KAMPALA – A section of Makerere University students have petitioned the University Guild Tribunal over the 15 percent tuition increment, saying University Council approved it without thoroughly consulting all stakeholders.
The group, who addressed a press conference at the university main campus on Wednesday, said the current Guild leadership who formed the seven-member ad-hoc committee did not right procedures enshrined in the guild constitution on consultations.
“The committee just smuggled the report to the university council assuring council how they had consulted the students who are the most affected but in reality, no one was consulted since all of us were in holidays,” said Mr William Mukisa, one of the students.
He argued that the guild committee was supposed to return the report for discussion before guild council representatives before forwarding it to management.
He argued that the fees policy, which will see 15% increment per year over a five-year-old will make education expensive yet the university is a public institution.
Mr Kateregga Julius, another student, said that should the tribunal fail to handle their issues amicably, or rule in favour of the guild within in one week, they will petition the High Court.
The chairperson of the guild tribunal, Mr Gullam Hussein, acknowledged receipt of the petition.
“We have received the petition, and we have started issuing summons to everybody who has been named as a defendant. Each one of them has four days to respond and we shall call for a rescheduling meeting before setting the hearing date,” Mr Gullam said.
Since the Makerere University Council approved the tuition increment policy in July, it has received a lot of resistance. A number of students who tried to protest the increment have since been suspended from the university.
The Makerere University Vice-Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, in April suspended the proposed increment of 45 per cent and 91 per cent pending consultations with the students’ leadership following two days of demonstration by students protesting the move.
A committee of seven students from the Guild Representative Council was formed to study the council proposals and make own recommendations. After two months, the committee proposed 15 per cent increment but only for the new students.
