MPs demand debate on Makerere closure

PIC: Students had to pack their belongings and leave the university after its closure earlier this month. (Credit: Meddie Musisi)

KAMPALA - Lawmakers across a usually fractious political divide yesterday demanded that parliament conducts a special session on the closure of Makerere University which has entered its third week.

Makerere University, the oldest university in East Africa and one of the foremost centers of learning in Africa was indefinitely closed at the beginning of this month by President Yoweri Museveni after students' strike over lecturers laying down their tools spiraled into violence.

Museveni has since established a visitation committee chaired by Dr. Abel Rwendeire to probe the malaise at Makerere University.

"I thought we would have space on the Order Paper to discuss what is happening at Makerere University. People have taken loans to educate their children but the university is closed," Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Winnie Kiiza said Tuesday.

Elijah Okupa, Fungaro Kaps, Jovah Kamateka and Anna Ebaju said the closure of the university has not only affected the students but is having a direct impact on government hospitals which rely on intern doctors to reduce the patient-doctor ratio.

"A university of Makerere's stature is not like a village market that you simply wake up one morning and close. The effect of its closure is immense. The university has international students, many of them are stranded. This affects the university's reputation," Okupa said.

Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga conceded that Makerere's closure "is almost unprecedented."

Minister of state for education, John Muyingo's attempt to give lawmakers a chronology on the cause of the strike, closure of the university and subsequent establishment of a visitation committee was intermittently interrupted by riled legislators who demanded that government redeems its promise to pay lectures incentives.

Muyingo told the House that the visitation committee will complete its investigation in three months.

"We will not wait for three months to discuss this pressing issue," Kadaga said. Although Kadaga did not give a timeline, parliament is set to discuss Makerere's woes as lawmakers press for its opening.

The issue of the need for parliament to intervene in Makerere's closure was mooted by national youth MP and former Makerere University Guild President, Anna Ebaju.

A lawyer herself, Ebaju noted that the closure of Makerere University is set to grossly affect final year law students who are expected to join the Law Development Center (LDC) for a practicing certificate in September.

"We don't want our country to be flooded with half-baked advocates incapable of grasping legal principles," Ebaju said.

The continued closure of the university means that fourth year students at Makerere University might miss out on next year's LDC intake.