Makerere Fire is deliberate (By Patricia Ssewungu)
For starters, we all know how the First family deployed their cadre, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe to occupy the position of Vice Chancellor having frustrated DP’s Prof. Ddumba Ssentamu, a staunch Catholic Muganda who always contested and strongly opposed the regime’s plan to destroy Makerere University. Nawangwe’s (Formerly Deputy Vice Chancellor) strategy to taint Ddumba was through funding student strikes in a bid to catalyze his exit from that seat. His dream finally came true in 2017 when he ascended to the office of the VC. He became Makerere’s first VC to have the president (Museveni) as guest of honor and in fact throughout his tenure, Makerere’s graduation ceremonies unlike in the past have also been attended by Museveni or his wife Janet but that debate will be for another day, in this case it’s a preamble.
SEE ALSO: Makerere Fire: Some top university administrators must resign
Janet and Museveni who are both rejects at Makerere are heavily envious of this institution which despite of all their blood filled riches and fame, it declined to offer them academic space. Sources say that Nawangwe’s mission was to totally destroy Makerere on behalf of the first family and this was to be achieved through increasing tuition by 15% cumulatively despite the fact the institution is a public one and hence supposed to offer free and affordable education. The tuition hike would later see students failing to afford education at Makerere and hence run to privately owned institutions run by Museveni and his government officials. As the Museveni dynasty looks towards its exit, it has embarked on a destruction mission by totally failing institutions that existed in all past regimes. This fire is said to have been planned by Nawangwe and his men who were under a probe over the missing UGX 8 billion ($2.5 m) roughly. Nawangwe who is a Museveni agent has never studied at Makerere which is why he doesn’t mind being the messenger of this destruction mission. Museveni wants Makerere to lose its glory and be outshined by his own kindergarten universities. Look and weigh in on the Janet Kataaha’s fire aftermath remarks, you’ll bear with me that this is deliberate and not coincidental as widely believed. Why does she say that this fire is a chance to rebuild Makerere and why does Nawangwe go ahead to say the building will be reset and refurbished?
Nawangwe’s UGX 8b scandal
A section of MPs led by Mwiine Mpaka are demanding for an investigation into a deal that saw Makerere allegedly lose up to shs 8 billions.
In 2010, work at uganda’s most prominent university was paralysed for weeks after a standoff over sh. 16.7 billion top up allowance between Makerere teaching staff and the national insurance company (NIC).
For long the NIC was the custodian of the makerere staff provident fund. After the disagreement, Makerere agreed to set up its internal fund.
Now, MPs led by Mwiine Mpaka have unearthed documents saying the process of this disagreement was riddled with irregularities.
They claimed that NAWANGWE and other university officials signed an out of court settlement with NIC without consulting the gov’t attorney general. This led to a loss of sh. 8 billions.
Mpaka said; “I have 3 documents with me showing that the vice chancellor NAWANGWE tasked the University secretary Charles Barugahare to sign on the consent judgment without further delay between MUK and NIC before the end of this year”.
The MP told journalists that they want a select committee of parliament be instituted to investigate how the University and NIC resolved the sh. 16.7 billion lecturers top up allowances saga yet the gov’t had borrowed the said monies from the consolidated fund to cool down the impasse.
Mps also claimed that as part of the deal, the University exchanged one of its properties for only 8.7 billion.
