Makerere appoints Prof. Buyinza as acting Deputy Vice Chancellor

KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEEPENDENT | Makerere University has appointed Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi as the acting Deputy Vice Chancellor in Charge of Academic Affairs (DVCAA).

According to an internal memo obtained by URN, Prof. Buyinza, who has been serving as the University’s Academic Registrar, will take on this role for a period of six months, effective July 11, 2024, to January 2025, or until a permanent Deputy Vice-Chancellor is appointed.

“This is to inform you that Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi has been appointed Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) of Makerere University, for a period of six months effective…or until a substantive First Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) is appointed whichever comes earlier,” reads part of the memo shared by the University public relations officer Ritah Namisango.

Buyinza’s appointment comes seven months after the end of Prof. Umar Kakumba’s term of office in November last year, during which Kakumba continued to serve in an acting capacity for six additional months.

Prof. Kakumba was initially appointed as Makerere University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2018 alongside Professor William Bazeyo, who was named the second Deputy Vice-Chancellor in Charge of Finance and Administration (DVC F&A).

However, Bazeyo’s appointment was later nullified by the court. Since Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe became the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University in 2017, leaving the DVC F&A position vacant, the university has faced significant challenges in maintaining a fully constituted top management team.

According to the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001, the University’s supreme governing law requires that both Deputy Vice Chancellor positions must be filled to support the Vice Chancellor.

But, for nearly nine years, these critical positions have rarely been occupied by permanent individuals.

Bazeyo had been serving as acting Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. At the same time, Kakumba was the Dean of the School of Business in the College of Business and Management Sciences.

However, Prof. Mugisha, whom Bazeyo defeated, challenged Bazeyo’s appointment in court citing irregularities in the selection process. He argued that the search committee exceeded its mandate by recommending only Bazeyo to the University Council, the appointing authority.

In June 2019, Justice Musa Sekaana nullified Bazeyo’s appointment, but the University reappointed him as acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor shortly thereafter.

In October 2020, Bazeyo resigned his acting role and withdrew from the fresh race for the same position amid questions about his academic credentials. Subsequently, Dr Josephine Nabukenya was appointed in an acting capacity for nearly a year before being replaced by Prof. Henry Alinaitwe.

Last month, URN reported that the Senate’s search committee had completed its search and selection process.

Anthony Mugisha, a Veterinary Sciences and Socioeconomics professor, emerged as the top candidate for the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance and Administration.

The committee however submitted two names for consideration by the University Council: Prof. Henry Arinaitwe, who came in second, and Prof. Mugisha, who was the leading candidate, and awaits Council decision.

However, even when the Council makes a final decision, it has to send one name of the successful candidate to the appointing Authority.

The said authority is the Chancellor, a position that is also vacant, meaning that no appointment of any deputy vice-chancellor can happen.

Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the University Vice when contacted earlier for a comment on the fate of the Chancellor position, said names had been sent to the president who is the appointing authority to make a final decision. “The position of Chancellor is a Council matter. Nominations have been sent to the Visitor who will make the appointment,” Nawangwe recently told URN.

While the position of the second Deputy Vice-Chancellor has faced significant challenges, recent developments suggest that the first Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs is now experiencing similar instability.

Reliable sources revealed to URN that there have been efforts to block Prof. Kakumba’s bid for a second term due to conflicts with certain members of the top management at the university.

Since his term expired, the University has not advertised the vacant position, instead appointing him as acting until he was ultimately removed from office.

Last month, reports emerged that Kakumba had been suddenly removed from several of the university’s top management WhatsApp groups, raising numerous questions among the University staff.

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URN