Members of the Rumbek University of Science and Technology academic staff association Wednesday called on President Salva Kiir to remove the institution’s three top administrators over mismanagement of staff and public funds.
They expressed the sentiments in a letter to President Salva Kiir, who is the Chancellor of the University.
The letter follows the expulsion and suspension of some of the association members.
The association secretary-general, Gor Mathiang Kau, told Radio Tamazuj that they were concerned about the stability and progress of the university, where there was a high tendency for abuse of power.
They claimed the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Administration and Finance was solely running the university affairs like a private property, was divisive, and inciting some members of non-academic staff to harass their academic counterparts.
Kau said the Vice-Chancellor was indecisive in addressing matters presented before him.
“Rumbek University of Science and Technology is on the verge of disorder and a total mess,” he said.
“The academic staff are appealing to the Chancellor of the Public Universities and President of the Republic of South Sudan to urgently intervene,” he added.
Kau identified the reasons for their call as including the incompetence of their targets, claiming they had failed to manage the university affairs effectively
He also talked of the denial of accommodation to the academic staff, and the withholding of their entitlements, and the expulsion of two academic staff from their residence against the law.
Kau also mentioned the harassment of the staff by the Deputy VC (Admin & Finance) in the presence of the VC, who failed to intervene.
He added that the Deputy VC (Admin & Finance) referred to academic staff as “picked from the street and employed in the university”.
Further, Kau went on, was the delayed salaries in collaboration with the Ivory Bank, noting that other public universities received their pay on time.
He also claimed the funds for the construction project initiated by the former VC had disappeared, and the work stopped as evidenced by Reference to RUST/DB/R/6/2023; Resolution No. (1), which reads: Dean’s Board agreed that the RUST Admin is to pay SSP50,000,000 part of project.
Kau also cited discriminatory allocation of medical loans, claiming only the relatives and associates of the administrators were considered.
Lecturer Clement Thon said the call for the removal of three administrators was related to their misbehavior towards the academic staff.
He said they had expelled some academic staff and suspended the salary of one of them.
“There was no committee formed to investigate, yet they expelled the academic staff based on allegations,” he said.
The head of Geography and History Department, Joseph Muong, said that the deputy VC (Administration and Finance) attacked him on the road because of false information given to her.
He said the DVC on the same day went to her office and wrote a letter to expel him from the accommodation facility.