{UAH} Makerere sued over college jobs

Makerere sued over college jobs

• July 7, 2021
• Written by Yudaya Nangonzi

Jimmy Odoki Acellam has sued to stop Makerere University from filling the positions of college principals.

In Civil Application No: 174 of 2021, Jimmy Odoki Acellam said Makerere's decision to use a Search Committee to fill the positions of college principals contravenes the provisions of the university's governing law.

Article 53 (1) of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA) 2001, as amended, provides that "A dean or director of the faculty, institute, college or other academic body shall be elected by its academic staff from among its senior members of the academic staff in accordance with the procedures proposed by the senate and approved by the University Council."

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Odoki's application follows a May 10 newspaper advert in which Uganda's oldest university called for applications for the positions of principal and deputy principal at four colleges.

In the said advert, the university asked potential candidates to send their applications to either the university secretary or the Search Committee who would do the vetting of candidates to be sent to Senate and University Council for approval. But Odoki, through his lawyers of IBC Advocates, says this process contravenes the law that governs universities.

However, according to the Makerere advert, the search committee derives its mandate from Regulation 13 of the Universities and other Tertiary Institutions (Management of Constituent Colleges of Makerere University) Statute 2012, although Odoki avers that the provisions of this statute cannot supersede those of the mother Act.

Section 13 (1) of the statute states that "the university council shall constitute a search committee composed of five members and give it terms of reference regarding matters relating to the search and identification of suitable candidates to the post of Principal".

But Odoki insists that this contradicts Article 53 (1) of the mother Act, which calls for an election rather than a selection. He says in situations where a regulation is in contradiction with the parent Act, the latter takes precedence and such regulation must be nullified to the extent of the contradiction.

He thus wants court to issue a permanent injunction restraining Makerere from implementing the impugned provisions and appointing the administrative heads of colleges under them.

FOUL START

When Makerere University was migrating into the collegiate system in 2012, regulations were enacted by the University Council to manage that transition – Universities and other Tertiary Institutions (Management of Constituent Colleges of Makerere University) Statute 2012.

Those regulations created the positions of principal and deputy principal in addition to stipulating their powers as well as mode and method of appointment.

Odoki argues that the principals created under the stated regulations are heads of academic bodies as provided for by the UOTIA; so, the mode of their selection is through an election by the academic staff they are going to lead.

"I sincerely believe that there is a justified reason why parliament explicitly provided that the office bearers at the level of dean, director and/or principal should be elected by their academic peers rather than merely selected by a search committee," Odoki says in a sworn affidavit to court.

'INHERENT ROT'

Odoki is one of the many disgruntled lecturers at Makerere who argue that if this process goes unchallenged, there is a likelihood of many unfitting people bribing their way into office, and in turn suffocate the deserving ones.

When colleges were first introduced in 2013, there were elections for all principals to serve a four-year term. Surprisingly, when their terms of office ended in 2017, the university switched positions and this time instituted a search committee to appoint new office bearers.

"There is no proper reason given as to why there were no elections," said one lecturer who preferred anonymity.

"Simply, a casual communication from some office that the electioneering process was leading to tension in the colleges; so, they felt it better to use appointments of people through a search committee as opposed to having elections," added the lecturer.

Curiously, nine out of the ten sitting principals emerged the best candidates. The only principal who did not return hadn't applied for the position.

"That can't be an accident. There is a school of thought that the search committee was compromised. You can't tell me all other applicants weren't qualified to replace at least one of the sitting principals," says the outraged lecturer.

The biggest problem is that once the election component was taken out of the process, the principals do as they please, confident that their constituents cannot kick them out.

"People have to beg them for service, and that is how they are harassing some of us," noted another senior lecturer.

The Observer has since learnt that this case has been assigned before Justice Musa Ssekaana. Interviewed about the case on June 18, the acting University Secretary, Yusuf Kiranda denied knowledge of the case.

"I am not aware of that...I want to emphasize that we have not been served. We shall respond as soon as we are served," Kiranda, also secretary to the university council, who signed the newspaper advert, said.

nangonzi@observer.ug

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