The staff voted to call off the strike after they were assured of the availability of the 800 million shillings extra load allowances over which they declared the strike in October last year. The vice chancellor, Prof. George Ladaa Openjuru, thereafter announced that students will report back on February 14 for their end of semester one exams.
Prof. Openyjuru, who has been the Universitys Deputy Vice-Chancellor since 2015, beat four candidates to clinch the Universitys top job. They are Prof David Obua - a US-based researcher, Dr Byaruhanga Rukooko - an associate professor in Philosophy at Makerere University and Prof Paul Waku - a pharmacologist and founding dean of Busitema University.
Kitgum district is seeking to host an autonomous university for East Acholi districts. District leaders behind the latest move say it is the only viable solution to clouds of uncertainties hanging over the future of Gulu University Kitgum campus.
The partnership will enable them erect several cages in various sub counties where fingerlings will be confined in an enclosed cage and fed artificially. The project will be piloted in Buhuka and Kyangwali sub counties, where a number of community members have been trained.
Nancy Atimango, the guild president at the campus told Uganda Radio Network that they were marching through the streets of the northern Uganda town to press government to scrutinize the qualifications of nationals employed as security guards.
The decision followed a strike in which irate students went on rampage and burnt down the multipurpose main hall used for both lectures and offices. The students, who were due to sit for their semester two examinations on May 16, were protesting a delay in the release of semester one examination results.
Harriet Businge, the kingdoms Minister for education and member of the University Board of Trustees says the university has already attracted more than 300 students. In order to award recognized degrees and diplomas, the kingdom sought affiliation to Gulu University, Businge adds.
Pen-Mogi said that it would have been insensitive and irrational for the University to ignore the needs of the population in Northern Uganda which was subjected to over two decades of untold suffering at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army-LRA rebellion.
The students say they are being asked to pay an extra 200,000 shillings as placement fee, caution fee of 50,000 shillings and another 10,000 shillings for name tags. They also have to pay 10,000 shillings for log books and three reams of papers which were not initially being charged when the students started the course in the 2012/2013 financial year.
During a meeting called by Gulu district leaders on Tuesday afternoon to find solution to the strikes, the assistant lecturers who attended the meeting said that they too are planning to stage a strike over non-payment of their allowances. The leaders were shocked to learn that the lecturers have not been paid for the last eight months.
The students are protesting against the delay by government to release their living day allowances and the poor living conditions for the 800 students who are on government sponsorship.
Government sponsored students at Gulu University have staged a strike to protest delays by the university administration to disburse funds meant for their welfare.
Gulu University and the district administration are in a frantic search and plea for land for expansion to avoid missing out on billions of shillings in grants for infrastructural development from African Development Bank.
