Open Makerere probe to public - Kanyeihamba
Prof George Kanyeihamba. PHOTO BY E. AINEBYOONA
KAMPALA- Prof George Wilson Kanyeihamba wants the probe proceedings into the Makerere University crisis by the visitation committee to be made public.
The nine-member visitation committee headed by Dr Abel Rwendeire was appointed by President Museveni on November 14 to probe the crisis, which led to the closure of Makerere University on November 1.
The proceedings of the committee have been held as closed-door meetings to both the media and public, a move Prof Kanyeihamba said is wrong.
“I had hoped and thought that the proceedings to the visitation were going to be made public.
Members of the media should be reporting because this is a public matter where we should know who is giving evidence to the visitation committee and what evidence,” said the former Justice of the Supreme Court.
“I didn’t advise them but I think they should open the proceedings to members of the public and the journalists. I don’t know why they are closed shop,” he added.
Prof Kanyeihamba said he had been consulted by the visitation committee.
“I gave three hours of intellectual in-put to the visitation committee but one of the views I told them and they appreciated is that the President is a visitor to Makerere and according to the Universities and Tertiary Institutions Act, he is a visitor to all public universities but he is not “a manager of universities.”
He added that section 40 of the Act vests the power of managing into the university council.
“If there is anything to suspend the university, it should be done by the University Council because it is the supreme governing body. The President as a visitor can only make suggestions,” he said. “The President’s role is to supervise and guide universities but he has no executive powers to take a decision like he was ill-advised to take.”
He observed that the President is not in the wrong but rather the University Council and management who should have resisted closure.
Makerere University is expected to open early next week.
Prof Kanyeihamba was speaking at the launch of his new book titled: Unmitigated Humour and Wise Cracks of All Seasons last Friday in Kampala.
The book
The former Attorney General and Justice Minister said he was inspired by the boredom in law and injustice in Uganda to author the humorous book.
Published by Panamaline Books Distributors Ltd, a copy can be obtained from major bookshops at Shs20, 000.
Prof Kanyeihamba, who is Sunday Monitor’s columnist, also observed that he will be publishing two additional books next year. His first work entitled, “Constitutional and Administrative Law,” was published in late 1960s when he was a young man.
Criticising Uganda Law Society
Prof Kanyeihamba, who takes pride in being one of the founders of Makerere University Law Department together with the late Prof Joseph Kakooza, castigated the Uganda Law Society for undermining his contribution to the legal fraternity in the country when they didn’t invite him to a dinner recently.
“It’s a shame in this country that we neither acknowledge the contribution of our public servants nor do we have any procedure to recognise their contribution in a permanent way by document or instrument,” he said.
“This is what most African countries do, failing to recognise someone who has contributed towards the building of this nation. It is a curse for many African countries. You only recognise those who are either compliant with what authoritarian regimes do or who don’t raise a finger of criticism against wrong doing,” Prof Kanyeihamba said.
