Parliamentary Committee Visits Gulu University Ahead of Historic Sitting in Gulu City

The Parliamentary Committee on Education and Sports visited Gulu University as part of its oversight duties, ahead of the upcoming regional Parliamentary Sitting in Gulu City on August 29-30, 2024. Led by Hon. Asiimwe Molly Musiimwe, Deputy Chairperson of the Committee and Woman MP for Rwampara District, the visit aimed to assess the university's infrastructure, educational performance, and address challenges in the Northern Region's educational institutions.

Hon. Asiimwe praised Gulu University for its achievements, highlighting the committee’s ongoing oversight visits to universities, primary, and secondary schools in the region. "We are here to understand the progress and identify challenges to find workable solutions," she stated.

Prof. George Openjuru Ladaah, Vice Chancellor of Gulu University, presented a progress report, emphasizing the university's success, including the operationalization of the new campus in Kotido. He mentioned the recent handover of a UGX 30 billion Senate Building construction site to the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) and the commencement of the Gulu University Moroto Constituent College multipurpose building worth UGX 39.9 billion.

However, Prof. Openjuru expressed concerns over delays in the degazettement of the Gulu Central Forest Reserve, a crucial step for the university’s expansion. "All processes, including the environmental impact assessment, have been completed, but there's no visible progress," he said.

The Vice Chancellor also urged for the acceleration of plans to construct Gulu University’s Specialized Teaching Hospital, which would serve both the university and the Northern Region, including South Sudan. In response, Hon. Asiimwe advised the university to write to President Yoweri Museveni to stress the urgency of the hospital project.

This visit follows a previous oversight by the Parliamentary Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) in June 2023, focusing on projects funded by the STI Secretariat at the university.

Located in Northern Uganda, Gulu University is one of the Public universities in Uganda. 

Below are the planned activities at the Regional Parliamentary Sitting in Gulu City.