President Yoweri Museveni has Tuesday afternoon ordered an indefinite closure of Makerere University.
The president, evoking constitutional powers under Section 26 (2) of the Universities and Tertiary Institutions Act (2001) made the unprecedented directive on Thursday evening.
In the short directive publicized through his social media avenues and State House, The President said this was to guarantee the safety of people and property.
“I…decided to close Makerere University with immediate effect until further notice, in order to guarantee safety of persons and property,” the directive read in part.
This came only hours after the university council agreed to some concessions with the striking university staff, urging them to return to work.
The teachers under their association MUASA, who are protesting nonpayment of their incentive arrears, yesterday resolved to keep their foot on the ground.
In an emergency meeting today, the University Council discussed the resolutions of the MUASA General Assembly and agreed to respond to some of their demands.
According to the Council Chairman Prof. Charles Wana Etiem, they among others agreed to pay the teachers a one month incentive allowance “immediately”.
This they hoped would encourage the staff members to resume work as their concerns are addressed in the long run.
Student Woes
Students this morning were involved in a violent strike that spilled over to neighboring communities as they demanded commencement of business at the country’s largest education institution.
The unprecedented news from State House will come as a shocking disappointment to the students, who through the previous meetings, were hoping that the closure of the University is not considered an option.
The student guild through its speaker revealed today that they demanded for the university to fulfill its part of the contract with the student community.
“Most of the students have paid the dues according to the stipulated time in the fees policy and demand that they should access the services they paid for,” said the Guild Speaker in a Statement.