?Makerere University vice chancellor has invited Makerere University Business School (Mubs) leadership to a meeting to sort out disagreements over Shs 4b functional fees arrears that threatens to block the graduation of nearly 4,000 Mubs students.
“I was not aware about the letter from the (Makerere University) bursar but I am going to consult him, then we shall have a meeting next week with the management of Mubs to have these issues resolved,” Prof Ddumba Ssentamu said.
On his part, the Nakawa-based business institution principal, Prof Wasswa Balunywa, yesterday said he was ready to meet Makerere’s management but insisted Mubs doesn’t owe any money to the mother institution.
“We do not owe Makerere any money because whatever they demand has been remitted to their account and we have been doing this annually, so I do not understand what the (Makerere) bursar is up to,” Prof Balunywa said.
The Makerere University bursar, Mr Augustine Tamale, wrote to Prof Balunywa on January 9 informing him that failure to clear the Shs4.6b in functional fees would lead to the barring of their students from graduating at Makerere University main campus from February 22 to 24.
Prof Balunywa yesterday told Daily Monitor that Makerere University rejected their list of close to 4,000 students who have been studying at the Mubs campus.
Prof Balunywa says this is not the first time Makerere is threatening not to have their students graduate. He urged government to fast-track transforming Mubs into an independent university.
“The academic registrar of Makerere rejected the graduation list of our finalists, claiming he was ordered by the university bursar not to receive the list until we remit the claimed Shs4.6b; which is wrong and unacceptable,” Prof Balunywa said.
“No one should intimidate our students because they have cleared the functional fees and we also remitted the money to Makerere and we have evidence of payments. This is the third time they are blocking our students from graduating and this is why we want to have our own independence so that we can organise our own graduation.”
Ms Macklin Asiimwe, a students’ guild representative, said they would petition Education minister Janet Museveni over the impasse on Monday. Higher Education minister John Muyingo has also warned Makerere University against denying innocent students the opportunity to graduate when they could have completed their payments.
“The government will not allow students fall victim to the games the two institutions are playing. If the two institutions have issues, they should involve the government and we shall indeed come in,” Dr Muyingo advised.
