Uganda Christian University (UCU) finds itself back under the microscope after the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) faulted the institution for seeking regulatory guidance on Samantha Mwesigye’s credit transfer only after she had completed her law degree and was due to graduate.
The development adds yet another twist to a saga that has sparked nationwide debate over student rights, university accountability, and how credit transfers are handled across Uganda’s higher education sector.
The Root of the Dispute
At the centre of the case is Mwesigye’s attempt to transfer academic credits she earned during her first year of a Bachelor of Laws programme at King’s College London, before joining UCU under a credit transfer arrangement in 2022.
The controversy escalated after the High Court ruled in June that UCU had acted irrationally and unfairly by allowing Mwesigye to study for four years before questioning the validity of her transferred credits at the final stage of her programme.
While the court awarded her Shs100 million in general damages and costs, it declined to order the university to graduate her — leaving her academic status hanging in the balance.
UCU Went to NCHE — At the Eleventh Hour
Documents reveal that before the High Court delivered its judgment, UCU had written to NCHE seeking guidance on Mwesigye’s credits.
In a letter dated May 29, 2026, Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi described Mwesigye as a Bachelor of Laws student on provisional admission and asked NCHE to advise on the accreditation, eligibility, equivalence, and transferability of her King’s College London credits.
“Ms Mwesigye was previously enrolled for a Bachelor of Laws programme at King’s College London, from which she obtained a partial academic transcript. She now seeks to transfer the credits she accumulated from King’s College London to her current degree programme at UCU,” Prof. Mushengyezi wrote.
NCHE’s Pointed Reply
In a response dated June 29, 2026, NCHE Executive Director Prof. Mary Okwakol delivered two blows. First, she clarified that, under the existing legal framework, the Council only issues certificates of equivalence for completed academic programmes. Second, she questioned the timing of UCU’s request.
“After reviewing the student’s admission letter, we note that by the time the university referred Ms Mwesigye to NCHE, she had already completed the fourth year of study and was due for graduation,” Okwakol wrote.
“This raises a regulatory concern as matters relating to recognition of prior learning, equivalence of qualifications and credit transfer are determined before a student is admitted to or permitted to progress within an academic programme.”
She added that seeking NCHE’s guidance “at the tail end of the process constitutes a non-compliance issue.”
Rather than ruling on Mwesigye’s eligibility, NCHE bounced the matter back to UCU, directing the university to resolve it internally and to formally notify the Council of the action taken.
The Court Had Already Said the Same
NCHE’s position reinforces concerns already raised by the High Court. In his June ruling, Justice Bernard Namanya held that UCU’s refusal to recognise Mwesigye’s transferred credits was “tainted by irrationality and procedural impropriety.”
The judge found that UCU had violated Mwesigye’s legitimate expectation — having admitted her on transferred credits, allowed her to complete the four-year programme, serve as Guild President, and present herself as a graduand, before reversing its position. He noted that neither the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act nor her admission letter expressly required an NCHE certificate of equivalence before her credits could be transferred.
If such a requirement existed, he reasoned, the university should have said so at admission — not four years later. He described UCU’s conduct as arbitrary, unjust, and an abuse of power.
Why She Still Can’t Graduate
Despite those findings, Justice Namanya declined to compel the university to transfer the credits or graduate Mwesigye immediately. He held that decisions on credit recognition, academic requirements, and the award of degrees fall within the statutory mandate of universities and NCHE — not the courts.
The Lesson for Every Student
With both the court and the regulator now singing from the same hymn sheet, the message to universities is unmistakable: questions of prior learning and credit equivalence must be settled before a student is admitted or allowed to progress — not at the graduation finish line.
For Mwesigye, who has already served as Guild President and stood as a graduand, the wait for her degree and for closure drags on. And with NCHE having handed the decision back to UCU’s Senate, her fate now rests with the very institution whose handling of the matter landed it in this mess.
