By Raymond Baguma
and Brian Mayanja
MAKERERE University is declining into intellectual dwarfism, the Chancellor, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, has said.
He blamed this on former President Idi Amins dictatorial government between 1971 and 1979, when intellectuals were intimidated and afraid to identify themselves in society.
Speaking at the Uganda Revenue Authoritys Open Minds Forum at the Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala on Wednesday, Kagonyera said: What Amin did was to desecrate knowledge. You could not carry Makerere University identity cards, for fear of showing that you knew more.
The forum, under the theme Leadership and Nation Building, attracted academics, the media, politicians and the public.
Kagonyera invited Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, who was in attendance, to return to Makerere and help revive intellectualism at the university.
Mamdani lectured at Makerere in the 1960s and early 1970s, before he was forced out of the country by Amin. He taught there again from 1980 to 1983. He is now a lecturer at Columbia University, USA.
Mamdani said political problems in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Congo and Sudan were an expression of a deeper social problem, which is the right to own land.
Prof. Stephen Adei, the guest speaker, asked political leaders to play a role in nation building, respect of human rights, care for peoples welfare and create a sense of national identity.
Adei added that a strong media, civil society, professional associations and a loyal opposition, were important in ensuring good leadership and political development.
URA chief Allen Kagina said good governance and revenue collection were interrelated. She explained that the forum was organised to enhance tax compliance and empower stakeholders with knowledge of taxes.
