By Francis Kagolo            
                                                                 
Victoria University has closed down just after one year of operation, with officials blaming the development on Uganda’s Anti-homosexuality Bill before Parliament.

The vice-chancellor, Dr. David Young, made the announcement during a meeting with students on Tuesday.  

“Over the last few months, the University of Buckingham has been in discussions with our partners, Edulink, who own Victoria University in Kampala, Uganda, about our continued validation of some of Victoria University’s courses. We have both become increasingly concerned about the proposed legislation in Uganda on homosexuality and in particular the constraints on freedom of speech in this area,” officials said in a statement.

 “In the light of this we have agreed to suspend our validation on the assurance that Edulink would produce viable arrangements for existing students on our validated courses to complete their studies. We will of course assist Edulink with any validation support needed to achieve this,” it added.

 The university was opened on September 10, 2011 by President Yoweri Museveni and had admitted close to 600 students.

With seven undergraduate programmes and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), the university also offered scholarships to a number of bright students.