A Makerere University Final Year Student has determined to attach properties belonging to Makerere University, after it declined to pay her costs she was awarded by a city court.
Samiiha Nalwooga, a Biomedical Engineering finalist is moving to attach some of the vehicles of the university staff officials, and also money from Makerere’s Bank accounts to recover Shs.30million awarded to her by the Mengo Chief Magistrates Court last year.
The student through her lawyer Isaac Semakadde, of the Center for Legal Aid sued the university allegedly for withholding her exam results with no explanation.
“They withheld my results and when I couldn’t get an explanation, I went to court and won. They never even showed up at the court,” Nalwooga told us on phone.
She adds that even after the university was served with the court order to release her results and pay her the costs, they neither responded nor appealed the court ruling.
We tried to reach the University Academic Registrar Mr. Alfred Masikye Namoah but he wouldn’t return our calls, while the university spokesperson Ritah Namisango’s numbers were switched off.
Nalwooga, who is supposed to be graduating next year, says she has been tossed from office to office in her endeavors to personally speak with the Academic Registrar and the Vice Chancellor Prof Ddumba Ssentamu.
She says when she finally spoke to the Academic Registrar’s assistant on Tuesday; she was only threatened that she would leave the university without her results if she insisted on the Shs. 30million costs.
Yesterday, her lawyer wrote to the VC expressing disappointment with the university’s handling of this matter, and informed him about their intention to attach the university property.
“We are embarrassed to learn that neither you, nor Mr Masikye could even afford to meet our client in person to apologize for delaying to implement a court order….(which was) served on your office on November 2, 2016,” wrote the lawyer.
“We are therefore constrained to warn that if the university doesn’t comply with the court order by Friday January 27th, we shall proceed to execute the same by attaching the university assets including cash at bank and vehicles allocated to senior management personnel, plus obtaining an order committing Mr Masikye to civil prison until he realizes that he is duty bound to comply with the court order.”