NAWANGWE@5 SCANDALS (PART 2)! How Makerere VC fell out with trusted aide Elias Nuwagaba over wife

**A photo montage of Prof Nawangwe and Elias (inset)**

Makerere University council, the institution’s top governing body, recently handed incumbent vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe another kisanja.

He was first appointed in 2017 on a five-year contract which expired on 31 August this year. He was appraised and handed another term which will take him up to 2027, despite protests from a section of staffers citing irregularities.

However, his first five years in office did not pass without drama. And in this article we are revisiting his first term focusing on scandals that headlined his office—some are public while others have never been told. We shall be serializing them and today we bring you part two. Part one can be accessed via here:https://redpepper.co.ug/nawangwe-5-scandals-part-1-how-phone-number-saved-as-my-dog-nearly-crashed-makerere-vcs-marriage/123866/

FALL OUT WITH TRUSTED AIDE

In this part we reveal how Nawangwe fell out with his trusted aide-Elias Nuwagaba. Before Nawangwe became full VC in 2017, he first served as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration). During that time he employed Elias as his Personal Assistant.

At the same time, Elias was also serving as the Chief Custodian of the Main Building which was later burnt under Nawangwe’s first tenure. Elias served as Nawangwe’ beck and call including home errands—shopping, paying Yaka and water bills among others. He became part of the family.

When Nawangwe expressed interest in a full VC job, Elias knew he would be in things once his boss went through. Elias did all he could to ensure victory. The rest is history.

After Nawangwe was installed as VC, he embarked on selecting an office team he would work with. He decided to maintain the two Administrative Secretaries he was working with as Deputy VC/F&A—sexy Olive Mbabazi and Robinah Nabakooza. Everyone expected Nawangwe to maintain Elias as his PA but he had other plans. He instead picked controversial and a Shs2.5M salary earner Gordon Murangira, then a much resented (by students and some fellow staff especially lecturers) registrar at the college of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS). Even to date, Murangira, who some staff fear to be an operative, remains hated in the main building. Elias went berserk. He could not believe it. He could not even go back to the office of the deputy VC/FA because the new occupant, Prof. William Bazeyo had come with his own secretaries.

**Nawangwe shockingly picked Gordon Murangira as his PA**

WHAT WENT WRONG

Elias and some watchers saw this as betrayal. But according to sources, there was more to something than meets the eye. We have now learnt that in the course of performing his duties as Nawangwe’s PA, Elias, maybe unwittingly thought by being close friends with Nawangwe’s wife, Susan, his position as VC’s trusted aide would be insulated and cemented. Knowledgeable sources say in doing so, Elias overstepped his bounds.

That he unwittingly, during conversations with Susan ended up spilling her hubby’s alleged shenanigans which Nawangwe saw as unprofessional. Whereas Elias thought he was doing the right thing, these were not pleasant to Susan’s ears and she would later confront Nawangwe demanding answers.

This caused Nawangwe untold stress at home and to an extent that his wife even temporarily left his Kisasi home for about three weeks but matters were later resolved. It later hit Nawangwe when he discovered that the enemy was within the names of Elias. And that’s how his fate was sealed there and then. There was no way Elias could ever get close to the Nawangwes again. Even Susan, whom he thought was his friend and she could sweet talk to her hubby to cool down and allow him continue serving as a PA or recommend him to another juicy post, became aloof and never wanted to hear another word from him nor see his face.

To disguise the fallout, a source close to Nawangwe told this publication that Elias was dropped for not having requisite academic papers to serve as the VC’s PA. That even when he was advised to pursue another course to march the VC PA post academic requirements, Elias was reportedly not enthusiastic about it. The operation to kick out Elias was reportedly headed by all powerful Revenue Office boss, Jackie Ayorekire Keirungi who was then very close to Nawangwe. In our part three we shall reveal how and why she fell out with Nawangwe.

**Elias feels all his woes were fueled by Jackie Ayorekire**

BACK TO NUWAGABA

This was just the beginning for Elias’s woes. In the days that followed, he was transferred from the Main Building to the College of Health Sciences still as the chief custodian.Reeling from the loss of the PA job, Elias, days that followed, shared a missive on the staff webmail accusing top university managers of defrauding the institution. Nuwagaba accused Bruce Balaba Kabaasa, the then chairperson of the Appointments Board for using the Main Hall for more than five years without paying, yet the facility is supposed to be hired at a rate of Shs 2 million per day.

“Colleagues, it is on record [that] there is a project in the names of university forum on government located at plot 52, Edge road, this project is owned by our own chairperson Appointments Board Mr Kabaasa Bruce, this project hosts like 3 or 2 functions in a month, to my disappointment, funders of this project facilitate Mr Kabaasa Bruce who pockets the money and he only uses the Main Hall free of charge. Colleagues, how much is the university losing in a year?” Nuwagaba asked in the missive to staff.

“I raised this issue to the DVC (F&A) the then Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, he turned a deaf ear because he was already eyeing a higher office, surprisingly when I kept pushing, I was instead transferred and demoted because I had identified all kinds of anomalies in DVC’s office which some of these issues have even made our dear university bursar to resign,” he added.

Nuwagaba said he was transferred after complaining and the vice chancellor confided to him that his transfer was recommended by Kabaasa, who had been using the facility at a free cost.

“When I approached him (Kabassa) he told me I should stop loitering in his compound and he told me that I’m not an auditor to follow up on university money issues,” Nuwagaba then said. Nuwagaba would later be summoned by police or releasing information considered to be compromising the university’s image.

It is these issues that landed him a dismissal. On May 23rd, 2018 he was fired by the University Appointments Board from the university service for alleged extortion and bribery. The decision to sack Nuwagaba was reached in the 565th meeting of the Appointments Board, which noted that while employed as the Chief Custodian of the Main Building, the officer solicited and accepted money from M/S Just Clean It Ltd in 2016, which brought injury and disrepute to the image of the university.

They also noted that while employed in the capacity of Personal Assistant to Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe in his capacity as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration), Nuwagaba evicted occupants of the Edge House No. 37 without authorisation, which was injurious to the image of the institution contrary to Section 5.7 (8) of the HR Manual.

To make life a hell for him, the university even assigned his residential House No. 179 Kasubi View at the university to the Peace Centre under the Department of Religion and Peace Studies and went on to evict him. He would later through his lawyers Rwaganika & Baku Advocates sue for UGX 120m compensation for property loss, and special damages of lost items. Vowing to go down fighting, Nuwagaba petitioned the University tribunal challenging his unfair treatment.

In 2019, the University staff appeals tribunal directed management to immediately reinstate Nuwagaba. The tribunal chaired by George Omunyokol also ordered fresh disciplinary hearing within 60 days, reinstate Nuwagaba to his last position held before dismissal and to continue earning his salary during the disciplinary process.

The University was also ordered to pay his arrears arising out of his dismissal since May 2018. It was also ordered that he continues occupying the university house until the matter is disposed of. The University listened and finally reinstated Nuwagaba after 17months out of university service following his dismissal on May 23rd, 2018. He was also deployed as the Chief Custodian of the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology –CEDAT. The decision to reinstate Nuwagaba stemmed

from the 602 and 604 University Appointments Board meetings held on July 3rd and August 19th that agreed that the university tribunal orders be implemented. Things have never been the same for Nuwagaba and these days he is into his own private business. It is not clear if his nursery school is also still operating. In our part 3 we shall reveal how Nawangwe fell out with close ally Jackie Ayorekire over camps. (DO YOU HAVE A HOT STORY (CHEATERS, DIVORCE, VIDEOS, CORRUPTION, LAND WRANGLES, EXPOSES …ETAL) YOU WOULD LIKE US TO PUBLISH? CALL/TEXT/WHATSAPP 0777959024 OR EMAIL redpeppertips@gmail.com)