Makerere standoff: Lecturers speak out on visitation committee, vow to travel abroad

On Monday, November 14, President Museveni instituted a visitation committee to probe the standoff at Makerere University. This followed his earlier directive to have the campus closed until further notice due to strikes.

The nine-member committee is expected to have started its work, but the chairman Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa), Dr Muhammad Kiggundu says that this committee should bee extra careful when making recommendations.

“They shouldn’t be like the earlier committees. What we need is that the terms of reference should be relevant and pro getting the information out to see that this situation is done away with, once and for all,” Dr Kiggundu cautioned.

Kiggundu added that this committee should also ensure that the recommendations made are meant to tackle the exact issues affecting the now closed university, “without fearing any one because no one is above the institution”.

He however said that it looks competent enough, adding that the univeristy management should give it the necessary cooperation it requires.

Now that the committee has started it’s work, Kiggundu also asked the education minister, Ms Janet Museveni, to immediately reverse the travel  ban she slapped on them.

“Now that there is a committee [probing the stand off at Makerere University],  the ealier decision banning lecturers from traveling abroad to represent the university should be reversed. It [the ban] doesn’t make any sense],” Dr Kiggundu reasoned.

Shortly after the closure of the university, Ms Janet stopped all the university academic staff members from travelling abroad and internally in the name of representing the campus.

However, Kiggundu says that the decision doesn’t add up.

“The academics have always represented the university on their own money, that is why we have [Makerere University] been able to be ranked highly.  So, because classrooms stopped, it doesn’t mean that we should also stop researching, that we should not present papers in conferences. The ban should be put on managers who are always flying out,” he advised.

Asked whether they are soon calling off the strike, Kiggundu said: “We still need our money. It’s money that we worked for. It’s not money that we embezzled; It’s even not a lot of money as some people are saying.”