President Museveni has reversed his earlier position where he had given a ‘no-objection’ to the reappointment of Prof Eli Katunguka as a chairperson of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). He now wants the due process to be followed.
In a letter, Museveni has advised NCHE executive director Prof Mary Okwakol that the process of selecting the chairperson for NCHE’s board follows the guidance of the Attorney General. He wants NCHE to select two members, from whom he will appoint the chairperson.
Katunguka had according to the Attorney General, “irregularly” written to the president and his wife also Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni seeking to be reappointed for the second term as chairperson of the board.
Much as the president and the minister had earlier told Katunguka they had no objection, Ms Museveni later sought the guidance of the Attorney General and realized that Katunguka had flouted the process by directly writing to them.
The president in his letter says, “The vice-chancellors of public universities, with the necessary quorum should meet and elect two delegates (representatives) to the NCHE, to be members of the council.”
He adds, “The council for NCHE should, then, meet and choose two names from among themselves and forward them to the president.”
The representative of the vice chancellors is Prof Joy Kwesiga while Katunguka represents the senates. Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, in his guidance to NCHE, minister and the president notes that Katunguka had flouted the process and that what he had done was, “irregular, flawed, and illegal.”
On January 29, 2024, Katunguka instructed his assistant (PA) Evans Tumusiime to write to the vice-chancellors of public universities to seek their views on the reappointment of Katunguka as a representative of Senates of Public Universities to NCHE. Tumusiime followed this letter with phone calls.
This was tantamount to self-nomination on the part of Katunguka which is irregular according to the Attorney General. Katunguka’s term expired on March 21, 2024. In a June 14, 2024, comprehensive letter to the minister, the Attorney General outlined several procedural missteps:
The Attorney General noted that according to Section 7(1)(c) of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA), the correct procedure was not followed. This section requires that the NCHE board include representatives elected among vice-chancellors of public universities.
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