Court allows Busoga University to register students

The Constitutional Court has issued an interim order restraining the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) from revoking the operational licence of Busoga University.

The order issued on 31^st January by Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa, also halted the NCHE's intention of stopping the university from recruiting students, pending the disposal of the main application for a temporary injunction.

"The implication of this order is that, the university should continue operating normally as if the notice has never been issued by the National Council for Higher Education, until the main application for a temporary injunction is determined," Peter Walubiri, the university's lawyer explained.

The Iganga based university dragged the Attorney General and NCHE to court last month after the latter published in the Uganda Gazette on December 19, 2016, a notice of intention to revoke its operational license.

NCHE had earlier stopped Busoga University from registering students until the matter is resolved.

But through their lawyers Kwesigabo, Bamwine and Walubiri Advocates, the university petitioned the Constitutional Court arguing that the action was a violation of their rights.

The university contends that the clause in the Act under which NCHE wants to revoke their license is inconsistent with the constitution.

It adds that it contravenes Articles 28(1), 30, 40(2), 42 and 44(c) of the Constitution.

"The action of NCHE violates rights to education, right to practice ones profession and to carry out lawful occupation, trade or business" the university says.

Accusations

NCHE alleges that Busoga University admitted international students from Nigeria and South Sudan with forged academic papers as well as those without certified academic papers.

It also accuses the institution of lacking an updated students' database to provide proof for the exact number of students in the university.

Another accusation is that the university runs a number of campuses within Uganda and Juba in South Sudan, totalling to nine, which could be overstretching the institution's meagre resources.

Busoga University a brainchild of the Church of Uganda was granted an operational license in 1998 and it officially opened in 1999.