A team from the auditor General’s office was last week sent to Busoga University to find out more about the university’s assets and liabilities before full government takeover, as ordered by President Museveni. The team kicked off its work last week which will also seek to establish the university’s financial management, student population and staffing.
According to Aggrey Kibenge, the undersecretary in the ministry of education, the team will also find out whether the university has loans as well as more important information regarding accreditation by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).
“If there are any loans owed by the university, what was the money used for? What was the status of the courses the university was offering? Had they been accredited by the NCHE? All these have to be established,” Kibenge said.
Over 3,000 students of the Iganga-based university are stranded following its closure by NCHE last year over failure to meet minimum requirements. NCHE also revoked the university’s license, something that has made it hard for the university to re-open.
More details indicate that officials of the university petitioned NCHE last month requesting them to reconsider the closure. Their request hasn’t been fulfilled as the university’s operating license is still suspended.
In letter addressed to the first lady who also doubles as the Minister of Education, President Museveni ordered government’s takeover of two struggling private universities, Mountains of the Moon University in Fort Portal and the Iganga-based Busoga University.
