KAMPALA – Makerere University has said it will investigate circumstances under which gowns to be used at next week’s 70th graduation ceremony were imported by the supplier from China.
The decision to import the gowns has been largely criticised by Ugandans but the Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, yesterday said that they do not know why the contractor, Team Uniforms limited, chose to import gowns from China.
“Makerere has not imported gowns from china. The suppliers is the one who is importing gowns. For us, we just receive the gowns when they are ready. How and where he makes them from is not our problem provided he make them to the standard and specification we have given him,” Prof Nawangwe said in an interview on Thursday, January 09, 2020.
“As a government institution, we are disappointed that his action is not supporting BUBU policy because we know that there are enough people in this country that can make those gowns on time so it is not our wish that the gowns are coming from China,” he added
He said that it is not their making that the gowns delayed, because according to the contract with the supplier, he (Supplier) is supposed to deliver gowns before he supplies.
Prof Nawangwe said that the University management will investigate the matter.
“The University council is going to handle all these issues of why the gowns were imported from china, and why the contractor delayed to deliver. He still has to supply us for more two years, so these issues must not be repeated again,” Prof Nawangwe said.
The university management has confirmed that the first batch of 7000 gowns out of the required 13,5000 had been flown into the country from China.
The deputy Vice Chancellor Academic affairs, Prof Umar Kakumba, said they have already given the supplier about 300 million to supply all the gowns and the balance paid later.
