” Turay alleged, adding that the president of their association had met with college authorities but had not reported back to them on the outcome. “We are tired with his administration,” he said.
President of the junior staff association, Alimamy Sesay, said the protesters did not inform him and that he was not interested in the protest. He said they needed to use the “appropriate channel to express our grievances”.
Asked about the allegation that he was indifferent to his members, Sesay said he was not yet ready to talk to the press.
Bobson James, national president of the intermediate and junior staff association of the University of Sierra Leone, said the junior staff had complained on Friday about the attitude of their president and announced that they were holding a meeting on the state of affairs.
“This issue of salary increase is affecting us also, but we are waiting to follow appropriate procedures,” said James, adding that he was not condemnatory to the protest because “everyone has right to express their grievances.”
Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, Professor Sahr Gbamanja, said they had met “the group of protesters disobeying this morning.” He said he and the university registrar had attempted to talk to the protesters but they employees did not listen to them.
Professor Gbamanja said if the protesters had any grievances against them they should have written to them “giving a 21-day ultimatum.” He said they had over 340 junior staff but those who were out in the streets were not more than 20.
© Politico 28/10/14
