Makerere University postpones graduation again

KAMPALA – Makerere University has announced that the 71st graduation ceremony which was scheduled for May 10th has been postponed to May 17.

This is to avoid clashing with President Museveni’s swearing-in ceremony, the University administration said.

Mr Museveni, who was re-elected for the 7th term in January is slated to be sworn in between May 10 and 13. Members of Parliament will also be sworn in the same month.

This is the second time the university is postponing the graduation.

The initial date for the graduation had been slated for March 16 to 19, but the university Senate postponed it to May 10 to 14 citing that some marks for students were not ready, among other inconsistencies.

“We had set May 10 to 14 but that date falls on the week when the President will be swearing in, so the council has advised that we do it a week after, which will be May 17,” Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice Chancellor said in a presser yesterday.

Makerere, which is Uganda’s oldest university is expected to graduate more than 12,000 students whom Prof Nawangwe said few will physically attend the function due to Covid-19 restrictions while others will attend online.

Prof Nawangwe yesterday said the university contract committee has also started the process of contracting a new gowns supplier ahead of the graduation ceremony.

“The procurement of the new supplier of gowns is going on and I believe the gowns will be ready before May and students will be able to buy them from approved suppliers. The process of procurement will be completed very soon by the contract committee so there is nothing to worry about,” Prof Nawangwe said.