Sanity restored at Makerere University

Normalcy at Makerere University has been reinstated after Makerere University Staff Association (MUASA) reached an agreement last week to abandon their industrial action.

This was possible after the University council promised to expeditiously handle their grievances within an agreed period of one month.

Lecturers should have been energised by the commitment of the council because it was evident on how things turned out at Makerere.

It was a bee hive of activity with students moving from one lecture to the other while lecturers eagerly executed their teaching role.

Even the School of law that had never conducted any lecture from the beginning of the semester, lectures moved on harmoniously and students were relived of the long wait.

The atmosphere was tranquil since the heavy military presence in the University was no more apart from a few officers at the gates of the university.

Dr. Muhammad Kiggundu the manager of communications and public relations at the university said he was glad that the University was running smoothly after four weeks of turmoil.

Kiggundu said he believes council will handle all issues MUASA tabled lawfully and all the suspended staff will have a fair hearing from the council.

"The interest of the council is to see sanity in the University and people working as a team with prudence," said Kiggundu

About the extension of the semester Kiggundu said the council will be guided by the senate about the possibility of extending the semester and the University will issue a statement about the resolution.

The Deputy Principal of School of law Dr. Ronald Naluwairo was happy to see sanity restored at the Ivory tower.

"it's a good feeling for normalcy to prevail at the university because no responsible academic enjoys seeing students not learning especially when issues at play are none of their making," he said

"Students have lost a lot of time and if the university management thinks of compensating students by extending the semester it will be the most reasonable thing to do," Naluwairo added

Naluwairo hopes that the council handles the lecturers' grievances justly by following the law and procedures so that the outcomes may be accepted.

 Victoria Nyinamastiko a fourth year student of law said it was amazing that they had resumed their lectures after a very long time.

Nyinamastiko believes lecturers will work around the remaining time to cover everything that they ought to have covered from the beginning of the semester.

The Guild Representative to Council for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Danton Nuwampagira said the situation was perfect for students because they were having all their lectures.

"I have moved around all lecture rooms and personally talked to students and they tell me they have lectures. I believe we shall have all lectures this week," he added

About Guild Election Suspension

Last week the Vice Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe suspended guild elections until there was normalcy at the University.

He claimed that most colleges were not functional since lecturers were still absconding from their responsibility.

However Kiggundu said the issue will be looked into since the situation at the University had normalized.