Kabale Varsity renews demand for more land

Kabale | RedPepper Digital – The administration of Kabale University has renewed their demand for more land from Kabale District, six years after the request was turned down by the High Court.

Prof. Joy Constance Kwesiga, the Vice-Chancellor of Kabale University, has appealed to Kabale District Local Government for more land to accommodate the establishment of more facilities in various academic Units.

“After being taken over by the Government about six years ago, Kabale University has been diversifying its coverage in different academic fields, and the progress requires additional operational space,” said Prof. Kwesiga.

Prof. Kwesiga says that they needed land to accommodate a teaching hospital, demonstration farm for agriculture, construction of Hostels for University Staff, among others.

“A good quality teaching hospital should be occupying the whole hill, just one faculty; the same for engineering, among other faculties. The land requirement is needed,” said Prof Kwesiga castigating that the 50 acres the varsity sits on are inadequate.

She cited that Gulu has over 1000 acres; Muni University -600; Mbarara (MUST) -600 and Makerere university 600 acres and all other public universities have adequate land.

“A university is for continuity that you have an office and you leave there the university develops but now we have a few faculties like medicine, engineering, science, education, arts and socials sciences and languages .so you can see those are few we need for example a teaching hospital we are just squatting within the referral hospital,’ said Prof. Kwesiga.

Prof. Kwesiga said this on Tuesday was speaking at a ceremony to launch of the Liquid detergent made at the University by the Department of Chemistry in the faculty of science at the function that was held at the university grounds on Kikungiri hill Kabale municipality.

She also noted that through an inter-Ministerial forum, they had agreed that the Kabale District Council gives Kabale University 70 acres out of the remaining 90 acres of unoccupied land at Kikungiri hill in Southern Division Kabale Municipality, but the District Council had not yet passed a resolution to implement this agreement.

Miria Akankwasa Tugume the Vice-Chairperson Kabale District, who was the Chief Guest at the ceremony, pledged to support the University by sharing about their needs with the District Executive Committee.

Akankwasa applauded the Department of Science at Kabale University for being innovative by producing the liquid detergent Named Kabsafe, the detergent that was packed in one to ten-litre jerry cans and it would be distributed freely to health facilities, government institutions, Market Places among others, as an act of Social Corporate Responsibility.

The first beneficiaries of the liquid detergent project were Ndorwa Government Prison, and the principal officer Samuel Okule received the donation on their behalf. Okole said the detergent would be a supplement to the cleaning materials provided by the government to control COVID-19.

Dr. Darmian Kajunguri, the Dean of Students Faculty of science at Kabale University said that KABSAFE is a detergent that has been made in a chemistry laboratory by a team of experts in the faculty of science.

He revealed that over 7,000 litres of KABSAFE have been manufactured as a community intervention initiative of Kabale University towards fighting COVID-19. Kajunguri said that the detergent will be distributed in various districts making up the Kigezi region including Kabale, Kanungu, Kisoro, Rubanda Rukiga and Rukungiri.

He added that they will also negotiate for the immediate neighbours on Kikungiri hill including the regional prison, the Regional Judiciary offices, the Zonal land office and the Remand Home.

The university donated 10 jerrycans of detergent to Kabale regional referral hospital which were received by Richard Karema the principal human resource manager on behalf of the hospital. Kabale police station, Rugarama hospital also benefited with 10 jerrycans of detergent each.

In 2001, Kabale district council donated 52 acres of land to enable the university start, however, since 2007, demands for more land have been falling on deaf ears even after the University Council wrote to the Ministry of Education asking for intervention.

The university made the first attempt to acquire more land from the district in2007. Then Inspector General of Government Faith Mwondha quashed the demand. In May 2013, the university petitioned the High Court, demanding for more land from Kabale District but lost the case