Baryamureeba protests Nawangwe’s election as Makerere VC

Former presidential candidate Prof Venansius Baryamureeba

What you need to know:

According to a member of the Makerere University Council, Prof Nawangwe garnered 16 votes followed by Professor Baryamureeba with four votes and Professor Edward Kasujja Kirumira with two.

Former presidential candidate Prof Venansius Baryamureeba has protested the election of Professor Barnabas Nawangwe as the new vice chancellor of Makerere University.
Professor Baryamureeba, a former Makerere university vice chancellor, who was also among the four contestants for the new VC claims that he has overwhelming evidence to show that the search committee report that was used as a basis for the Senate and council decisions to have Prof Nawnagwe as Vice Chancellor elect is a total sham.

“As one of the candidates who participated in the search process for the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, I have overwhelming evidence to show that search committee report that was used as a basis for the Senate and council decisions to have Professor Barnabas Nawnagwe as Vice Chancellor elect is a total sham. I therefore shall never recognise Prof. Nawangwe as Vice Chancellor elect and later as Vice Chancellor of Makerere University,” he said.
Makerere University Council on Thursday (June 29) voted Professor Nawangwe to become the new Makerere University Vice Chancellor (VC).

According to a member of the Makerere University Council, Prof Nawangwe garnered 16 votes followed by Professor Baryamureeba with four votes and Professor Edward Kasujja Kirumira with two.
The name of Professor Nawangwe will be forwarded to the University Chancellor, Dr Ezra Suruma for endorsement.
Professor Baryamureeba wants the visitation committee to Makerere University and government to investigate the matter “for the good of Makerere University.”

“The main architect of this scam outside the search committee has been Honourable Thomas Tayebwa, a member of Council with vested personal interests in Makerere University who has been misusing the name of the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports to misinform members of the search committee, council and other stakeholders of Makerere University,” he said.

Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. Photo by Alex Esagala


When contacted, Mr Tayeebwa who also doubles as a member of the university council dismissed the allegations asserting that when Prof approached him for his vote, he told him that he could not vote him because he opted out of the university while his fellow contenders stayed serving the university.
Mr Tayeebwa told this reporter he could not give Prof Baryamureeba his vote because during the presidential campaign, he said he regretted working for Makerere University and he could not trust with managing the university.

“I do not know why Baryamureeba is attacking me out of all the council members. Maybe it’s because I told him point blank that I could not vote him because of the above. I remember he left Makerere and started his own university so I could not vote him back since there was going to be conflict of interest between his university and Makerere,”Mr Tayeebwa said.
He also refuted claims that the First lady was involved in the process arguing that council members were left to act independently so Prof Baryamureeba should concede defeat and move on, although he welcome in the university just like other professors.

Earlier, Prof Nawangwe, the University Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and administration, had scored higher than two other candidates in the evaluation of the VC search committee.
He posted 77 per cent, followed by Prof Kirumira, the principal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who racked up 70 per cent in the race for vice chancellor.
The other contender and former Makerere University VC, Prof Baryamureeba, came third, tallying 64 per cent in the three-man race.

The scores, according to Ms Irene Ovonji-Odida, who headed the VC search committee, were tallied from a review of the candidates’ academic documents, face-to-face interviews and public presentation.
The scores were contained in a report presented to members of the University Senate on Wednesday by the five-member search committee.

Makerere University Council on March 9 constituted the five-member committee to undertake the hunt for the next VC who is expected to be named by July.
The slot was subsequently advertised on April 13 ahead of the expiry on August 31, of the tenure of Prof Ddumba, the institution’s current chief executive.
Under the University and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001, a vice chancellor of a public university shall run the day-to-day affairs of the institution and be responsible for its administration, academic and financial matters.