Last Updated on: 1st March 2023, 03:30 pm
Gulu University has asked the government to review its Capital Development Fund (CDF) allocation that has been affected since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
Vice Chancellor Prof George Openjuru Ladaah made this call after he was reinstalled for another term, the same day his boss, Chancellor Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda was also installed.
On the same day, over 1,270 students successfully graduated in different academic disciplines February 18, 2023, at the University’s main campus.
Prof Ladaah said there is underfunding to support the development of the University, adding that CDF has been meager for over two years now.
He also disclosed that Gulu University started years back without infrastructure development from the government. “We started the university from rental houses, unlike other Universities like Mbarara, Kampala, and Muni among others. This made the government of Uganda forget about the Gulu University, leading to under development in the campus.”
“However capital development funds have been cut by the ministry of finance, and the University is performing well academically in different courses including agriculture, medicine, and Law. Last year, Gulu University was ranked third best public University,” the Vice-Chancellor added.
He also said funding to public Universities was cut down from shs11.4b to shs1.67b.
“It has affected the running of the semesters due to overpopulation in the campus, we are ending up learning under the tents,” he added, appealing to the ministry of finance to stop cutting the funds and he advised the ministry of public service to consider the weight increment of the staff.
After rising to speak on behalf of the President, Vice President Jessica Alupu could not respond to the challenges tabled “before her” by the Vice Chancellor in a gesture that she could be expecting the President to respond to them.
Gulu University started in 2003 and has since produced over 16,070 students (graduates).