Makerere University vice chancellor candidates to make public presentations

KAMPALA.

The search for the next Makerere University vice chancellor goes a notch higher tomorrow with public presentation by three candidates shortlisted by the search committee.

The public pitch takes place at the university’s Main Hall where the candidates will lay out their vision and strategies to deliver them for the country’s oldest and largest university.

Ms Irene Ovonji-Odida, the search committee chairperson, last week named the three candidates as Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the current deputy vice chancellor for Finance and Administration; Prof Venansius Baryamureeba, the former VC and presidential candidate in the 2016 race; and Prof Edward Kasujja Kirumira, the current principal of College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Ms Ovonji-Odida told Daily Monitor that the committee has so far completed the review of the candidates’ academic documents, and conducting face-to-face interviews.

“We have three phases [of vetting] and we’ve already completed two. The first phase was related to grading of applications and the papers each candidate had submitted, and we’ve also conducted interviews in the second phase,” Ms Ovonji-Odida said.

“What we do after this is, we shall put together all the different scores for each phase and we shall total them up and make recommendation to senate on which candidate we think is the best,” Ms Ovonji-Odida said.

The vacancy for Makerere’s top administrative post was advertised on April 13 ahead of the expiry on August 31, of the tenure of Prof John Ddumba Sentamu, the institution’s current chief executive.

Under the University and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001, a vice chancellor of a public university runs the day-to-day affairs of the institution and is responsible for its administration, academic and financial matters.