A group of six students from the Makerere Law School have rushed to Kampala High Court seeking orders to have the university immediately re-opened.
The students are Sam Ssekyewa, Moses Mushime, Francis Kibombo, Cissy Nabatanzi, Emmanuel Kanyesigye and John Robert Turyakira.
The students contend that President Yoweri Museveni, who is referred to in the compliant as “a visitor” overstepped his legal mandate when he ordered the closure of the University yet such powers are vested in to the University Council.
While closing the country’s largest education institution on November 1st, President Museveni invoked Section 26(2) of the Universities and other Tertiary Institutions Act (2001).
The students hold in their petition that since the reopening date of the university is not known, their right to education and careers are put at stake.
The leader of the applicants Sam Ssekyewa says they have chosen to challenge the president’s directive in court in order to “enforce their abused rights and to permanently bar the visitor (President) from usurping the powers of the University Council.”
Among other, the students want court to quash the decision of university closure and the same time bar the president from repeating the same action.
The students are seeking an Order of Mandamus compelling the university council to make statutes and regulations streamlining the modalities of closing and re opening in the public interest.
“The grounds for this application are that this decision was unlawfully reached and inconsistence with the principles of fundamental fairness, proportionality and other constitutionally prescribed norms and standards,” the petition reads in part.
The applicants proceeded to call on court to compel the respondents to pay for the costs of this matter.
The court has not yet fixed a hearing date for this case which has been filed against the “visitor of Makerere University,” Attorney General and the University itself.