Drama has erupted at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) after the University Vice Chancellor, Prof Celestino Obua and Academic Registrar – Martha Kyoshaba have been pinned following the irregular admission of a one Edith Wakida to a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme, the academic staff say, doesn’t exist at the institution.
Edith Wakida, who is rumored to be Prof Obua’s ‘girlfriend’ was admitted to the University for a PhD in Implementation Science at the Department of Psychiatry – Faculty of Medicine under registration number 2017/PhD/005/PS after she failed to secure admission for the same course at Makerere University since it is restricted to students with a background in sciences.
Lecturers at MUST under their umbrella body, Mbarara University of Science and Technology Academic Staff Association (MUSTASA) allege that Wakida’s admission sparks integrity questions and blemishes the institution’s image since she lacked and still lacks qualifications for the programme for the fact that her background is in Fine Art and Development Studies.
The academic staff led by their association chairperson Dr Simon Kawuma and General Secretary Eng. Julius Taremwa, allege that Wakida, who manages research grants, for some of which Prof. Obua is the principal investigator, was further “deceitfully granted” a Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) PhD scholarship after she lied that she was a lecturer yet she was clearly not.
The Academic staff also say Prof Obua has time and again, abused his office inclusive of ‘persuading’ Wakida’s admission and transfer of scholarship to MUST by providing false information to Prof Mukadasi Buyinza, the Director and SIDA programme coordinator at Makerere University, and continuously defending Ms Wakida’s PhD studies under disguise of Implementation Science which doesn’t exist at MUST.
The academic staff further allege that Wakida was issued two admission letters to help her fit her the three-year PhD into two calendar years, especially after the Academic Registrar, Kyoshaba reportedly helped Wakida register manually for her third year yet she was supposed to be in second year at the time. The staff say this was all planned to fast-track her thesis to ensure that she graduates ahead of schedule.
