Makerere don detained for assaulting students

By Doreen Musingo

POLICE in Jinja have arrested Professor Baker Nyakana the in-charge at Makerere University Jinja branch over allegations of assaulting five students.

Geoffrey Kainamura the acting district police commander said Prof Nyakana was arrested for allegedly assaulting five Development Studies students while they were sitting their examinations.

Kainamura said that according to the statement the professor recorded, during monitoring of the examination process on 27th Sept, he observed that some students were cheating exams while others had forged clearance documents.

“As the professor was carrying out his monitoring exercise he found some students with pieces of paper where they were copying answers from while others had forged clearance documents. In the process of collecting them, there was a struggle,” he said.

Kainamura said that the professor who was granted bond after being grilled for close to four hours has to produce evidence pinning the students.

Kainamura explained that of the five students who were allegedly assaulted, two had already recorded statements with police.

“The professor has always taken the law in his hands without informing the main campus in Kampala. If he has evidence that we were cheating he should have informed the main campus for disciplinary action,” said Juliet Akole, one of the students who has since been dismissed from the school.

According to Okot P’bitek of Muslim Council and Justice for Law who is representing the five students noted that they were unlawfully dismissed and that they have written to the University Council to take up the matter. 

“We have taken up the matter to the University Council to appeal and if they don’t we shall appeal to a higher court,” he noted.