KAMPALA – Makerere University Guild President Julius Kateregga was on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, arrested shortly after leaving the studios of NBS TV in Kamwokya, Kampala.
Mr Kateregga was appearing in TV a day after the University Council agreed to scrap the 15 percent increment from functional fees but maintained it on tuition fees for the remaining period of three years.
However, he was arrested by police and driven to unknown destination on his way to Makerere University Freedom Square where he was set to address students on the way forward after the University Council pronouncement. The gathering at the Freedom Square was also dispersed by police using teargas and live bullets.
Below are excerpts of his interview on NBS TV:
Julius Kateregga: We feel the First Lady is being fed on wrong information. Whatever she knows is different from what is happening. Our concern is with the tuition increment. We feel the government officials are failing to listen to reality. We all know the country’s growth rate is measured at 5%, why then would you give us a 15% increment?
Julius Kateregga: It’s not true we’re doing this for political reasons but only protecting the students. Prof Hisali is one of the master minders of violence to the students. We, therefore, don’t expect him to be a party to the healing processes. We think the university administration is the major problem in this. Our leadership is more of talking than confrontation but management seems to take dialogue lightly, which has led us to this action.
Julius Kateregga, Guild President Makerere University: Unfortunately, the university management chooses to talk about drug addiction and put aside issues affecting students. They labelled us as hooligans but after the army raided and beat up students in the night, we all know who the hooligans are. The university keeps changing goalposts. Students were already aggrieved by all the issues but what sparked off the strike was the brutal beating of one of the female students.