Makerere Arts faculty gets new dean
ASSOCIATE Professor Byaruhanga Rukooko was Thursday elected the new dean of the faculty of arts of Makerere University. Byaruhanga replaces Hannington Ssengendo, who was last year forced to step down following accusations of mismanagement of funds.
By Eddie Ssejjoba
ASSOCIATE Professor Byaruhanga Rukooko was Thursday elected the new dean of the faculty of arts of Makerere University. Byaruhanga replaces Hannington Ssengendo, who was last year forced to step down following accusations of mismanagement of funds.
The 51-year-old Rukooko, who has been deputy dean in charge of higher degrees and research got 68 votes and was announced the winner to end Ssengendo’s eight-year reign at the faculty.
He thrashed his three rivals, Edith Natukunda Tagboa who got 22 votes, Patrick Mangeni, 24, and Ernest Okello-Ogwang who polled four votes.
The personal assistant to the Academic Registrar presided over the elections in the dean’s office, where some staff members missed out when they arrived in the voting room minutes after the deadline at noon.
Senior lecturers, including the out-going Ssengendo, poured into the new dean’s office at the institute of languages to congratulate him.
Rukooko and the faculty’s deputy dean in charge of the undergraduate studies, Abasi Kiyimba, were last year accused of paying themselves an advance of about shs31m in responsibility allowances at the expense of over 500 other members of staff.
The academic staff association chairman, Tanga Odoi, supplied a document to the media stating that Ssengendo allegedly paid himself sh10.4m last year, while Kiyimba and Rukooko shared sh8m each yet the rest of the staff had not received allowances since January 2008.
According to the document, the faculty accountant, David Tukasingura, and his assistant, Frederick Ssekatawa, also pocketed sh3.2m and sh2.2m respectively.
But Ssengendo told Saturday Vision in Rukooko’s office that the problems he was accused of were ‘university-wide’ and they would persist unless measures were taken.
“The challenges are many and resources are getting less by the day. But I wish my colleague well; he is a friend and I will be ready to advise him because we have worked together before.â€
In his manifesto, Rukooko said he would separate income received from graduate and undergraduate students and lobby for adequate and proportionate funding from the university. Mangeni witnessed the announcement of the results.
ASSOCIATE Professor Byaruhanga Rukooko was Thursday elected the new dean of the faculty of arts of Makerere University. Byaruhanga replaces Hannington Ssengendo, who was last year forced to step down following accusations of mismanagement of funds.
The 51-year-old Rukooko, who has been deputy dean in charge of higher degrees and research got 68 votes and was announced the winner to end Ssengendo’s eight-year reign at the faculty.
He thrashed his three rivals, Edith Natukunda Tagboa who got 22 votes, Patrick Mangeni, 24, and Ernest Okello-Ogwang who polled four votes.
The personal assistant to the Academic Registrar presided over the elections in the dean’s office, where some staff members missed out when they arrived in the voting room minutes after the deadline at noon.
Senior lecturers, including the out-going Ssengendo, poured into the new dean’s office at the institute of languages to congratulate him.
Rukooko and the faculty’s deputy dean in charge of the undergraduate studies, Abasi Kiyimba, were last year accused of paying themselves an advance of about shs31m in responsibility allowances at the expense of over 500 other members of staff.
The academic staff association chairman, Tanga Odoi, supplied a document to the media stating that Ssengendo allegedly paid himself sh10.4m last year, while Kiyimba and Rukooko shared sh8m each yet the rest of the staff had not received allowances since January 2008.
According to the document, the faculty accountant, David Tukasingura, and his assistant, Frederick Ssekatawa, also pocketed sh3.2m and sh2.2m respectively.
But Ssengendo told Saturday Vision in Rukooko’s office that the problems he was accused of were ‘university-wide’ and they would persist unless measures were taken.
“The challenges are many and resources are getting less by the day. But I wish my colleague well; he is a friend and I will be ready to advise him because we have worked together before.â€
In his manifesto, Rukooko said he would separate income received from graduate and undergraduate students and lobby for adequate and proportionate funding from the university. Mangeni witnessed the announcement of the results.