A High Court judge in Kampala has given the management of Makerere University an ultimatum of two weeks to prove that they are in the process of selecting a substantive Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration (DVC-F&A). This directive was made by Justice Musa Sekaana of the Civil Division of High court in the presence of Hudson Musoke, the university lawyer, advocate Anthony Wameli who was appearing with his client Anthony Mugisha, these appeared yesterday in his chambers.
In December last year, Anthony Mugisha, a professor of Veterinary Sciences and Socio-Economics at Makerere University dragged the university to court over contempt of court orders. His application stems from a June 16th 2019 High court ruling that ordered a fresh search process for the office, after court found the previous process flawed.
In the same ruling, Justice Sekaana had quashed the appointment of Professor William Bazeyo as the Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration and declared the office vacant. However, he was again reappointed in the acting capacity by the Chancellor, Professor Ezra Suruma.
Mugisha ran to court to seek a judicial review on the decisions by the university council, senate and the search committee which unfairly and unlawfully denied him a chance to compete for the job in question. Professor Ezra Suruma, vice chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe, the university council chairperson Lorna Magara and the acting university Secretary Yusuf Kiranda are the four that are sued jointly for contempt of court orders.
Professor Anthony Mugisha in his application due for hearing this month wants court to compel the university council and these other four to pay 700 million shillings for contempt of court. The decision by the court has reportedly sent a lot of excitement among the staff at Makerere according to their WhatsApp reactions. Staff says that the institution has been caught off guard in flouting it’s own policies and laws by promoting the culture of “acting.”
