The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Makerere University staff appeals tribunal has dismissed an appeal by Joyce Namusoke, the former assistant registrar in the school of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences dismissed for allegedly altering marks.
Delivering the ruling, George Omunyokol, the Tribunal Chairperson said all evidence adduced during the appeal process convincingly found Namusoke guilty of the unprofessional conduct.
“The orders are as follows; the appeal is dismissed, number two; the decision of the Appointments Board to dismiss the Appellant from the university service with immediate effect is upheld and there will no order as to costs,” Omunyokol said while reading out the order.
After the ruling, Namusoke broke down in tears. Saulo Kikomeko, his lawyer led Namusoke out of the courtroom.
Namusoke was dismissed in 2017 following complaints by the academic staff that she had aided and smuggled 22 undergraduates and 12 master’s degree students from the School of Forestry onto the 2017 graduation list.
The red flag initially raised by Prof. Mason Tweheyo, the former Dean of the Forestry school who insisted that the students had not fulfilled requirements for award of degrees. The pressures yielded when students were deleted from the graduation list.
The university management was compelled to sack Namusoke, a decision she appealed against in the tribunal.
During the hearing, Professors Bernard Bashaasha, Fred Babwetera and Philip Nyeko from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences – CAES each re-affirmed their positions pinning Namusoke citing that she altered marks for students in the Results Management System – RMS of the University.
The tribunal also received a testimony from Edward Obura Peace-Onep, the College Registrar and Namusoke’s immediate supervisor who disclosed that using her user rights on the system altered marks for many students.
He indicated that the printouts of logs in the system showed her name very clearly making illegal entries.
In his testimony, Obura also told the Tribunal that Namusoke had officially accepted the responsibility and apologized during one of the emergency meetings summoned by the then School of Forestry Dean, Prof. Mason Tweheyo.
Henry Mwebe, the university’s Legal Director had asked the tribunal to uphold the decision of the Appointments Board to dismiss Namusoke.
Kikomeko had asked the tribunal to quash the decision to dismiss his client and re-instate her and be paid all the money she would have earned in salary and allowances for the two years she has spent out of university service.
Kikomeko blamed Namusoke’s faults on the software procured by the university and negligence by the university officials in the IT section to support her through the challenges the system was exhibiting as a result of the software.
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