Africa-Press – Uganda. The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has blocked the graduation ceremony for Great Lakes Regional University in Kanungu District until the standoff between management and the founding members is resolved.
The spokesperson of the NCHE, Mr Saulo Waigolo, yesterday told Daily Monitor in a telephone interview that the university management and founder members have set different graduation dates targeting similar students.
According to Mr Waigolo, the faction of the current Executive Director of Great Lakes Regional University, Mr Wilkins Honest Natukwasa, had set December 19, while the faction of the former University Chancellor, Dr Hamlet Mbabazi Kabushenga, had set December 11.
About 102 students are affected.
“These two have failed to resolve the standoff between themselves and as result, the National Council for Higher Education cannot just sit and watch things go wrong,” Mr Waigolo said.
A November 11 letter to the university management from the NCHE Executive Director, Prof Mary Okwakol, reads that the current condition at the institute is not favourable for graduation.
“As you are aware, the NCHE dispatched a team of technical officers to visit and assess the situation at the university in accordance with Section 5(f) of the universities and other tertiary institutions. It was established that in the current circumstances, it is not suitable to hold any graduation, ”Prof Okwakol said.
The standoff climaxed on November 1 when universities reopened.
Mr Kabushenga was accused of blocking students from reporting, something that attracted the attention of security operatives.
Kanungu Resident District Commissioner Shafiq Ssekandi said conflicts at the university should spare the students.
“The security intervened and all the students were allowed to access the university premises. We have already tabled the matter before the NCHE for further management because it was not proper for the conflicting leaders to send away the students without even refunding their transport since many of them come from distant areas like northern and eastern regions of the country,” Mr Ssekandi said early this month.
Mr Natukwasa insists that he is the registered director of the institution and that Dr Kabushenga’s claims of ownership are false.
Dr Kabushenga said all university property is registered in his name and no one should claim ownership of the university except his wife.
However, an October 30 press release by the chairman of the university Board of Trustees, Mr Godfrey Karabenda Tumwebaze, recommended that Dr Kabushenga retain his office as a founding chancellor until 2026.
The new management of the institutions have since sued Dr Kabushenga and his wife, Ms Esther Kellen Mbabazi, accusing them of trespass and other fraudulent acts.
Waigolo said that until the university resolves the standoff, the graduation will not take place since the Council has appointed the RDC to take charge.
Great Lakes Regional University Ltd was on April 14, 2016 registered as a company limited by guarantee by the registrar of companies in Kampala and a copy seen by the reporter stamped by the Uganda Registration Service Bureau dated August 2, 2021 shows that the Mr Honest Natukwasa Wilkins and Ms Eleanor Nyamishana are the directors of the company.
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