Makerere sets aside Shs20m to evict over 300 businesses

“Expect some teargas at the hill today as plans have been finalised to evict all illegal businesses in the early hours,” a source told this publication.

When contacted, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, said he was not aware of the eviction.

However, Mr Julius Gumisiriza, the chairperson of Makerere University Business Owners, confirmed the planned eviction.

“The eviction has been kept a top secret by the university management, but we received information from our sources that they intend to come and evict everybody tomorrow (today),” he said in an interview yesterday.

Mr Gumisiriza said they filed a case before the Court of Appeal in connection with the matter.

What business people say

“We appealed after losing to the university last year. Our case is pending judgment, and we are scheduled to appear before the court on November 20. The university has ignored that and intends to apply force,” he said.

“For now, there is nothing we can do other than wait for their actions and we proceed to court,” he added.

Business owners claim the university management led by the Deputy Vice Chancellor-in-charge of Finance and Administration, Prof Henry Arinaitwe, met on Friday and resolved on the eviction today.  When contacted yesterday, Prof Arinaitwe said he was in church, before he switched off his phone.

However, an August 31 letter from the university Estates and Works department addressed to Prof Arinaitwe indicated that Shs20m was required to effect the eviction. The letter does not specify the eviction date.

“Following the dismissal of the court case against Makerere University Vs owners of commercial businesses, it is time to implement the council’s decision to remove all illegal businesses operating in unauthorised places,” the letter reads in part.

Of the Shs20m, Shs8m will be paid to 160 people hired to man the eviction, Shs1.2m is for procuring eight large hammers, Shs1.6m is for buying 16 claw bars, while the purchase of eight wheelbarrows will cost Shs2m. Another Shs5m is for procuring100 padlocks. A total of 180 litres of fuel is needed for the truck transporting debris and personal belongings.

The remaining Shs1.5m will be allocated to hire 30 security officers to provide security during the four-hour exercise.

Background

Efforts to evict businesses from the university began in July 2022 when the management issued eviction notices to businesses operating in different halls of residence and colleges.

Prof Nawangwe asserted that these businesses were operating from university premises without contracts and were not paying any fees.

However, the planned evictions did not occur as intended. This was after the business owners petitioned the High Court, arguing that they had been operating within the institution for the last 30 years.

In August 2022, the court issued an interim order, stopping the university from evicting business owners until their case was resolved.

Later, the business owners lost the case against the university. This, according to sources, gave lee way to the university to go ahead with their planned eviction this year.

Mr Gumisiriza claimed they have since appealed against the victory of the university, before asking the authorities to first await the outcome of the appeal that is still pending before the Court of Appeal.