Makerere dons association condemn Dr. Nyanzi's stripping
Apr 21, 2016
“We state however, that these two incidents involve only two members of staff out of over 3,000 members of staff who labour every day to educate and support over 45,000 students and perform varied functions of the university. We wish you could take them as isolated and regrettable incidents.”
DONS at Makerere University have condemned Dr. Stella Nyanzi's nude protest, which took place on Monday.
Nyanzi shocked the nation when she undressed in front of cameras at Makerere Institute for Social Research, protesting against the alleged closure of her office by Prof. Mahmood Mamdani. Mamdani is the executive director of the institute.
"The largely regrettable incident has been received with disbelief by staff, students, alumni and the public. The heinous act by Dr. Stella Nyanzi unfortunately manifests at a time when the university is still grappling with negative publicity caused by rape allegations involving Dr. Chris Bakuneeta also a member of staff."
Dr. Bakuneeta was a couple of weeks ago, accused of allegedly raping one of Makerere University's students, a charge he denied.
"We know that these isolated incidents on the campus have hurt your confidence and trust in us," Makerere University Academic Staff Association, added in a statement released on Wednesday morning. "As staff we apologise."
The statement, signed by the association's public relations officer Deus Muhwezi added that: "We state however, that these two incidents involve only two members of staff out of over 3,000 members of staff who labour every day to educate and support over 45,000 students and perform varied functions of the university. We wish you could take them as isolated and regrettable incidents."
They also noted that Makerere University is a diverse and largely free community which embraces freedom of expression, self-drive and high duty of care principles in the execution of its academic activities.
Muhwezi explained that: "Makerere derives its strengths from the empowerment of each of its individual scholar working for it towards academic excellence. It also heavily relies on the integrity of its individual academic staff who are usually hired on merit from among the best of graduates that qualify to join its teaching staff."
The statement also noted that, "It's on the basis of this that we strongly condemn any acts of indecency involving any member of academic staff. We do so cognizant of our mentorship role as leading scholars in the country and beyond coupled with the great influence that we have on young people."
"We also do so in line with the university motto 'We build for the future' well-knowing that many of you out there have gone through the gates of this great institution which we know that you dearly love," they noted.
The statement also noted that: "Fortunately, all these challenges are coming out at a time when the university is determined to renew itself in all spheres of service delivery including its image."
The academic staff association called upon all stakeholders to deepen their belief in them and accompany them on this journey of renewal. "We also still believe that Makerere University has strong institutions which make it resilient and able to handle some disagreements such as one of Dr. Nyanzi to just conclusion."
They also regretted and wished that Dr. Nyanzi "had exhaustively utilised all them before opting for such a negative act."
Dr. Nyanzi, in her earlier press interviews, said, she had stripped in protest of the alleged closure of her office by Prof. Mamdani and his dictatorial way of running the institute.
However, Prof. Mamdani explained in an exclusive interview with New Vision, that he had instructed her to vacate the institute's office, since she had failed to fulfill the duties she was hired to execute at the institute.