At the centre of the controversy is the prolonged failure to permanently fill the DVC/FA position, a role critical to managing the university's finances and administration.
Staff associations at Makerere University have called on President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to intervene in a leadership crisis that has left the institution without a substantive Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration (DVC/FA) for over seven years.
In a letter dated November 27, 2024, the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Makerere Administrative Staff Association (MASA), and the National Union of Educational Institutions (NUEI) decried persistent mismanagement and violations of university policies.
"There is growing anger and dissent between the staff and students at the university due to persistent mismanagement and violation of laws and university policies," the letter said.
At the centre of the controversy is the prolonged failure to permanently fill the DVC/FA position, a role critical to managing the university's finances and administration.
The substantive position was last held by Vice-Chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe. He has since repeatedly held the same position in acting capacity in-between other administrators.
But the staff argue that besides the unusual delays, Makerere has also repeatedly violated its own Human Resources Manual that stipulates the duration one can sit in as a DVC-FA in acting capacity.
Makerere's Human Resources Manual limits acting appointments to 12 months.
Professor Henry Alinaitwe, appointed Acting DVC/FA on November 16, 2021, was expected to serve for one year or until a substantive appointment was made.
"We demand a law-abiding university where policies are adhered to without exception," said Dr Jude Ssempebwa, MUASA general secretary.
"Ignoring these rules undermines the credibility of our governance structures."
The crisis deepened in May 2024 when the University Senate held a vote to resolve the impasse following interviews of several candidates.
Prof Anthony Mugisha defeated Prof Alinaitwe to the position. However, Mugisha was never appointed as required, leaving the post officially vacant.
"Even after the Universisity Senate recommended a candidate to the University Council for appointment, there seems to be efforts to frustrate the appointment of the candidate to the position."
In May, the Nile Post reported that Mugisha, a professor of agriculture economics and Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Resources, had edged Alinaitwe, a professor of civil and construction engineering, by one vote to be the don in charge finance and administration at the Hill.
However, the position remains unfilled even as the tentative office bearer has already been in office beyond the legally acceptable period for acting capacity, prompting accusations of policy breaches.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration oversees the finances and administration of the University. The office is responsible for the planning, budgeting and development of the university.
Prof Nawangwe attributed the delays to legal hurdles, citing a court case that lasted more than two years.
"We are now in the process of recruiting a substantive DVC," Prof Nawangwe told the Nile Post.
"The matter is being handled."
The court case was filed before Justice Musa Ssekaana of the High Court by Prof Mugisha in 2018, challenging the appointment of Prof William Bazeyo.
Judge Ssekaana, in his ruling, said Bazeyo had been appointed illegally since the Search Committee had flagrantly ignored the procedure set out in the University and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA).
Since being recommended by the Senate for the Council to approve and the Chancellor to appoint, Mugisha remains in limbo while staff at the university claim there are backdoor efforts to send in other names to the Council.
Council Chair Lorna Magara could not readily respond to this publication's queries on the matter but a principal at Makerere was fuming.
"We demand and work for a Makerere University that works for all. A law abiding University where laws and policies are blind to all that come before them," the principal said in confident.
"A University where we stick to the Human Resources manual as it was passed and published by Council, even when it is inconvenient to abide by its provisions."
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In 2013, Prof Mugisha came up against current VC Nawangwe for the same DVC position. Nawangwe got 44 votes and Mugisha 24 votes.
Prof Nawangwe was recommended to Council and subsequently appointed.
Staff members are contesting the said attempts to recommend another person -alongside Mugisha - to the Council for appointment.
"In the case law (a ruling of court that is not challenged becomes "case law"), Justice Ssekaana unpacked the UOTIA on this touchy issue in his ruling of Prof Mugisha v Makerere University and Prof Bazeyo of June 14, 2019, by stating that "the Act vested the University Senate with power to recommend a person [not persons] with approval of the University Council for appointment by the Chancellor," the principal said.
MUASA and other associations have criticised the lack of decisive action, warning that prolonged mismanagement could tarnish the university's reputation as a regional center of excellence.
Makerere's Human Resources Manual explicitly limits acting appointments to a six-month term, extendable by an additional six months with authorization from the appointing authority.
Staff argue that the current situation not only breaches these guidelines but sets a troubling precedent for the university's governance.
