Makerere locks out boss from office
Apr 01, 2009
The quality assurances unit offices at Makerere University were on Tuesday barricaded and the acting unit boss, Dr. Williams Dembe, barred from accessing his office as leadership wrangles deepen at the institute.
By Vision Reporter
The quality assurances unit offices at Makerere University were on Tuesday barricaded and the acting unit boss, Dr. Williams Dembe, barred from accessing his office as leadership wrangles deepen at the institute.
The wrangles are said to be caused by tribalism.
Doors to the unit’s offices at the Senate Building were nailed shut the previous evening by personnel from the university estates department accompanied by the Police.
They were reportedly acting under the instructions of the deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of finance and administration, Prof. David Bakibinga.
The quality assurance unit is supposed to streamline programmes at the university to ensure that they meet the acceptable standards.
It was created with the aim of improving the deteriorating academic standards of the university and given its own budget.
Dembe was appointed caretaker by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Livingstone Luboobi, last year after the then unit boss, Prof. Elisha Semakula, resigned.
Luboobi was taken ill last week, leaving Bakibinga in acting capacity.
The university spokesperson, Gilbert Kadilo, said the decision to push Dembe out of office came after the appointments board agreed on Monday that the office reverts to the vice-chancellor.
“There is no substantive head of the unit because the person who had been identified initially had his appointment contested. So, the board recommended that the office reverts to the vice-chancellor who would identify someone to act in the interim until the appointment process is concluded,†Kadilo added.
In a letter on Tuesday, Dembe was asked to hand over the office.
Kadilo said Dembe sneered at the decision, arguing that he was appointed by Luboobi and it was he alone who could sack him.
The appointments board held a meeting on Tuesday in which they decided to seal off the offices.
Yesterday, tight security was deployed at the Senate Building with the section leading to the unit offices cut off.
The post of quality assurance manager has for long been shrouded in controversy and intrigue since Semakula resigned.
Last year, the position was advertised and, allegedly out of intrigue, Dembe, a former deputy dean in the faculty of computing and information, was barred from taking part.
However, sources yesterday said the appointments board, in the Monday meeting, also wanted to look into the allegations levelled against Baker Nyakana, an associate professor at the department of Geography.
Nyakana had been appointed to head the unit, but his appointment was contested after he was accused of plagiarising the dissertation of Richard Drama, a masters’ student.
“This is just a leadership wrangle,†a source said.
Sources also say Dembe’s woes seemed to have stemmed from his over-enthusiasm, which led to a clash with several top leaders at the university.
The development reflects the tribal camps among the top leaders jostling to replace Luboobi whose term has expired. Top contenders are Bakibinga, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba and Prof. Edward Kirumira.
The quality assurances unit offices at Makerere University were on Tuesday barricaded and the acting unit boss, Dr. Williams Dembe, barred from accessing his office as leadership wrangles deepen at the institute.
The wrangles are said to be caused by tribalism.
Doors to the unit’s offices at the Senate Building were nailed shut the previous evening by personnel from the university estates department accompanied by the Police.
They were reportedly acting under the instructions of the deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of finance and administration, Prof. David Bakibinga.
The quality assurance unit is supposed to streamline programmes at the university to ensure that they meet the acceptable standards.
It was created with the aim of improving the deteriorating academic standards of the university and given its own budget.
Dembe was appointed caretaker by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Livingstone Luboobi, last year after the then unit boss, Prof. Elisha Semakula, resigned.
Luboobi was taken ill last week, leaving Bakibinga in acting capacity.
The university spokesperson, Gilbert Kadilo, said the decision to push Dembe out of office came after the appointments board agreed on Monday that the office reverts to the vice-chancellor.
“There is no substantive head of the unit because the person who had been identified initially had his appointment contested. So, the board recommended that the office reverts to the vice-chancellor who would identify someone to act in the interim until the appointment process is concluded,†Kadilo added.
In a letter on Tuesday, Dembe was asked to hand over the office.
Kadilo said Dembe sneered at the decision, arguing that he was appointed by Luboobi and it was he alone who could sack him.
The appointments board held a meeting on Tuesday in which they decided to seal off the offices.
Yesterday, tight security was deployed at the Senate Building with the section leading to the unit offices cut off.
The post of quality assurance manager has for long been shrouded in controversy and intrigue since Semakula resigned.
Last year, the position was advertised and, allegedly out of intrigue, Dembe, a former deputy dean in the faculty of computing and information, was barred from taking part.
However, sources yesterday said the appointments board, in the Monday meeting, also wanted to look into the allegations levelled against Baker Nyakana, an associate professor at the department of Geography.
Nyakana had been appointed to head the unit, but his appointment was contested after he was accused of plagiarising the dissertation of Richard Drama, a masters’ student.
“This is just a leadership wrangle,†a source said.
Sources also say Dembe’s woes seemed to have stemmed from his over-enthusiasm, which led to a clash with several top leaders at the university.
The development reflects the tribal camps among the top leaders jostling to replace Luboobi whose term has expired. Top contenders are Bakibinga, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba and Prof. Edward Kirumira.