Makerere University Business School Principal Prof Waswa Balunywa on Friday morning said that Makerere University has no mandate of scrapping off courses undertaken by Mubs students without consulting the institution. “MUBS is affiliated to Makerere University and has administration and financial autonomy. MUBS initiates and proposes programmes to MUK which the Makerere University Senate and Council finally approve since MUBS does not have a legal mandate to award degrees. It is therefore expected that if Makerere University wishes to revisit or even to the extreme scrap a course, MUBS will be requested to reconsider the course. Given the current legal status of MUBS, MUBS can request another university to award this degree on its behalf,” part of his notice read.
He added: “You are aware, that the only role MUK plays in your degree program is to admit you, register and award you a transcript and a certificate after graduation. The rest of the activities are performed by MUBS. It was therefore very unfortunate that such a statement which touches the very essence of the existence of MUBS was made and worse still and in the manner it was done.”
Thanks students for protesting
Prof Balunywa also thanked the Mubs fraternity for striking. “This statement caused unrest which led to the events of yesterday. However other than minor incidents, I would like to thank you for the peaceful protests,” he said.
Minister of education engaged
Mubs constituted a delegation of students on the affected programme which met with the Minister of Education at about 4pm yesterday. “In the meeting, the minister assured us that this was not a policy of government and they had not heard of such a move. The Minister indicated that His Excellency the President had requested Makerere University to review its programmes and he expected that a review of the programmes was a process which will definitely involve all the stakeholders and for MUBS programmes, MUBS is expected to be involved. The Minister promised that the top Ministry officials will meet this morning and will subsequently provide information on its position following consultations with Makerere University,” Prof Balunywa said.
Student urged to resume lectures
“Responding to the issues raised by the students, the Minister assured the students that these challenges we were experiencing would be addressed by the proposed amendments in the law that is said to be in the process of being tabled to Parliament. It is in light of this, that I urge students to resume studies normally. MUBS has been a darling of parents and students because of its method of conflict resolution. I request that we do not move away from this,” the principal said.
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