The head of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Dr Muhammad Kiggundu has hit out at the University Council Chairman, Dr Charles Wana-Etyem, over incompetency after he claimed he is frustrated in his efforts to end the institution’s woes.
READ: Makerere defeats USA’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology at TechCon 2016
While appearing on NBS TV’s Topical Discussion show on Boxing Day, the outspoken Dr. Muhammad Kiggundu said that patriotic act of members of MUASA who agreed to resume teaching had nothing to do with the University Council’s influence peddling or input.
“We as academic staff had to agree to take another direction of engaging with the education ministry because the university council had no solution,” Dr. Kiggundu said.
“In terms of lecturer employment levels out of 100%, we are operating at 48%. We are understaffed. We are trying to do our best,” he said adding, “There has to be a new way to reactivate the relationship between the government and people running the university.”
Dr Kiggundu also hit out at Dr Wana-Etyem for not weeding politics out and attributed the university’s rampant problems to politicking saying that the institution is highly affected by the vice since it’s a center of everything.
“Makerere University is at the center of everything. The question of politicking needs to be addressed. Politicking has become the problem of Makerere University and Uganda,” Dr. Kiggundu said.
This comes two days after President Museveni officially re-opened Makerere University after two months of closure.
The public university was closed by Mr Museveni on November 1 following the strike of the lecturers.
Now students will return for the continuation of the first semester on January 2, 2017 and they are expected to spend seven weeks at the university before the semester closes.
All students are expected to comply with the tuition policy which requires them to complete payment of all fees by the 12th week which falls on the January 16, 2017.
The auditor-general is expected to audit the operations and financial status of the institution for the last three years.
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