A five-member committee set up to investigate sexual harassment at Makerere University has revealed top sex predators, detailing why the vice is still ‘incurable.’
This report titled “A report on the investigation of sexual harassment at Makerere University” dated June 2018 presented findings and recommendations of the Committee that was appointed by the Vice-Chancellor on 2nd March, 2018 to investigate sexual harassment at Makerere University.
This committee was set up in response to several cases of sexual harassment that had gutted the institution, climaxing with the case of Dr. Swizen Kyomuhendo, a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration who was secretly filmed by a female student whom he attempted to abuse sexually.
In its report, the committee in their investigation listed about 10 top cases of sexual harassment at Makerere University with some involving abuse of female students by fellow male students.
The report ranked Lumumba Hall, one of the residences halls at Makerere as number one in sexual harassment where male students sexually abused female counterparts who pay them a visit and subsequently reject their sexual advances. The committee attributed this to rampant abuse of drugs and alcohol by resident of Lumumba Hall.
“The Committee received reports that in some men’s halls of residence female cleaners and cooks do laundry for students for a small fee. An example was cited in Lumumba Hall where some male students who abuse alcohol and drugs sexually assault cleaners when they go to collect clothing for washing. When female students engage in excessive alcohol and drug abuse they also become vulnerable to sexual assault and other forms of abuse. Several cases of student-to-student sexual harassment and assaults reported by the respondents were attributed to predators who viewed inebriated females as targets,” the report reads.
In April 2017, a female student of Music and Film called Brenda Nakyejjwe went to visit her male friend, Jeremiah Mukyemu – a fourth year medical student in Mitchell Hall. It is alleged that after Brenda rejected Jeremiah’s sexual advances, the two engaged in a bitter argument. When she realized that she had been cornered in his third-floor room and nobody was responding to her shouts for help, Brenda jumped out of the window to escape sexual assault. She was injured and subsequently admitted to Mulago Hospital with multiple fractures and injuries. The media reported that Jeremiah had allegedly attempted to rape another female student in 2015 but the case was resolved out of court.
Another case reported to this Committee was that of a third year Law student, Sheba Tayahwe, who lodged a formal complaint to the Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee of the School of Law against a fellow student called Franco Tumuhimbise in November 2013. She alleged that while in a lecture, Franco sent her a note saying, “If you don’t remove that whorish mosquito net in 20 minutes, I promise to undress you,” a reference to her skirt-shorts culottes.
Other sex predators that the committee mentioned in their report include; Dr. Swizen Kyomuhendo, Brian Musaga, a lecturer in the School of Statistics and Planning in the College of Business and Management Sciences (COBAMS) reported in July 2017. There was also a case reported in April 2017 where two female students of medicine and surgery approached the Mentorship Committee of the College of Health Sciences (CHS) complaining of being sexually harassed by some lecturers.
This Committee was also informed about the case of Vasha Ntegeka, a first year student of Botany and Zoology at the College of Natural Sciences, who reported a rape case to Wandegeya Police Station in March 2016. She alleged that her lecturer and benefactor, Mr. Chris Bakuneta had sexually assaulted her in the garage-turned-bedroom that he had availed her near his residence in Quarry Flats. Bakuneta allegedly helped Vasha secure a scholarship for her studies, as her parents could not afford the tuition fees. The committee also received a case concerning an officer in the Academic Registrar’s Department, one Edward Kisuze, who allegedly abused a former female student, Rachael Njoroge. Rachael reported that while she was seeking certification of her academic documents, Kisuze allegedly accosted her.
In its report, the committee headed by Professor Sylvia Tamale revealed the causes of rampant sexual harassment cases at Makerere and among those included; the provocative dress code by female students, poor academic monitoring and mentoring systems, lack of awareness of the Policy and Regulations Against Sexual Harassment, abuse of power and campus environment that devoid of cameras, streetlights and the general physical infrastructure and organizational environment that is highly conducive to serial sexual harassment.