Makerere vice chancellor Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu is in hot soup after Police yesterday morning arrested Deputy Registrar, Ms. Margaret Etuusa, who together with the former are being investigated for ‘gross misconduct.’
Police are holding Ms. Etuusa, the Deputy Registrar in charge of Certificates and Ceremonies Division at the university and Ms. Dorothy Kabanda, an administrative assistant in the same office on charges of abuse office and gross misconduct.
The two ladies were picked from their offices in the Senate Building on the morning of Wednesday, 30th August by non-uniformed police men who are attached to Kibuli-based Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
In a May 31st letter Dr Tanga Odoi, the Makerere University Convocation chairperson appealed to the director of CID, to investigate Prof. Ddumba and Ms. Etuusa for what he termed as gross misconduct.
Since then, police have been investigating the alleged misconduct and abuse office.
Ms. Etuusa, who is not a member of the Procurement and Disposal Unit of Makerere University, is accused of soliciting quotations for the procurement of goods, works and services that were in the 64th, 65th, 66th and 67th graduation ceremonies something that was contrary to the PPDA regulations of 2014.
She was suspended in March this year on accusations of illegally hiring Exxon Contractors, a private company, to keep guests’ electronics during the 67th graduation ceremony. The company reportedly fleeced parents and graduands under the guise of securing their mobile phones and other gadgets.
The company charged Shs3, 000 for each gadget placed under its custody.
But Ms Etuusa petitioned the High Court challenging her suspension, saying she was never given a chance to defend herself.
She asked court to reinstate on the job and grant her an interim injunction blocking the university from pursuing any further disciplinary action against her. Court ruled in her favour and asked the university to reinstate her pending the disposal of her application.
Prof Ddumba is due to hand over office of vice chancellor this week after holding it for five years. This development could be just an atom of the mud that could eventually cover the soft spoken professor of Economics in his final seconds of the run as vice chancellor in the oldest university in Uganda.
