Makerere Varsity Criticized For Shoddy Orientation, Freshers Sunbath

Makerere University is in the spotlight for organising a shoddy orientation and letting Freshers sunbathe for hours.

Freshers at Makerere began their orientation on Monday August 21st, 2023.

Unlike the previous orientations, there was no tent for Freshers to sit in and they were left to sunbathe in the scorching the sun.

Bushenyi Buoy (on X) posted that it is shameful for the university to conduct orientation in the scorching sun.

“Dear Makerere University, while I appreciate the effort in the freshers’ orientation, conducting it in scorching sun without even a simple tent is such shameful and bad pr for the university. Let’s strive for better first impressions and student experiences,” the post reads.

Dear Makerere University, while I appreciate the effort in the freshers' orientation, conducting it in scorching sun without even a simple tent is such shameful and bad pr for the university. Let's strive for better first impressions and student experiences. pic.twitter.com/BDGd1Kp4vh
— Bushenyi Buoy (@BushenyiBouy) August 21, 2023

According to Mukwaya Muhammadi (89th leader of Opposition), the orientation is only an indication that the university has continued to take students for granted.

“I don’t want to believe that the administration was not well prepared for this because if they were not then that is a different case. They take students for granted and it is not surprising that they made first year students sit in the sun. It is very shameful and it must stop,” he said.

The orientation was organised by a committee made up of staff and some student leaders. Our attempts to get a comment from Patience Nambazira (academic minister), the only member of the committee we had known by press time, were futile.

The orientation for the 2023/24 academic year was the first general orientation since the outbreak of Covid-19.