Makerere Administrator probed over extorting cash from graduate

An administrator at Makerere University is on the spot after he was reportedly caught extorting money from a graduate, who had gone to pick up her academic transcript.

 The incident happened when Ms Daphine [full name withheld] went to the university to pick up the document on Monday.
 Ms Daphine, who graduated last year, said she had cleared with several authorities at Makerere before going to the administrator who issues transcripts for students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
 “When I went to his office to pick up my transcript on Monday, he said my transcript was not ready except for students who had recently graduated. I felt frustrated because I had got a job offer and they demanded I present my transcript the following day. This made me cry,” Ms Daphine said.

 She added: “The man then told me to check on him on Tuesday to see if my transcript was ready. So I called him at 1.40pm and he asked if I had read an email he had sent me.”
An email seen by Daily Monitor from the administrator shows him asking for Shs50,000 from Ms Daphine. The brief email with the subject “Trans” reads, “Send 50k [Shs50,000] now and c [see] me before 430pm [4.30pm] today (Tuesday).”
 Ms Daphine then shared the message with her friend who had picked up her transcript without paying any money.
 “My friend then sent a message to Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the Makerere University Vice Chancellor, who asked her to tell me to go to his office and also name the administrator who was demanding money, which we did,” she said.

 The Vice Chancellor then inquired from the Academic Registrar, Prof Buyinza Mukadasi, who the culprit was. But Prof Buyinza said, “The department of the Academic Registrar doesn’t have anybody by that name. That must be a fraudster, but let the student come to my office.”
 When Ms Daphine reached Prof Nawangwe’s office, she recounted her ordeal and he sent her to Prof Mukadasi. Ms Daphine and Prof Buyinza then plotted to net the culprit. Prof Mukadasi gave Ms Daphine a Shs50,000 note to take to the culprit but he wrote down the serial number.
“When I reached the administrator’s office, I gave him my transcript request card, a photocopy of my national ID, plus a note of Shs50,000 that he took and put on his desktop. He told me to give him 20 minutes. In the meantime, I had recorded a video of him and sent it to Prof Mukadasi, who then summoned him for questioning,” Ms Daphine said.

 She said the culprit was then ordered by Prof Mukadasi to give her academic document, which he did.
 Allegations have been rife about administrators extorting money from students before issuing them transcripts or even when students need other services that are supposed to be free at the university. 
 The Academic Registrar, Prof Mukadasi, acknowledged receiving the complaint from the affected graduate on Tuesday.
“I received a complaint where it’s alleged that a staff member tried to solicit an inducement to do his work,” he said.
 Prof Mukadasi added: “We have a policy on academic integrity which includes the full detail of how these claims are handled. Natural justice demands that we must investigate, and give fair hearing to suspected staff,” he said.
 Nevertheless, Prof Mukadasi said once proven guilty, the sanctions include caution, suspension from duty and outright dismissal.
 “I will investigate this allegation to its logical conclusion. I need some time to review all available information about this allegation to determine if there is enough ground to refer the matter to the Directorate of Human Resources,” Prof Mukadasi said. 
 When contacted about this issue, Prof Nawangwe said:  “Nobody should pay any money to anybody for the processing of a transcript. Students who are told to pay for transcripts should report to the Academic Registrar at the Senate Building immediately.”
Efforts to reach out to the administrator were futile by press time.
But Prof Nawangwe said the administrator is under investigation and that appropriate sanctions would be applied