In a letter that was dated 20th April 2018, Mr. Augustine Tamale notified the Director of Human Resource at Makerere that he would resign from the university service on Friday 29th June 2018 and according to the university website, the university Appointments Board accepted his resignation on 23rd May, 2018. It is from that background that on Thursday 28th June 2018, Mr. Tamale handed over office to the acting university bursar, Ms. Deborah Nalule.
Until then, Ms Deborah Nalule had been the substantive manager-Expenditure and Reporting in the Finance Department and she will hold the office until a substantive university bursar assumes office.
Mr. Tamale is said to have revealed to the university management that he had secured a job in another company that was “offering a very competitive package in terms of remuneration and other benefits.”
His appointment, however, had come with drama and controversy. It is said that after emerging best candidate on two different interview engagements, the university appointment board was unwilling to confirm him. His appointment was nonetheless confirmed when he threatened to petition the Inspector General of Government (IGG).
Over the last two years, he has been in charge of the office that manages all financial transactions of Makerere. The office is responsible for the maintenance of all financial records in the department and a proper accounting system for the university. The same office coordinates and supervises preparation of the university budget, salaries and payroll, it monitors, internally generated funds, supervises the collection of revenue at all collection centres, reconciles revenue collected to the units, and monitors the performance of all collections.
In his resignation letter, Tamale said he played a role in improving the university financial position and improving the university’s financial reporting system and debt reduction. He reiterated that at his handover yesterday in his farewell speech.
“It is an afternoon of mixed feelings. There is joy that I am moving to another place, but I had bonded with so many people here whom I will miss dearly. Makerere University has lifted my profile so high – the university bursar managing billions and billions. It was worthwhile being here. I will continue to give support to the team in the Finance Department when called upon.”
He also said that he was happy to hand over office knowing that the debt burden of the university had reduced from shs130 billion to shs 60 billion. He urged the niversity management to prioritise systems accounting in the Finance Department.
“We have put in place a number of systems, and there is an urgent need to recruit technical people to handle systems accounting,” he stated.
