Here is their full letter to the authorities about the situation:
To all UR community and stakeholders,
We have been exasperated by the total unresponsiveness of the top management of the University authority led by Prof. Philip Cotton in a situation of critical crisis where during the last consecutive five months (it may continue!) staff of UR have not been paid their monthly salaries at the end of the month and instead they were forced to live in unpredictable waiting conditions for their salary at the end of the following month. In face of this silent pathetic situation, we have observed a resignation of the authority of UR. The objectives of the merging of the former public Higher Learning Institutions into one university in 2013 was to address the issue of quality education and cost effectiveness and to make UR a world class university. It is sad to say that this objective is still far away to be reached as it has been depraved and diverted towards a business of a team made by the Vice Chancellor, the Deputy-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research and the Principal of the College of Education. Their cumulative annual salary amounting to 700,000,000 RwF has come to inflate the UR budget too much far compared to before UR (1994-2013) when Rectors and Vice Rectors were Rwandan working unremittingly and paid local salaries during 20 years where we have seen higher education in Rwanda being boosted.
This week, we celebrate the graduation of the first cohort of UR students, but, looking at the actual situation of UR, quality education has declined gradually due to the lack of consistency in management (administration and finance, and academic) and to the deterioration of working and living conditions of UR staff. This has been testified in audit reports provided by HEC and the Office of the Auditor General. The proposed restructuring of UR as a magic solution does address neither the problem of living conditions of students nor that of academic and supporting staff.
Despite those degrading conditions, we salute the valuable effort of academic and supporting staff in achieving somehow their mission of teaching without making any noise during the last four years. But today we must not remain silent. We raise our voice!
May God bless the University of Rwanda!
Done on Monday, 21 August 2017, still waiting for our July salary,
On behalf of UR Staff Thinking Group.
“You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have in a way that is consistent with your strategy. In the end, a strategy is nothing but good intentions unless it’s effectively implemented.” Clayton M. Christensen
Source: David Himbara’s Facebook Page
