By KT Reporter
Makerere University has dismissed public concerns that international students are increasingly outnumbering Ugandan learners, telling Parliament that foreign enrolment has in fact declined sharply following policy changes by the Kenyan government.
The clarification was made by Makerere Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on National Economy on December 16, 2025, as the university sought approval to borrow US$162 million (about UGX 575.6 billion) from the Korea Export-Import Bank.
The proposed loan is intended to finance the construction and equipping of modern science and technology laboratories for Dental, Medical, Engineering and ICT programmes, after several professional regulatory councils threatened to close over 100-year-old dilapidated teaching facilities for failing to meet accreditation standards.
Prof. Nawangwe attributed the drop in international enrolment mainly to Kenyan government policy decisions that ended student loan sponsorships for Kenyans studying in Uganda and expanded intake capacity in Kenya’s public universities.
“Our international enrolment dropped drastically when the Government of Kenya stopped funding students to study in Uganda. They also ordered their public universities to double intake to absorb those students,” Nawangwe told MPs.
He added that Makerere currently has about 1,500 international students out of a total population of roughly 35,000, noting that Ugandans overwhelmingly remain the majority.
“That is why you no longer see many Kenyan students at Makerere. The fears that foreigners are overtaking nationals are simply not supported by the data,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor was responding to concerns raised by Charles Tebandeke (Bbaale County), who questioned whether rising international enrolment was crowding out Ugandan students and undermining the university’s public mandate.
“I need to be satisfied that international enrolment is not out-competing nationals and imposing additional financial burdens on Ugandan students,” Tebandeke said, adding that the figures should inform Parliament’s assessment of the loan request.
Tebandeke also questioned the adequacy of welfare support for government-sponsored students, particularly food allowances, arguing that additional charges could suggest a drift from Makerere’s founding mission of providing affordable public education.
However, Yusuf Kiranda, the University Secretary, clarified that government-sponsored students do not pay tuition or functional fees, except for an annual UGX 20,000 charge remitted to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act.
Kiranda explained that Makerere discontinued direct catering services following a 2018 student survey, opting instead to pay a daily food allowance.
“Government-sponsored students receive UGX 4,500 per day to cater for all meals. The university does not retain this money. The challenge is that the amount is admittedly low,” Kiranda said.
He revealed that the University Council is constructing a campus food court to offer highly subsidised meals and is engaging Parliament, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Education to raise the daily allowance to UGX 10,000.
On the loan proposal, Prof. Nawangwe said the investment would help rebalance Makerere’s academic profile by strengthening science-based training, which currently lags behind humanities due to poor infrastructure.
“Our science-to-humanities ratio stands at 2:5. With this loan, we aim to improve it to 3:5. That is a major shift,” he said.
He added that modern facilities would reduce reliance on costly overseas postgraduate training, aligning with government priorities on skills development, innovation, and industrialisation under the National Development Plan (NDP III).
Under the Public Finance Management Act, Parliament must approve all government-guaranteed borrowing by public institutions before loans are contracted.
-Parliamnet Watch. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
