Minister slams Muni University for graduating only 143 students

The minister of state for Primary education, Dr Joyce Moriku Kaducu has slammed Muni University authorities for passing out fewer graduates at its sixth graduation ceremony.
The public multi-campus university started in 2013 has about 110 members of academic staff.

Dr Moriku was speaking Saturday at the University during the 6th graduation of the University where 143 students graduated from seven programs.
“Aware and I have noted the staff establishment is supposed to be 1,268. However, you currently have 246 out of which 110 are academic staff. But when I see in this graduation ceremony, we have all come to witness a total of 143 granduands. Mr Chancellor, I walk with my head down, when I see the proportion of academic staff and I see a ratio of students graduating today. As a former academic staff, I do not think that we are maximizing the resources that are at hand properly”, Dr Moriku stated during the university’s graduation ceremony on Saturday.

She continued: “I’m not going to mince my words as a daughter of the soil. We cried for this University, we lamented for this university and we blamed government left and right for this university. Today, we are in the sixth graduation ceremony and witnessing only 100 graduating!”
Dr Moriku said she earlier attended a graduation ceremony at Gulu University which was established earlier than Muni but it had more than 1,000 students graduating.

“This is something that we must reflect upon. The university is here, look at the infrastructure, look at the investment the government has put here but we are crying that our government is not providing the investment and yet we are just passing out a handful of 100 as if it’s coming from a nursery school”, Dr Moriku said.

During the function, the university’s second vice chancellor, Prof Simon Anguma Katrini was  installed to replace the founding vice chancellor, Prof Christine Dranzoa who died in June 2022.
But in a media engagement prior to the graduation, Prof Anguma had said the number of graduands had been growing since their first graduation ceremony held in 2018. 
According to him, because the university was majorly offering techno science courses, few students, especially from the region were enrolling.  

He said the number of graduates would grow the following year since students from 30 programmes who were admitted two years ago would be graduating.
The graduation ceremony was presided over by the Muni University Chancellor, former Archbishop of Church of Uganda, Luke Henry Orombi who urged the graduates to be more ambitious in their academic pursuit.
Mr William Mugisha, the overall best student with a CGPA of 4.65 said he was looking forward to upgrading.