Tears as Makerere evicts over 300 businesses
Some of the business owners looking stranded after being evicted from the university on Friday. Photo | Dorothy Nagitta
What you need to know:
- Mr Julius Gumisiriza, the chairperson of Makerere University Business Owners Association, said the university did not inform them about the eviction exercise.
More than 300 business owners inside Makerere were left in tears on Friday after the university commenced the eviction process.
The affected businesses include; restaurants, shops selling snacks and beverages and stationery shops offering printing and photocopying services, among others.
Mr Julius Gumisiriza, the chairperson of Makerere University Business Owners Association, said the university did not inform them about the eviction exercise.
“I am wondering why they have done this because they have not put any alternatives for the students to get the services we have been offering them. There will be a very big vacuum,” he told the Monitor.
He added: “They were 338 businesses employing many individuals. This means that their livelihood and those of their dependents will be so much affected.”
Mr Gumisiriza noted that before the eviction, they had already made an appeal in the court but the university did not wait for the final decision.
Chaos
Chaos erupted as students demanded answers from the administration as to why they had evicted their affordable service providers without providing an alternative for them.
Ms Mariat Namiiro, the institution’s vice guild president said: “It’s us to suffer now because these people have been providing affordable service to students. We wrote to the administration seeking answers, but in vain.”
Efforts to reach out to the Vice Chancellor for a comment were futile since his known telephone contact was unavailable by press time, 4pm.
In the same way, Prof Henry Arinaitwe, the deputy vice chancellor in charge of finance and administration did not respond to our repeated calls.
Background
The university’s efforts to evict illegal businesses operating in different halls of residence and colleges started in July 2022 when the management issued eviction notices.
In August the same year, the court issued an interim order stopping the university from evicting business owners until their case was resolved.
Later the business owners lost the case, giving the university a go-ahead with their planned eviction exercise this year.
