The Soroti University Chancellor, Prof. Francis Omaswa has defended the appointments of the university Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Robert Ikoja Odongo, and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration and Finance), Lawrence Too- Okema.
Prof. Omaswa who addressed the media in Soroti on Tuesday said that there were no irregularities in the appointments of Odongo and Okema.
In October, Makerere University Senior Lecture Dr. Charles Omagor challenged the appointments of Prof. Odongo and Okema.
Dr. Omagor says that the appointments and renewal of contracts were irregular, illegal, null, and void. Dr. Omagor asked Soroti High Court to quash the re-appointment of the two officers and remove them from their respective offices with immediate effect. He notes that the appointments of the Public University Vice Chancellor and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor involve a search by a select team from the University Council and the University Senate which was not followed.
“I am aware that in the recruitment process of the University Vice Chancellor of Public Universities, there are always two members from the University Council and three members from the University Senate that are chosen to constitute a Search Committee that identifies suitable candidates for the post of a Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor”, Dr. Omagor noted.
But, Prof. Omaswa said that the law provides that the University Council of any new Public University recruits and appoints the Vice Chancellor and the Deputy who shall be given another term of office if there are no issues by the appointing authority.
Prof. Omaswa, says that Soroti University had no committees like the University Senate to go through the process.
According to Prof. Omaswa, denying the first Vice-Chancellor a chance for reappointment could have cost the university since the law gives an option for reappointment.
Soroti University was gazetted as Public University in 2015 and started operations in 2019. By August, the University had an enrolment of 326 students pursuing different science courses in Medicine and Surgery, Nursing, Engineering in Electronics, and Computer Science.
However, the university has suffered other legal battles arising from human resource misconduct and land since its inception.