Africa-Press – Uganda. Among his many achievements, Dr Polly Bandola prided in having completed medical school in 2021 amid various hiccups.
His quest for a well-deserving job only yielded dividends a fortnight ago when he was taken on by the Africa Medical and Behavioural Sciences Organisation (AMBSO). Bandola died on February 1 after hitting his head on a metal object in the compound of a guest house at Kalisizo Town Council, Kyotera District.
The sojourn was work-related. “It’s absurd that we have lost such a youthful and intelligent employee whom we thought would lift our organisation,” a top board member at AMBSO said, adding, “For the two weeks we have been with him, he has been so cooperative, obedient and hardworking.”
Growing up
Bandola was born on August 10, 1992, to the late Ambrose Rwanyabugirira, and Josephine Nyirasoni—in Kaami Village, Byakabanda Sub-county in Rakai District.
He attended schools in the same district at Kibaale Community Primary School before proceeding to its sister school—Kibaale Community SS. There, he completed his O-Level in 2011. He wrote his final A-Level exams in 2013 at St Mark’s College, Namagoma.
Ms Alice Namyalo, Bandola’s elder sister, says he was a bright child who took his education seriously. He always, she added: “Passed with flying colours”, and was obsessed with becoming a medical doctor.
Bandola scored Aggregate 11 in Primary Leaving Examinations, Aggregate 17 in the Uganda Certificate of Education examinations and 20 points in the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education examinations.
He would later join Makerere University and graduate with a Honours Degree in Medicine and Surgery in May 2021. He then did his medical practice at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital and he was licensed as a medical doctor by the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC) in September 2022. Bandola volunteered at the same referral hospital in Fort Portal until he landed a job at AMBSO.
Joining Makerere
Before all that, Bandola had joined East Africa’s most prestigious university, Makerere in August 2014. Skinny and wet behind the ears, he had shown a mastery over Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics at A-Level to win government sponsorship for a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree programme.
Upon joining Makerere University, he was admitted to Mitchell Hall. He would later become the chairperson of the hall of residence.
Mr Abel Arinaitwe Kamiheto, Bandola’s close friend, with whom they spent their years at Makerere, remembers his colleague’s time at university as one full of ups and downs. “During our school time, we went through a lot of troubles but continuously encouraged each other and hoped for the best.”
Kamiheto adds that Bandola was a jolly colleague who was an ardent fan of cultural and co-curricular activities, which he always lobbied for. Due to their nature of bringing people together in big numbers, Bandola became a favourite for many that associated with the activities. “He was later known as a senior mobiliser of fellow students involved in various university activities,” Arinaitwe says, adding that the development prompted him to join university politics.
Makerere politics
While he took great pride in his short stint as an internal finance minister at Mitchell Hall, Bandola always seemed destined for greater things. This materialised in 2018 when he was elected Mitchell Hall chairperson during Papa Were Salim’s tenure as Guild President.
In his leadership capacity then, Bandola was selected to lead a seven-strong committee that was tasked with investigating the cause of tuition strikes at Makerere University. The committee had to come up with recommendations that bring the student body, the university management and administration on the same page.
After benchmarking several universities in and around Uganda, the committee pieced together a report it officially handed over to the Makerere University Council chairperson, Dr Charles Wana-Etyem.
In the report, the committee suggested a number of issues. The pick of the recommendations was a 15 percent tuition increment across all programmes. It was also suggested that the 15 percent increment should only apply to new students effective with the academic year 2018/2019. This would go on for the next five years, totalling to 75 percent instead of the 91 percent that was earlier suggested by the senior management at the ivory tower.
Controversies
While the university administration received Bandola’s committee report and even commended its recommendations as reasonable, the students’ body and their guild representatives were not as ecstatic.
Amid protests, guild representatives held a press conference and disowned the report together with the recommendations proffered by Bandola and his committee members.
A joint voice by the guild representatives echoed that Bandola betrayed students and pushed forward a recommendation that was not thoroughly discussed. No student at Makerere, it was alleged, had been consulted. According to the aggrieved, although the 15 percent increment was way below the initial suggestion by the administration, it was hardly necessary.
“His mistake was thinking that to solve the problems at Makerere, tuition had to be increased,” a former Guild Representative Council or GRC member, who preferred anonymity, opined, adding that the myopia ensured that the committee “did not look into other factors like how revenues of the university were handled by management.”
The former GRC member proceeded to reveal thus: “The 2017 Auditor General’s report was in [Bandola’s] face in which billions of shillings were unaccounted for but he gave it a blind eye. His mission was to find out how best tuition could be increased at Makerere University.”
In his fourth year of medical school at the time, the tuition increment saga besmirched Bandola’s reputation. It also impacted his academic performance negatively. He in fact asked for an extension at the university to plug the loose ends with the failed units.
Things took a turn for the worse when he was chased out of Mitchell Hall. He was accused of plotting to burn his hall and harm other students.
His death
Bandola’s untimely death is still shrouded in mystery. According to Mr Hassan Musooba, the Kyotera District Police Commander, investigations are still ongoing. Although it is said he hit his head on a metal object, his family thinks otherwise. Before his death, Bandola had moved to Kalisizo for a new job placement.
According to Papa Were Salim, Bandola’s last moments with his former leadership colleagues was during their Guild Link Reunion event at the Makerere Grounds. This was a couple of days before he left for his new job in Kalisizo. Papa Were Salim chatted with Bandola via WhatsApp on the night he died.
Dr Bandola was buried at his ancestral home in Magabi Village, Kibanda Sub-county, in Rakai District last Friday. He is survived by his mother, three siblings and a son who is barely six months.
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