Makerere students report back to campus. The impasse between the university and NIC caused the former’s closure earlier this month. Photo by Ismail Kezaala

The National Insurance Corporation is dragging the Attorney General (AG) and Makerere University to court over the contested Shs26.7 billion in lecturers’ pension scheme savings.
According to court notice seen by this newspaper, NIC is disputing the figure arrived at by the AG.
“We have served Makerere and government with a statutory notice of intended suit,” confirmed Ms Josephine Aguma, the manager corporate communications at NIC.
The insurer wants the commercial court to declare as “illegal and biased” the AG’s forensic report about the Muasa Deposit Administration Plan (DAP), the pension scheme which is the basis for Makerere’s outstanding Shs16.7b claim from NIC. The report was compiled by Pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC) on behalf of the AG.
“It is the contention of NIC that the PWC Report is gravely flawed, illegal, unenforceable and defective,” the intended suit reads in part. It also wants the government and Makerere to stop demanding the Shs16.7 billion, the alleged outstanding value of the DAP fund, that the PwC audit said is owed to Makerere by NIC.
The insurance corporation also wants court to direct that a comprehensive audit and conclusive valuation of the Makerere DAP scheme be carried out by an independent actuarial firm agreed on by all the parties or appointed by the court. It added that its business was being hurt by the negative media coverage.
The NIC-Makerere dispute dates back to 2005 when university staff stopped remitting their contributions to the scheme and started demanding for all their money. The dons at one time threatened to stop NIC from going public due to the dispute.
NIC is contesting PwC findings that valued Makerere’s DAP at a total of Shs32.6b by August 2010, yet the university staff reportedly saved nearly Shs13.2b between 1996 and 2005.
The dispute has been a source of several Makerere staff and student strikes. On September 1, it culminated in the closure of the university by the government. The university, however, re-opened last Sunday after Makerere and the government signed an agreement in which the latter committed to clear the lecturers’ outstanding funds.
Mr Louis Kakinda, the staff spokesman, declined to comment on the matter, reasoning that the university has already filed a case against NIC over its fund. The AG was not available for comment by last evening despite efforts to reach him.
NIC yesterday called for an Annual General Meeting with its shareholders at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala tomorrow.wwafula@ug.nationmedia.com