Makerere University’s Students’ Guild has formally petitioned the Dean of Students over a fresh round of food price increases at the Lumumba and Africa Hall dining facilities, warning that a “basic” student meal now costs as much as UGX 5,000.
In a letter dated 5th August 2026 and addressed to the Dean of Students, Dr. Winifred, Ag. Guild President Mubiru John Bosco says his office has been flooded with complaints from students over an abrupt increase of roughly UGX 1,000 slapped onto “virtually every meal” served at the two halls at the start of this semester.
“What has traditionally been regarded as a basic student meal now costs approximately UGX 5,000, placing an additional financial burden on students who are already grappling with tuition, accommodation, academic materials, transport, and other living expenses,” the letter reads.
The Guild argues the increment couldn’t have come at a worse time — or hit a wider net of students. Lumumba Hall in particular has become one of the University’s main feeding points this semester, not just for its own residents but for students from Complex Hall (currently housed at Lumumba during renovations), Mary Stuart Hall, and students from CEES and CHUSS, among other colleges, who rely on the facility for lunch and supper.
With few affordable alternatives on campus besides “small kiosks outside the University” — which the Guild says are either too far or too small to absorb the demand — many students are left with nowhere else to turn. Bosco’s letter also does the math on the semester-long toll: at roughly seventeen weeks a semester, an extra UGX 1,000 per meal adds up fast for students eating two or more meals a day on campus, turning what looks like a small hike into what the Guild calls “a genuine threat to their welfare, nutrition, academic concentration and overall well-being.”
The letter also questions the business logic behind the hikes, noting that hall dining vendors operate with a guaranteed, captive student market that should ordinarily help keep prices stable through economies of scale — not push them up repeatedly with, as the Guild puts it, “no formal explanation or stakeholder engagement.”
While acknowledging that operating costs can genuinely fluctuate, the Guild is asking the Dean of Students’ office to:
- Investigate what led to the current price increase at Lumumba Hall.
- Engage the dining facility’s management for a clear justification of the hike, especially against food quality.
- Assess whether the new prices are fair, reasonable and in line with the University’s commitment to student welfare.
- Convene a meeting between the Dean of Students’ office, the Guild and dining facility management to find practical ways of keeping meals affordable.
- Set up a consultative framework so future price changes are discussed with students before they’re implemented — not after.
Driving the point home, the letter tells Dr. Winifred plainly: “A hungry student cannot reasonably be expected to perform optimally in lectures, laboratories, discussions, or examinations. Preserving affordable access to meals is therefore an investment in both the welfare and academic excellence of Makerere University students.”
The letter, copied to the Chief Executive Officer of Mak Holdings, was received and stamped by the Dean of Students’ office on 6th August 2026 and by Mak Holdings on 5th August 2026. The Guild says it is “hopeful” the administration will treat the matter “with the urgency it deserves.”
