Universities in Uganda might find themselves incurring more costs in the preparation of examinations and tests if the government puts in effect a proposal from the Seventh Day Adventist Church to ban the sitting of exams on Saturday.
This might come to pass after, President Yoweri Museveni recently promised the visiting World Leader of the Seventh Day Adventists that government would consider a request not to have students sit exams on Saturday.
On February 16th Seventh-day Adventist Church World Leader Pastor Ted Wilson and his wife Nancy Wilson made four-day pastoral visit where they met President Yoweri Museveni at Entebbe Statehouse and made a request concerning the sabbath day.
In response, the President tweeted positively saying “We shall consider the church’s request about education institutions not conducting examinations on Saturday.”A Fourth-year Software Engineering student at Makerere University Solomon Ssevvume says the request to the President was overdue.
If there is any faith that takes the Sabbath seriously then it would be the Seventh Day Adventist students, Currently the students hold their prayers at Lumumba hall a boys hostel as they do not have permanent premises, while an appeal was made to keep Saturday sacred administrators at Makerere University fear that it may see the university incur hefty costs.
The Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University Prof Barnabas Nawangwe says the university is an international secular institution which may fail to perform if Saturday is ever set aside.
The Seventh Day Adventist Union Leader, Bishop Daniel Maate says if the President does not follow through and issue a directive on the matter then students will continue missing exams and worshipping on the Sabbath.
In 2003 the constitutional court dismissed a case filed by three seventh day adventist students at Makerere University law school who claimed that the University infringed on their religious rights by compelling them to take exams and attend lecturers on saturday.
Uganda currently has over 4million seventh day adventists while Makerere University has at least 2000 who have registered in the faith.
-NTV
