Bishop Stuart University (BU) in Mbarara has unanimously lost the court case in which the university was sued by a student over allegations of favouritism and segregation where only Anglican students were favoured to contest for guild positions. It was alleged that the Mbarara based campus has been biased and maliciously dropping students from other religious sects for contesting in about eight top guild positions, a move that the court described as unjust, unfair and very unconstitutional.
In a court case that was presided over yesterday at Magistrates grade one court in Bugolobi, where a student Bwenge Deusdedit had filed the petition, the university through its lawyers lost the case to the student whose claims of favouritism at the campus were found evident by the resident judge.
Bwenge Deusdedit through his lawyers’ M/s Butagira and Co, Advocates asked the court to consider the fact that many students from other religions were being marginalized and their right to leadership stamped upon by the university’s unjust laws and guild constitution. Bwenge(Petitioner) also accused the university’s failure to adhere to its mandate of being nonpartisan although the campus is operated under the Anglican religious dioceses of West Ankole Sub-region.
“BSU constitution provision of article 6 allows only Anglican students to contests for guild positions. This is not right and unjustified to non-Anglicans in any free and just society. It is treading on our rights to leadership and service to others,” Bwenge told our reporter.
The court after a thoughtful examination of the parties considered the amendments by Bishop Stuart University discriminatory, thus ordered the university to delete all unjust provisions and properly amend its guild constitution. Upon completion, the university must also submit a copy of the new constitution to EOC headquarters in Kampala within 90 days.
Bwenge Deudetit, who is a final year law student awaiting graduation at the campus, however, appealed to the university to take the court’s judgement in good faith to make the university a better place for all religions to thrive in.
“I massively thank BSU for vehemently and courageously defending its position. I urge them(BSU) to take the court decision in good faith,” he told our reporter in an interview.
Although the university lost the case, it has been given the mandate to appeal to the high court within 30 days in case the administration has not been satisfied with the judgement.
Bishop Stuart University is among the few private religiously owned universities in Uganda. Although the university was founded under the Anglican faith, students from other religions are free to pursue courses at the university. Among such universities in Uganda that treat students according to their faith is Islamic University In Uganda(IUIU) where students from other religions might find difficulty in exercising their faith while at those campuses in such circumstances were students of the ‘university’s religion’ are given priority and more freedom.
