By Madiba Singhateh
The staff members of the University of Applied Science (USET) has warned that they will close all USET institutions in the country if their unpaid salaries and demands are not met.
The warning, delivered at a tense press conference Thursday at USET’s Kanifing campus, underscores the deepening crisis gripping The Gambia’s flagship technical university system.
“Our premier technical university is on the brink of total collapse due to a severe financial crisis driven by stagnant government subvention,” Demba Bah, Secretary General of the USET Staff Association, declared.
He described a dire situation in which staff have endured months of delayed or missing salaries and the non-payment of mandatory contributions to the Gambia Teachers Credit Union—practices he called “not just a breach of contract, but an illegal act that compromises our welfare.”
Since the transformation from a technical institute to a university, it has expanded from one centralised campus to four regional centres—Ndemban, Kaninlai, Julangel, and the newly launched Medina Lamin Kante Skill Centre at Wasu.
Bah claimed that the government expanded the university without any increase in funding, which resulted in unpaid salaries and benefits.
“The Staff Association will no longer sit idly by while the livelihood of our members and the future of technical education are systematically destroyed,” he warned.
Explaining further, he said they need an immediate financial bailout by injecting an “emergency stabilisation fund within a week to clear all outstanding staff benefits on remitted statutory payments and other welfare dues, and the sub-administration will no longer tolerate any more delay or late payment of salaries.”
He added: “We therefore demand a guarantee and secure payment of our salaries on time. Henceforth, failure may lead to consequences desired by none.”
Bah proposed that the university halt the recruitment of new staff and constitute a contract committee to be headed by a Gambian.
He called for the reinstatement of the fuel coupon allowance for eligible staff.
Lallo Kanteh, President of the Staff Association, highlighted the removal of previously granted tuition waivers for staff pursuing further education at USET.
“Before, it was free. Now, the payment is 50-50; we don’t want it,” Kanteh said, comparing the policy unfavourably to the University of The Gambia, which he claims still offers full waivers. “If UTG can waive tuition fees for students who are even from here, then I don’t see any reason why our own university cannot do the same thing for us.”
With the USET staff defiant, the government will have to act before the crisis affects learning across its institutions.
As of the time of going to press, the Ministry of Higher Education did not respond to Foroyaa’s request for comment.
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