Kyambogo students go on strike after lecturers refuse to publish results

On Thursday morning, students at Kyambogo University’s Soroti Research Center protested over their allegedly kept results.

Students accuse research center staff of withholding results for more than two months, citing that the government has not paid civil servants since last semester.

Isaac Opolot, one of the last students of the bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance, is not sure of his fate.

“The Bushenyi main campus in Kyambogo has already been cleared in anticipation of the December 10-13 graduation^vol. So what are we left with,” Opolot said.

Eria Ilukor, a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education, condemned lecturers for withholding results, while former guild governor Joseph Erimai urged students to join the protest because they feel the pain of paying school fees.

“We can’t wait to call our parents to help us ask the university management why all this is happening,” Erimai mentioned.

Moses Ogwapit Ereu, head of the Soroti Learning Center at Kyambogo University, seemed to suggest that external grading makes it easier for lecturers to retain results.

“We have learned from this and now we are going to organize a room where we will evaluate the works of non-lecturers to take the scripts to their homes,” he said, noting that the Soroti campus has more than 4,000 students and 73 lecturers.

When asked to comment on the matter, Senior Public Relations Officer at Kyambogo University, Reuben Twinomujuni, said: “The lecturers withheld the results because they wanted their money, but we are doing our best to ensure that they are paid.”

He explained that they had not paid the lecturers yet, but they would, and asked the remaining lecturers to publish the results.

Twinomujuni attributed the “financial crisis” to the effects of Covid, adding that “at the point of economic recovery, we were operational 3 semesters ago, which has choked the institution’s resource envelope.”

He also added that the university held talks with the Ministry of Finance and it seems that there has been a breakthrough.

“All students will have their results. There is no cause for concern,” Twinomujuni said Monitor on Thursday.

About Kyambogo Soroti Research Center

Kyambogo University’s Soroti Research Center is one of many study centers that were recently ordered closed by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), but have since remained operational.

Kyambogo University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eli Katunguka, said NCHE had no mandate to stop institutions from setting up learning centres.

NCHE, however, insists that under Section 25 of the Universities and Other Institutions of Higher Education Act 2001 (UOTIA), the higher education institution must first seek approval from NCHE before establishing new learning centers, which Kyambogo University has failed to do since the launch of the Soroti study center in 2018