Foreign students pursuing studies at Makerere University have been told to seek shelter at their respective embassies following the closure of the varsity.
Yesterday President Yoweri Museveni ordered Makerere closed as a lecturers and students strike went into its second day, with the former refusing to teach before being paid their arrears, while the latter complained about not being taught.
As a result, this morning the Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura rushed to Makerere University to oversee the operation to have all students including those from other countries leave the campus immediately. But according to the lecturers, they will not go back to class before being paid their arrears, collectively amounting to over 32 billion shillings.
By press time it was not possible to know the exact number of foreign students at Makerere but a source at the university estimated them in the hundreds. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was ‘unfortunate they are just being told to go to their respective embassies’.
“These (foreign students) come here after paying their dues; it is unfortunate to just send them away like that,” the source said, adding that for each foreign student to be admitted to pursue a course at Makerere, one is required to pay an initial registration fee of US$75 (Shs172.000)
It was also not possible to establish whether the embassies of the affected foreign students had been notified, and the financial implications it would have on their budgets.
