Papa Were Salim, the 84th Guild President of Makerere University has come out to speak out his mind about the ongoing impasse at Makerere University. The former student leader broke down his views about the full week strike in a social media post that wasn’t warmly welcomed by the university’s students.
According to Were, there is need for a dialogue between the university management and students to see how they can handle the situation. Were further called upon the Parliament and Ministry of Education to revisit their decisions on tuition increment.
“I ask of the Parliament of Uganda and the Ministry of Education too to revisit their decisions on tuition increment in Makerere University. The President of the country too should interest himself with this matter because not doing so can have dire consequences on his Presidency, just like we have seen in other countries.” Were’s post reads partly.
Were, who was among the7-member committee that travelled around East Africa to benchmark how tuition is handled in other universities has however come to contradict the suggestion that himself and 6 other student leaders approved last year.
Were has apparently re-instituted the 7-member committee to revisit the recommendation (15% tuition increase for new students) that he made a year ago and will reportedly guide the university on how to deal with the situation.
“I have re-constituted and convened the 7-members committee to revisit the recommendation made on tuition increment in Makerere University . Guidance will be offered to the university council and management.” Were added.
The situation at Makerere is far from normalizing following the university student leaders decision to turn down the management’s invitation for peace talks. The student leaders have given management a number of conditions without which no dialogue will be held.
