After weeks of uncertainity following a strike by non teaching staff, Makerere University officially swung open its gates for the new academic year on Saturday 22nd amidst confusion and low turn up of students.
Unlike in the past where the opening day of a new academic year sees the university teeming with a flurry of activities and people, it was the opposite on Saturday, with the institution largely deserted.
New students where seen trickling into their various halls of residence. At many of the halls Campusbee visited, students were seen waiting eagerly with their property outside the custodian’s office pending clearance.
“I have spent close to two hours here waiting to be attended to by the custodian. I don’t even know if I will be cleared today, I’ve not seen any one being worked on since I came,” – One of the freshmen intimated to us.
Some of the continuing students who had reported with their property on the same day at halls such as Mary Stuart, UH and Nkrumah were outrightly unlucky as the hall custodians turned them away and advised them to heed the timetable and report on Monday as officially communicated to them.
At the much-awaited bazaar that has over time made its mark on both students and non-students alike,
Despite the semester opening, students still appear unconvinced that all is well. One such student at the Faculty of Economics and Management that Campusbee spoke to expressed fears that her lecturers may still not show up for the next one month as they have notoriously done in the past.
Another one at Complex hall was heard wondering whether the stories of university halls being plagued by bedbugs are true or mere concoctions by naysayers. It won’t be long before she discovers the truth on her own.
More still, many students say they have not received their results for last semester, while some are missing results for an entire academic year. “I don’t know if my lecturers are also staging a strike of their own, albeit silently. These people do not realize that we too as students have legitimate concerns we need them to address. All they seem to care about is themselves and their stomachs” – a final year student remarked.
