Makerere VC selection keeps public guessing

 

After two months of a search process marred with suspicion and distrust, it is now evident that Makerere University’s 14th vice-chancellor (VC)will either be Prof. Ddumba-Ssentamu or associate Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe. 

 

After rejecting Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba’s appeal, the University Council last Thursday fronted Ddumba-Ssentamu and Nawangwe for the university’s topmost job. 

 

Eighteen council members voted and Ddumba-Ssentamu emerged the best with 14 votes as Nawangwe tied with Prof. Edward Kirumira at 11 votes. In the second, tie-breaking round, Nawangwe got10 votes, beating Kirumira. 

 

However, tension has gripped the university more than even when the search process had just begun. Although Prof. Ddumba-Ssentamu scooped the highest number of votes in the council, it is not automatic that Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, the University Chancellor, will pick on him.  

 

Already there’s a precedent of those who were ignored by the council finally emerging winners. 

It happened five years ago when President Yoweri Museveni picked Kagonyera as chancellor instead of Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, who had garnered the highest number of votes in the council.

 

No wonder, a cross-section of council members, who supported Ddumba-Ssentamu are already worried. Some have even warned that they will protest in case Kagonyera abuses the main principle of democracy, which ties winning to the votes scored.

 

“We voted for Ddumba-Ssentamu because we believe he has the requisite managerial experience and capability to take Makerere University to another level. But the race is now beyond our mandate. We just pray that Kagonyera respects the council’s decision,” a council member said on condition of anonymity. On the other hand, those who believe in Nawangwe argue that Kagonyera will not have broken any law if he goes for the second-placed candidate.

 

“The fact that the University Council forwarded two names to the chancellor for appointment means that they are both competent and the council believes in both,” argued another council member. 

 

The chairman of the Makerere Universiy Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Dr. Tanga Odoi, also acknowledges that although the council wanted to give Kagonyera room for choice by forwarding two names, it instead created more puzzle for him. 

 

But having been on the frontline against Baryamureeba’s bid, Odoi is now content and wants the university staff to leave Kagonyera to do his job. 

 

“Nawangwe won in the Senate. But when they reached the University Council, Ddumba beat him. It means they are equally good. We should leave Kagonyera to do his work,” Odoi said. 

 

Nonetheless, like the 2004 VC search process that ushered in Prof. Livingstone Luboobi, the mistrust and infighting exhibited in this year’s exercise has continued to expose shortcomings in the way VCs are appointed. 

 

If it was not for the Council chairman, Dr. Wana Etyem’s intervention, the exercise almost failed when six of the seven contestants boycotted the public presentations, accusing Baryamureeba of influence-peddling.

 

Nawangwe, Ddumba-Ssentamu, Kirumira, Eli Katunguka and Augustus Nuwagaba shunned the public presentations just because Baryamureeba had not resigned his position of acting vice-chancellor as they had demanded. 

 

Subsequently, the group set conditions that they said were supposed to be met if they were to remain in the race. Besides the quest for Baryamureeba to step down as acting vice-Chancellor, they wanted the search committee to “immediately” publish a timetable of the entire search process; and, henceforth, all official communication to the candidates, as well as Senate and council, regarding the search process should be made formal and in good time.

 

But Baryamureeba remained adamant. “Have you ever seen the president step down before the campaigns?” he asked.

“It is not stated anywhere in the Universities and other Tertiary Institutions Act, which is the governing law, that the sitting vice chancellor has to resign first,” argued Baryamureeba.

 

The stalemate was only resolved when the search committee decided not to consider the public presentations even after Baryamureeba had presented. This, coupled with various behind-the-scenes politicking, has compelled academic critics to propose an amendment of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act so that vice-chancellors are directly appointed by the President instead of using the university structures. 

 

Indeed, before the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act came into force in 2004, Makerere’s vice-chancellors were appointed by the president. And, it is believed that there was not as much infighting as it is today. No wonder, even Baryamureeba told a press conference at the University Council room before the exercise formally kicked off, that there was need to change the search process. 

 

“There’s a lot of politicking going on within the university. I think in future we shall have to devise ways of changing the way vice-chancellors are appointed,” Baryamureeba said. At the time he was in stiff conflict with Prof. Katunguka. 

 

Proponents of this argument maintain that a directly appointed vice-chancellor would command respect since professors and other university staff would be aware that opposing him would not yield much. However, Bernard Luyiga, a member of the University Council, says that amending the law to allow the President to appoint vice-chancellors would instead worsen divisive politics and retard academic standards in public universities.

 

“Academic institutions need to be independent. A university has structures like the Senate, and council which the vice-chancellor must listen to,” says Luyiga. 

 

“If one is appointed by the President, he will instead be taking directives from his master, the President. This can only promote the President’s political interest, but will be disastrous to the quality of education.”

 

Odoi also believes that the current system ought to be perfected rather than reverting to direct presidential appointments. 

“You cannot change the system just because one mistake was made. Even the presidential and parliamentary elections have had problems. How come they haven’t been changed?” Odoi asked.  

 

The 56-year-old Nawangwe is an associate professor of architecture and currently the acting principal, College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT). 

 

This old boy of Busoga College Mwiri has acted on several occasions as Makerere’s deputy vice-chancellor for academic affairs. He was the Dean, Faculty of Technology (2003-2010) and Head of the Department of Architecture from its inception in 1989 to 2002. In fact, it was Nawangwe who spearheaded the commencement of the Bachelor of Architecture course at Makerere and worked hard for its accreditation by the Commonwealth Association of Architects in 1999. 

 

He has chaired several University committees, including the University Research, Administrative and Financial Reforms Committee. Nawangwe holds an M.Sc. and PhD in Architecture, from Kiev Institute of Building Technology, Ukraine. 

 

He is currently an external examiner at Nairobi University, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and Oslo School of Architecture. He is also the chairman of the Architects Registration Board and a past president of the Uganda Society of Architects.

The 59-year-old professor of economics remains in the race as the lead contender. Ddumba-Ssentamu is not a new face in this race, having contested against Baryamureeba in 2009. 

 

He has, on several occasions, acted as the deputy vice-chancellor for finance and administration, besides being one of the longest serving deans (now principals) at the university. 

 

He has been a member of the University Senate, the institution’s chief academic organ, for over two decades. He has been the head of the economics college since 1998 when it was still a department and has seen it grow into an institute, faculty and now, a fully-fledged college. 

 

Besides the overall transformation of the faculty/college, he is recognised for fighting duplication of courses, insisting that the practice would churn out half-baked graduates, who are neither critical thinkers nor problem-solvers. 

 

Ddumba-Ssentamu went to Savio Junior School and St. Mary’s College Kisubi before joining Makerere University where he graduated in 1977 with a degree in Bachelor of arts in economics. In 1979, he acquired a master’s degree in economics from the University of Waterloo in Canada, before doing a PhD, still in economics, at Makerere University. 

 

In his career as a lecturer, which spans 35 years, Ddumba has supervised over 80 dissertations, including PhD and masters and has about 30 publications to his name. 

 

As chairman of Centenary Bank for over 10 years, he is credited for seeing the growth of a hitherto microfinance institution into the fourth best performing commercial bank in the country.

 

Over the years, Ddumba-Ssentamu has also served at the University of Waterloo, Canada; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; University of Legon in Ghana, University of Swaziland; Nkwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; and University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; either as external examiner, part-time lecturer or external vetter for staff promotions. He has consulted for various UN agencies. 

 

 

 

Prof. Yusuf Lule Kironde (1964 -1970)

 

Frank Kalimuzo (1970 –1973)

 

Prof. Asavia Wandira (1973 –1975, 1979 – 1986)

 

Prof. Senteza Kajubi (1977 –1979, 1990 – 1993)

 

Prof. Barnabas George Kirya, (1986 – 1990) 

 

Prof. John Ssebuwufu (1993 – 2004)

 

Prof. Livingstone Luboobi (2004 – 2009)

 

Prof. Venasius Baryamureeba (2009 – todate)

 

Before it became a university, Makerere was a college led by five principals. Yusuf Lule was the last principal and first vice-chancellor. Other principals include:

 

Mr H.O Saville (1922 – 1924)

 

Mr D.G. Tomblings (1924 – 1939)

 

Mr G. C Turner (1939 – 1946)

 

Dr W.D Lamont (1947 – 1949)