Protests as Kyambogo graduation gets underway

Feb 20, 2014

Kyambogo University graduates more than 3,000 students as scores others protest over exclusion from the graduation list.

By Innocent Anguyo

KAMPALA - Kyambogo University Thursday graduates more than 3,000 students as scores of their colleagues continue demonstrating exclusion of their names from the graduation list.

Police on Wednesday fired teargas canisters to disperse angry students who tried to disrupt the installation of the new Kyambogo University Chancellor, Prof John Ssebuwufu.

The students accuse the university of falsely sidelining them from the tenth graduation.

They insist they met all requirements for graduating including clearing arrears, passing all courses and paying the graduation and booklet fee of sh110, 000.

Nevertheless, the university’s spokesman Lawrence Madete insists that the names of all the students who are eligible to graduate this year are on the graduation list.

He says some of the students will miss this year’s graduation because of retakes, unpaid dues, missing marks and irregular admission into Uganda’s second biggest public university.

As the graduation event, which ends Friday gets underway, there is heavy police deployment at the institution in a bid to foil further demonstrations by the students aimed at disrupting the ceremony.

Despite the police presence, defiant students are formed small groups, vowing to resume protests against omission of their names from the graduation list.

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