Teachers in Uganda’s Kamuli and Buyende districts have officially severed ties with the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU), flocking instead to the newly formed Uganda Liberal Teachers Union (ULITU)’s SACCO Ltd.
The mass defection stems from years of disillusionment, unfulfilled promises, and perceived exploitation under the former union, as educators seek a tangible path to financial stability.
The move, described by some as a “divorce” from their “parent body” and an embrace of a “new bride,” highlights the deep-seated frustration among teachers grappling with low salaries, salary disparities, and mounting debt.
“UNATU has disappointed, exploited and abandoned us and benefiting from negotiations with government so with all those unfulfilled promises of salary increase and with teachers choking on multiple loans from loan sharks to survive, we see a future with ULITU and voluntarily embrace it,” declared Daniel Mugabi, a former UNATU chairman for Kamuli Municipality.
Lillian Naisanga, a teacher nearing retirement, echoed the sentiment, lamenting the perceived lack of tangible benefits from UNATU despite monthly salary deductions for membership.
“The only thing UNATU has benefited them is the Corporate wear shirt given two years ago,” she stated, adding, “UNATU are mere barking dogs and like castrated bulls taking advantage of our forced salary deductions and enjoying negotiation perks with Museveni as we suffer with empty promises of things getting better soon and singing solidarity.”
Teachers also raised long-standing grievances, including unresolved issues of salary disparity and the “unrealistic” requirement of a degree for all teachers, even those in nursery education who are often not catered for in the government payroll system.
“Government woke up with scientist and forgot the basic teaching cadres in Primary forgetting that teaching is a basic science,” questioned Mubarak Kintu.
“The degree requirement makes teaching academic not professional yet in Primary and Nursery we need methodology not academic. Nursery teachers cannot access government payroll, a primary graduate teacher earns the same as a grade 3 where is the motivation omusomesa agoingewa?”
In response to this widespread disaffection, ULITU presented itself as a pragmatic alternative focused on teacher welfare and financial empowerment.
At a gathering at Tigs Hotel Kamuli, ULITU Chairperson Andrew Kwete clarified that ULITU is not a breakaway faction but a voluntary association born to “consolidate teachers disparity, despondency and revive hope and professionalism.”
“ULITU is here to keep the teaching profession together, respond professionally to the teachers unending appalling working conditions and save them from loan sharks through voluntarism and solidarity as one voice for the teachers and it is ourselves to improve our lot and make it better, respected and dignified again,” Kwete emphasized.
A cornerstone of ULITU’s appeal is its SACCO Ltd., which aims to foster financial discipline and offer a lifeline to debt-ridden teachers. Jackson Erima, ULITU’s General Secretary, along with Sacco Manager John Murungi, urged teachers to embrace the SACCO, emphasizing the importance of “financial discipline, literacy and saving culture which will liberate our ATM cards.”
Erima revealed a significant boost to their initiative: “We have accessed 6.6 billion from our dear President’s initiative towards the teachers SACCO which we need to grow, benefit and take advantage of for hustle and high interest rate free loans which in turn makes the teachers stable and concentrate at work.”
The mass exodus from UNATU to ULITU’s SACCO in Kamuli and Buyende signals a significant shift in the landscape of teacher representation in Uganda, driven by a desperate search for financial stability and renewed professional dignity amidst challenging economic conditions.
