Attorney General: Prof Katunguka should vacate NCHE office 

Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka says Eli Katunguka is illegally occupying the position of board chairperson of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).

In a June 14 communication to Janet Museveni, the minister of Education and Sports, Kiryowa says it would be erroneous if Katunguka is reappointed to the position without following the due process.

The minister had sought the Attorney General’s intervention after some NCHE board members expressed disapproval of Katunguka’s appointment on grounds of misrepresentation.

FLAWED DISCOVERIES

Katunguka, who is also the vice chancellor of Kyambogo University, was appointed NCHE chairperson in 2019 and had his term expire on March 21, 2024.

Thereafter, he applied to President Museveni for reappointment and the president expressed no objection to it on May 6. However, Kiryowa notes that not only was it irregular for Katunguka to write directly to the president for the renewal of his tenure, the process was flawed.  

“While Prof Katunguka is eligible for reappointment as chairperson of council for one further term, the process undertaken for the reappointment is irregular, flawed and illegal,” reads part of the letter.

For instance, the Attorney General notes that whereas Katunguka was appointed to the board as a representative of senates of public universities, that mandate expired and he is attempting to be reappointed as board chair on the backing of the Vice Chancellors Forums of Public Universities yet the vice chancellors already have Prof Joy Kawesiga as their representative on the board.

In the meantime, Kiryowa notes that according to the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA), Prof Kwesiga, the NCHE vice chairperson and Kabale University vice chancellor, should act as NCHE chairperson until a suitable person is duly appointed.

“In the absence of a substantive chairperson of the council, the vice chairperson of council shall preside over the meetings of the council in accordance with section 10(2) of the UOTIA,” the letter says.

Efforts to reach out to Dr Kwesiga or Prof Okwakol, the NCHE executive director, were futile by press time.

LEGAL ISSUES

The Attorney General reasons that from the facts available and the reading of the UOTIA Act, there is no evidence that the meeting of vice chancellors was convened for the purpose of Katunguka’s appointment as their representative.

“In order for Professor Katunguka to be re-appointed as chairperson of NCHE, he has to be a member of the council and must have been recommended to the President for re-appointment,” reads the letter.

Section 7(2) of UOTIA provides that the NCHE shall recommend two members from among themselves from whom President Museveni shall appoint the chairperson.

“The import is that the NCHE is expected to convene a meeting subject to quorum and decide, through a vote, the question as to who the two persons from among themselves should be recommended to the president.”