By Michael Atwakiire
Sheema: Esau Willy Nshabiirwe, the chairman District Education Officers (DEOs) in Uganda, who also happens to be Sheema District Education Officer, has condemned the brutal actions perpetrated on students at Makerere University by police and military forces last week.
The police and military brutalised several MAK students who were demonstrating against a 15% increment. However, Nshabiirwe termed the police and military actions on students as deadly and portraying the forces in bad light.
In an exclusive interview with him today morning at Kyarimanya Resort hotel in Kabwohe municipality, Nshabiirwe said that “Military and police used excessive force to punish the angry students of Makerere university. It is the students’ constitutional right to express their dissatisfaction. Therefore there was no need for bullets and teargas to be fired at them since they weren’t armed.”
Nshabiirwe urged all District Education Officers, municipal education officers and School Inspectors to sit with concerned ministers and Members of Parliament to discuss the matter, especially the harsh and brutal treatment meted out on students by security forces.
He also asked the cabinet minister for education and Sports First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni to use the opportunity of being the First Lady to discuss and internalize the issue with the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni, such that they can come up with quicker solutions for the problems at Makerere, plus considering stern punishment for some errant military officers to ensure that such actions never occur again.
