Makerere University Joint Staff Associations have taken strong exception to the Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas nawangwe’s decision to suspend all the activities of the Dean’s Forum.
In a letter dated 29th May, 2024 to the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Nawangwe noted that he received complaints regarding the legality of the Dean’s Forum and ordered for indefinite suspension of the forum’s activities.
“I have received complaints regarding the legality of the Deans Forum. Pending resolution of the legality of this forum, all activities of the forum are hereby suspended,” read Nawangwe’s letter.
However, the Joint Staff Associations challenged Nawangwe’s orders and noted that the forum’s overall aim is to promote academic excellence through collective action, capacity building and hannessing each other’s capabilities, experiences and the best practices.
“The Deans Forum is one of the hundreds of the informal associations at Makerere University. These associations, which contribute greatly to the University’s vision, are rightly protected by Article 29 of the Constitution of Uganda. The Constitution of Uganda (1995) as amended does not cloth you with any powers to deny Article 29, and you must not treat the Deans Forum differently from similar associations like Makerere’s Academic Leaders’ Forum and Professors’ Forum of which you are a member,” read part of Joints Staff Associations letter.
“To contribute to the University’s work and to realize their full potential, staff and students depend on assurance that exercising their freedom of association, conscience shall not lead them to conflict with management. Yet your suspension of the Deans forum, recent stance on examination L1210 from the school of Law inevitably deprives the staff and students of this assurance. Moreover, such actions even if eventually vacated leave indelible scars of self-censorship, to the detriment of staffs’ and students’ productivity. Moreover, even if many suspensions by you were found inappropriate and annulled by the Appoints Board., staff Tribunal and High Court, these suspensions left indelible dents on the University’s image. The Association added in the letter.
In the letter, the association further stated that although academic staff invariably expect and accept scrutiny of their work and are accountable as is by law required, they are synchronously entitled to due process, including resumption of innocence.
“Hence, it is unconscionable that you elected to purport to suspend a forum of such noble membership and aspirations over mere complaints by people that you did not specify and which have not been investigated let alone substantiated,” the Association noted.
The Joints Staff Associations letter further guided that the suspension of the deans Forum, if at all, should have followed investigations and not the other way round. Adding, “You (Nawangwe) should also have been legally vested with the powers to suspend the Forum. Otherwise, you appear to be using verification of the legality of the Deans Forum as a pretext for committing illegalities. This casts the University in a bad light.”
The Association purposely demanded Nawangwe to rescind his impugned suspension of the Dean’s Forums.
“We demand you to refrain from attitudes and actions that are prejudicial to the fundamental human rights and academic freedoms of members of the Makerere University. This will give the community confidence that you, and others in the University’s management, will not illegally constrain and violate their inherent human rights and academic freedom. Alternatively, members of the University community will be forced to appeal to other human rights protectors,” guided in the letter.
