Yesterday 17th July 2021, the President of the Republic of Uganda H.E Y.K Museveni together with the first Lady Hon Janet. K Museveni who also doubles as the Minister of Education and Sports held a meeting with the officials from Busoga Kingdom and Diocese to discuss issues regarding the transformation of Busoga University into a public university.
In the meeting held at Nakasero state lodge, officials from Busoga Diocese agreed to hand over Busoga University and its assets to the government as a public institution after a series of engagements.
This now means that the government will take over its 15bn shillings loan, all university land without any hindrances. The President accepted the takeover of Busoga University and promised to pay the debts if they are legitimate and there is accountability for what that money was used for.
“We shall pay the debts when we know what the money was used for. If this money was spent on public efforts and if the Auditor General confirmed, we pay and take over. Public universities are very good stimuli for development. Like Gulu, see how much it has stimulated growth. That is why anybody interested in developing the area should encourage this,” he emphasized.
The President also revealed that according to the NRM policy, each of the 18 colonial zones in Uganda was to get a public institution to foster development and one of the reason for the takeover of Busoga University. These included Mnego, Tooro, Busoga, Ankole, Bunyoro, Acholi, Lango.
“In Busoga, we are going to build a public university there. We have started with Namasagali. As we were planning that, the idea of taking over this private university was started by people there. I have no problem with that,” he added.
Busoga University was founded by Busoga Diocese in 1998 with its headquarters in Iganga District. However, in 2017, the National Council for Higher Education revoked its license following allegations of having unqualified students and lecturers and running illegal study centres and unaccredited courses
