BY BERNARD MUBIRU
Siperia Mollie, the Guild Representative Councillor (GRC) of the School of Psychology who led a demonstration at the oldest university in Uganda (Makerere) against the 15% Increment policy and was suspended, has been shown support by her sponsors the MasterCard Foundation.
According to Mollie and other student leaders, the policy imposes “exorbitant tuition fees” that poor privately sponsored students can not afford.
But after it was discovered that Mollie was on a full scholarship from BRAC MasterCard Foundation since she joined Makerere, everyone since then has been wondering how she led a strike yet she was on scholarship! Others especially Mollie’s friends have been worried that she would lose her scholarship.
At the end of last week, Toni Tiemens who is the Director of Corporate Communications at the MasterCard Foundation Headquarters in Toronto Canada commented on the situation at Makerere University where most of their beneficiaries are.
In his email, he said that The Foundation is deeply concerned about the violence taking place at Makerere University surrounding the student protests related to the fees structure at the university. But that the Foundation supports freedom of expression and believes in civil discourse and encourages students and leaders to work towards a peaceful resolution.
He added that therefore on that note, Mollie remains a valued member of the Scholars Community and will continue to access all support and services the Scholars Program offered at Makerere University.
