Judith Ikiring Obore and Vincent Nuwagaba who are PhD students of Makerere Institute of Social Research have dragged their Prof. Mamdani, to court accusing him of vindictiveness, negligence of duty, breach of contract, and abuse of university rules and regulations.
For Ms Ikiring’s case, she was admitted in 2014 on a scholarship from Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) under which she was to pursue a five-year Master of Philosophy/Doctor of Philosophy in Social Studies to January 2019. However, in December 2017, Prof Mamdani and Dr Ossome terminated her scholarship on the pretext of the late submission of her research proposal. She decided to take him to court and hopes that it finds him and his co-defendants liable for the claims against them. She also wants the court to award her general and punitive damages for her inconveniences, time lost, lost opportunities, mental torture, and humiliation and costs of the suit.
In another case, Mr Vincent Nuwagaba, another student of the same institution wants the court to quash Makerere University/Prof Mamdani’s decision to terminate a scholarship he had been awarded for the MISR programme of study leading to the award of the Interdisciplinary MPhil/PhD in Social Studies. This scholarship was complete with an apartment of residence plus insurance cover too. However, almost four months into his study, he was told to discontinue him from the university.
He was very depressed because he didn’t know what to do owing to the fact that he didn’t have the financial power to get into another institute. This stress made him sick and caused him a condition called ‘manic depression’ and as a result, he was admitted to Butabika National Psychiatry Hospital. He adds that police arrested him allegedly on the instigation of Prof Mamdani when he was discharged from the hospital. He wants Makerere University to pay him for damages and inconvenience wrought upon him as a result of the decision to discontinue him from the programme of study.
In his response to the suit filed through his lawyers of M/s Tumusiime, Kabega & Co Advocates on May 3, 2018 about Ms Ikiring’s suit, Prof Mamdani denies all the charges leveled against him, arguing that at the commencement of the trial he will seek to raise preliminary objections to the effect that Ms Ikiring’s suit is bad in law and, therefore, should be struck out. He explains that Ms Ikiring did not fully comply with the rules and regulations governing the scholarship awarded to her by Misr.
Like in Ms Ikring’s case, Prof Mamdani also claims that Mr Nuwagaba’s case is barred in law and an abuse of the court process. He further claims that Mr Nuwagaba’s mental health got in the way of his studies that stopped him from registering as a Makerere University student, hence forfeiting his vacancy.
