The Government of Uganda has declared that the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree offered by Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) remains legitimate, dismissing a public withdrawal notice issued by the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda (PSU) as legally unfounded.
In a joint statement presented to Parliament on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Attorney General, Minister of State for Sports Hon. Peter Ogwang reassured current students, alumni, and prospective applicants that the academic programme is proceeding in strict compliance with the law. He stressed that learners should not panic over their future right to practice the profession, explaining that the contentious withdrawal notice was baseless because the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) had already resolved the regulatory body's concerns with its direct involvement.
To resolve the leadership dispute that sparked the crisis, centered on claims that the previous acting departmental head lacked the requisite professional credentials, MUST appointed Dr. Jonans Tusiimire as Acting Head of the Department of Pharmacy for three months, effective October 19, 2026, while the post is formally re-advertised for substantive recruitment. Dr. Tusiimire, a senior lecturer and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, also serves as the substantive President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda.
During the debate, legislators expressed alarm over how institutional rivalries and administrative inertia could jeopardize students' careers. Ntwetwe County MP Hon. Edward Kikabi observed that the ministerial report accurately captured the regulator's concerns, while Kitgum Municipality MP Hon. Denis Oneka Lit asked the Ministry of Education to investigate underlying institutional politics and conflicts of interest within the university.
Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga urged the government to allocate the necessary funds to recruit a substantive department head and permanently end administrative bickering, a sentiment echoed by Hon. Andrew Kaluya, who warned that innocent students must never become casualties of institutional friction.
Concluding the debate, stand-in Government Chief Whip Hon. David Bahati announced that the government is drafting statutory amendments to eliminate legal ambiguities and resolve jurisdictional supremacy between professional bodies and the National Council for Higher Education.
