How drug dealers operate in plain sight at universities
Our reporter (right) receives drugs from a drug dealer, only identified as Emma, outside a hostel near Mubs on April 20, 2023. PHOTO | ISAAC KASAMANI
What you need to know:
- Our reporter goes undercover in the third part of our series to uncover how students access drugs, who supplies them, and where transactions take place. In this segment, she recounts a delivery made in person by a dealer trying to upsell his products.
I picked my second drug package on Thursday April 20, 2023. I had earlier gone silent for a while after picking the first delivery. After what seemed like a good time period, I asked Emma if he could lay hands on some items on a list I shared with him. He said he could get them. I gave him a little time to put together the prices. His customers, he said, usually asked for cookies, cupcakes and tobacco.
This time I had given him a long list. I texted him on Wednesday, April 20 2023, at about 7pm and asked if I could pick my orders the next day. He said he could make it possible. Because it felt strange to order just one cookie, I told him I had never tried the cookies so I wanted to first know what it tastes like. He asked if it was cookies that I wanted or cupcakes. I didn’t know there were cupcakes too and told him I would love to try them out. He then recommended the cupcakes instead of cookies. He said they work the same way. I insisted I wanted to try the cookies too so he said it was okay but that he had to pick them from someone in Ntinda.
Because I was his client, he said he would give me the cupcakes at Shs5,000 each. The other drugs (meth and mushrooms) were coming from Munyonyo so he was finding a way to have them delivered. He said he would try and find the cookies around Makerere University Business School (Mubs) so that we wouldn’t have to get them all the way from Ntinda. I asked if by 3pm it would all be ready and he agreed. My photographer and I agreed on 2pm as the arrival time at Mubs, where the transaction was going to take place, so we could find a good spot. We were lucky there was an event at Mubs; a couple of girls were at what seemed to be a modelling contest. I gave Emma a phone call and asked him to bring my package to the campus. He asked that I go to the Valley Courts Hostel instead. I asked for directions. Since I was not very familiar with the place, he said I could take a boda and that the said hostel was not very far from the campus’ main gate. I asked if I should carry an identity card to enter the said space and he said it was a requirement.
I told him I did not have any and he said he could bring the package to me at the gate. Luckily, my photographer had a clue about this location, so we walked to Valley Courts Hostel. I called Emma and he came down the stairs with a white polythene bag. He could not get the cookies on time and promised to deliver them himself. I was supposed to pay Shs10,000 for the drugs I had just picked – the weed cupcakes and mijaj. I did not have a Shs10,000 note and so I pulled out one of Shs50,000. He did not have change so I asked that I buy a drink. We walked to a supermarket near the hostel and I bought a bottle of Minute Maid. After getting the change I needed, I paid him and left.
What university, student leaders say
Bruno Kamoga, former guild president at Makerere University Business School:
“Drugs are sold by fellow students who get them from ghettos around Kampala, such as Kamwokya and Kawempe. Most of the transactions happen in hostels. Hostel authorities are aware—weed smells in corridors—but it’s difficult for them to intervene. They run private businesses and their focus is on collecting rent, not policing tenants. While schools try to work with hostel owners, they are limited because hostels are privately owned.”
Susan Badagawa, counselling psychologist at Makerere University Business School:
“Drug abuse is rampant, though students rarely come forward about it. We get to know through hostel wardens who sometimes call us to help with heavily addicted students. Some even hide in hostels after paying tuition, avoiding class because addiction has consumed them. Few students willingly seek help—there’s a lot of fear and stigma.”
Bruce Ahikiire, former Guild Speaker, Kyambogo University:
“Drug abuse at universities is alarmingly high. Most users come from well-off families because the drugs are expensive and not easily affordable to the average student. These are kids who were strictly monitored at home. Once in hostels, the freedom pushes them to explore everything—including drugs. ‘‘Peer pressure plays a major role. Friends influence each other, and what begins as experimentation quickly becomes a habit. Drug use is mostly confined to hostels—rarely in halls of residence. Some also indulge during outings and at nightclubs.”
