The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Uganda Police has accused Makerere University students of conniving with political actors to create chaos in the city.
Spokesman Fred Enanga said Uganda Police Force is investigating reports that Makerere University students are paid by political actors and activists to engage in protests.
He said that the payments, made through mobile money platforms, are part of the various clues being followed to establish the triggers for the unending protests at the University.
“Already we have managed to get one of the Mobile Money points in Wandegeya where they draw money for their protests,” said Enanga, adding that the operators of the mobile money outlet are being investigated, with a view of unearthing the source of the funding.
The statement comes a few days after protests that paralyzed business at Makerere University, where students were protesting a policy that sanctioned a 15 per cent increment on tuition and functional fees, over the next five years.
But what had started as a peaceful female students’ protests, turned into an ugly theater after UPDF and police personnel were seen breaking into halls of residence, where a number of children were picked up and clobbered.
Although initial media reports put the figure of arrested students in a five days’ protest at 60, Enanga said they detained only 39 students. Of these, Enanga said seven were non-students, adding that police is equally investigating their motive in the strike.
The non-students allegedly arrested in the Makerere University protests were identified as Deo Lumala, an artist at Nasser Road in Kampala, Derrick Otim, a resident of Mary Stuart Staff Quarters, George Kaliisa, a boutique operator in Bwaise and David Biliyo.
Others include Jesiro Okiliro who was enrolled for a three years course in 2011, but never attended the course to completion, Fahad Ssenyomo, a chapatti dealer in Wandegeya, Kabugila Kamya, a shop attendant and a former Mary Stuart Hall Chairman Collin Bandola, who left the university several years ago.
“There were chances of serious destruction of property. Female protesters were being fronted as shields and eventually male protesters would join,” Enanga said.
To prove the claims, security forces said there is a students’ force that has been formed at Makerere to participate and steer protests in other Universities. This, according to Enanga, has been witnessed in recent protest at Kyambogo University, where Makerere students took part and another one foiled at Makerere University Business School –MUBS.
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But Madam Teacher First Lady, Hon Janet Katahah Museveni, according to the law of identity A is A and B is B. So you don’t compare different things. For instance, although the letters A to Z are alphabets, but you can’t compare them because they are different. And even though they are all numbers 0, 1 to 9, you can’t compare 1 with 2.
In other words Madam Teacher, although Makerere university and the Uganda Christian University are universities, but according to the law of identity they are not the same: Makerere university is a Public University, but Uganda Christian University is a private university; whose founding objectives and policies are different from those of the Uganda public universities. Besides, motivated by monetary gain, all the programmes and fee structure being offered in the Uganda Christian University were originally pirated, cut and paste from Makerere University.
Therefore public universities must be governed, administered and managed through clear public policy, but not the whims of ambitious politicians who in cahoot with administrators want to capture own the country and all its institutions.
What is absurd about Madam Teacher, Hon Janet Museveni is to compare a classical 100-year Makerere University with the Uganda Christian University of yesterday, vis-a-vis Academic programmes & tuition fees analysis. It is in itself an admission of failure and blame game on the part of her government.
It is a failure because you can’t divorce political leadership from the management and/or mismanagement of public institutions: From UPE to the current public universities it is something not worth writing home about. Especially after 34 years under the same administration; there are decays everywhere you turn in as far as the qualit of education is concern.
Madam Teacher must also be reminded that: all the current private education providers are like poachers, who, from academic materials to human resources, have been and are still poaching from public education institutions especially Makerere University. E.g., if you go to Kabale University 70% of the staff have been poached from Makerere University. Therefore it is absurd for Our Dear Minister of Education to have academic poachers management model as her model to justify tuition fees policy for Makerere University.
And when it comes to corruption, who planted the mustard seed of corruption in this country? And what happened to Our Great Leader, Mr. Musevni’s May 2016 declaration of “corruption hakuna muchezo”?