Yusuf Kiranda, the Makerere University Secretary has protested government’s decision to implement Shs25.9 billion budget cuts on the institution’s budget, saying the decision is likely to affect the quality of services the University will offer in 2024/25.
Kiranda made the remarks while interfacing with MPs on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at the University premises, where he appealed to MPs to ensure that the decision is reversed because most of the items whose budget was reduced are those directly consumed by students.
His remarks were ahead of discussions on the December 2023 Auditor General’s report on Makerere University.
“Part of the funding for which the budget was cut was for services for which students pay tuition or functional fees like; graduation, internship, industrial training and when the money is cut, it means we will not be able to give our students value for money for the fees they pay to us. But it is also affecting other activities including utility bills like water, electricity and internet. Unless these budget cuts are addressed, and reversed, we can no longer guarantee high quality training for which Makerere University is known for,” said Kiranda.
Kiranda warned that if the decision on budget cuts is not reversed, the subsequent audits may report underperformance on the side of Makerere University due to having a significant part of the University’s budget taken away noting, “I am not aware of any other public University that has suffered budget cuts as Makerere University.”
In 2023/24 Makerere University was allocated Shs372.186 billion but, the University’s budget is expected to drop to Shs353.99 billion in 2024/25 of which, Wages will cost Shs208.970 billion, non-wage She129.642 billion, while the Development budget is to a tune of Shs15.372 billion.
