By Sam Bakibinga
Security authorities in Kanungu District yesterday 07/02/2023 closed Great Lakes Regional University following the escalation of clashes between students and a group of directors allied with Bishop Hamlet Kabushenga.
The Kanungu Resident District Commissioner RDC Ambrose Mwesigye Amanyire told our journalist that security has closed the university temporality.
He says they took the decision owing to the hostility between the two warring factions.
Amanyire advises the students affected by the closure to remain calm and avoid getting involved in the ownership wrangles.
Martin Kafanta Atukwase, the Public Relations Officer of the faction allied to Honest Wilkins Natukwasa, says that the closure of the university is suffocating the students’ academic future.
Kabushenga insists that he is not shaken by any situation on the ground because he is fighting for his property. Kabushenga also says that validation must happen in order to eliminate some students he described as drunkards.
Kabushenga has been the University Founder since its establishment in 2004 until June last year when the university’s funders, the Child to Family Community Development Organization (CHIFCOD), ordered him to resign over allegations of mismanagement of funds.
In September, Kabushenga tendered his resignation, but a week later, he made a U-turn and declared that he is still the official founder and chancellor of the University.
Since Monday there has been the deployment of anti-riot police at the University.
This is the second time Great Lakes Regional university Kanungu is closed. In November 2021, the National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE) closed the university when the two warring factions organized parallel graduation ceremonies. UNCHE reopened the university a month later as investigations were ongoing.
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