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Open letter to Minister of Education and Sports Maama Janet Kataaha Museveni regarding Bunyoro University.

With great humility and respect, I extend my greetings to you Maama, and express my profound gratitude for your selfless service to our great nation. 

It is my sincere prayer that this message finds you in good health and spirits. I write to you, Maama, concerning the establishment and operationalisation of a public university in the Bunyoro region, as directed by H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in his letter dated November 24, 2021, addressed to your esteemed office.

As you are aware Maama, a public university in Uganda is owned, funded, and operated by the Government to serve both local and international students, and it has a broader mandate to provide education and research opportunities, attract funding from various sources, and uphold the public interest above all. 

It is a non-tribal, non-denominational, and non-political entity established under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001, as amended, and it is the property of the Government of Uganda. I, therefore, wish to humbly address you Maama as follows: 

The urge for a public university in Bunyoro has been on since independence and it is well justified. It is the Government’s policy to establish a public university in every pre-colonial district of Uganda to promote equal access to university education for all. 

President Museveni while campaigning in Bunyoro in 2020 reaffirmed the Government’s decision to establish a university at UPIK though concern was raised about the need for a centrally located university in the region based on the collegiate model. 

The President approved the idea with the nucleus being in greater Hoima. This was conditioned on the provision of free land by the community. 

In 2016, Dr Henry Wamani pledged to give free land measuring 100 acres for the establishment of the university. He reaffirmed his offer in a letter dated October 18, 2022, addressed to the university task force. The land had been replanted with trees which are now six years old, following a period of no response from the relevant authorities.  

The land is comprised of freehold title, Block 18, plots 25 and 172, encumbrance free, and situated in Buhimba town council in Greater Hoima, approximately 10km from Hoima city centre. 

It is at the triple junction of Kikuube and Hoima districts and Hoima city. Dr Wamani gave the following options regarding the trees:

The land is available for the university to use as and when it is ready Dr Wamani is ready to provide a reasonable chunk of land as required for the university’s initial physical developments at zero cost by clearing the required area as the rest is left for the trees to grow to maturity and have them harvested to allow for total vacant possession by the university. 

The Government can calculate the value of the trees on the land and have compensation paid for them so that the university owns them. 

Dr Wamani is ready to transfer ownership of the land to Bunyoro University as and when the university is ready to take over the land. 

The Minister of Education and Sports (MOES) in a letter dated June 7, 2022, appointed a Bunyoro University taskforce to legally establish a university in the Bunyoro region. 

The MOES embarked on a land acquisition exercise for the university and the locations that were verified include Buhimba land in Greater Hoima, Bulera Core PTC, Kihonda and Kayanja in Masindi, Kigumba Co-operative College in Kiryandongo, Birembo Technical Institute in Kakumiro and CCCC land in Kibaale. 

Out of all these, technically, the land in Buhimba reportedly emerged as the best and Bulera PTC land scored the worst in the ranking. 

Maama, I believe that this report is before your esteemed office. 

However, I was saddened to learn that the said report was put aside by the MOES on the orders of some forces in the Government who insisted against the technical recommendations, that the nucleus of the university must be established on Bulera PTC land. 

This left me wondering who exactly is mandated to run the affairs of the MOES. Technocrats at the MOES have decried political interference by some leaders in Bunyoro that have derailed the process. 

It is believed that if the process proceeded uninterrupted, the university would now be in its advanced stage of approval by the NCHE, among others. 

The preference for Bulera is premised on the deception that 138 hectares of land belonged to the Government. 

The same information I believe was brought to the attention of your esteemed office Maama. Prompted by the Bunyoro affairs minister, Hon. Jenipher Namuyangu, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development clarified that the said land belongs to an individual called Mr Yesero Mugenyi according to the High Court ruling and the Attorney General’s opinion contained in a letter dated February 15, 2024, addressed to the secretary of the Uganda Land Commission. 

This caused desperation among some local leaders who resorted to cutting off 20 acres of Bulera PTC’s land, leaving the college with lesser land despite the availability of free 100 acres in Buhimba.

Maama, as you are aware, Bulera is among the few selected core PTCs in Uganda that are set to have a demonstration primary school where the trainee teachers are supposed to practice and sharpen their teaching skills and, in my opinion, it should be acquiring more land for expansion instead of losing it. 

Besides Maama, tampering with Bulera PTC’s land risks setting a dangerous precedent where the existing institutions of learning will start losing land to the new emerging institutions. Once this is granted, it might become difficult to stop such a trend in the future.

There is also information suggesting the possibility of a section of individuals with a vested interest in blackmailing the Government into buying land for the university from the biggest landlord around Bulera PTC.

This is ironic because Bulera Core PTC is destined to be upgraded to a degree-awarding institution.   

Key stakeholders in Bunyoro in a Zoom meeting held on April 14, 2024, and chaired by Dr Paul Kyalimpa suggested that the technical process that was started by MOES to identify the most suitable locations for Bunyoro University colleges be upheld and fully supported by all stakeholders. 

The writer is a concerned citizen of Uganda and an NRM mobiliser in Bunyoro    

zacmwet@gmail.com 

(+256) 777 728 959