Uganda Christian University (UCU) is facing renewed scrutiny after the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) faulted the institution for seeking regulatory guidance on Samantha Mwesigye’s credit transfer only after she had completed her law degree and was due for graduation. The latest development adds another twist to a dispute that has sparked nationwide debate over student rights, university accountability and the management of credit transfers in Uganda’s higher education sector.
At the centre of the case is Mwesigye’s attempt to transfer academic credits she earned during her first year of a Bachelor of Laws programme at King’s College London before joining UCU under a credit transfer arrangement in 2022. The controversy intensified after the High Court ruled in June that UCU had acted irrationally and unfairly by allowing Mwesigye to study for four years before questioning the validity of her transferred credits at the final stage of her programme.
Although the court awarded her 100 million Shillings in general damages and costs, it declined to order the university to graduate her, leaving her academic status unresolved. Documents obtained by Uganda Radio Network reveal that before the High Court delivered its judgment, UCU had written to NCHE seeking guidance on Mwesigye’s academic credits. In a letter dated May 29, 2026, Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi described Mwesigye as a Bachelor of Laws student on provisional admission and requested NCHE to advise on the accreditation, eligibility, equivalence and transferability of the credits she had obtained from King’s College London.
“Ms Mwesigye was previously enrolled for a Bachelor of Laws programme at King’s College London, from which she obtained a partial academic transcript. She now seeks to transfer the credits she accumulated from King’s College London to her current degree programme at UCU,” Prof. Mushengyezi wrote. However, in a response dated June 29, 2026, NCHE Executive Director Prof. Mary Okwakol informed the university that, under the existing legal framework, the Council only issues certificates of equivalence for completed academic programmes.
Prof. Okwakol also questioned why UCU had sought the Council’s guidance only after the student had completed almost the entire programme. “After reviewing the student’s admission letter, we note that by the time the university referred Ms Mwesigye to NCHE, she had already completed the fourth year of study and was due for graduation,” Okwakol wrote.
“This raises a regulatory concern as matters relating to recognition of prior learning, equivalence of qualifications and credit transfer are determined before a student is admitted to or permitted to progress within an academic programme.” She added that seeking NCHE’s guidance “at the tail end of the process constitutes a non-compliance issue.”
Rather than determining Mwesigye’s eligibility, NCHE directed UCU to resolve the matter internally in accordance with the applicable legal framework and its approved academic policies. The university is requested to engage with the student and take appropriate action in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework and approved academic policies. The university is further requested to formally notify NCHE of the action taken to resolve the matter,” the letter states.
The Council’s position appears to reinforce concerns previously raised by the High Court regarding UCU’s handling of the matter. In his June ruling, Justice Bernard Namanya held that the university’s refusal to recognise Mwesigye’s transferred credits was tainted by irrationality and procedural impropriety. “The respondent’s failure to transfer the credits obtained by the applicant in respect of her first year of study towards the degree of Bachelor of Laws at King’s College London was tainted by irrationality and procedural impropriety,” the judge ruled.
Justice Namanya further found that UCU had violated Mwesigye’s legitimate expectation after admitting her based on transferred credits, allowing her to complete the four-year programme, serve as Guild President and present herself as a graduand before reversing its position. He also observed that neither the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act nor Mwesigye’s admission letter expressly required her to obtain an NCHE certificate of equivalence before her credits could be transferred.
According to the judge, if such a requirement existed, the university ought to have communicated it at the point of admission rather than raising it four years later. He described UCU’s conduct as arbitrary, unjust and an abuse of power. Despite these findings, Justice Namanya declined to compel the university to transfer the credits or graduate Mwesigye immediately, holding that decisions on credit recognition, academic requirements and the award of degrees fall within the statutory mandate of universities and NCHE.
“I have declined to interfere with the respondent’s statutory mandate in matters concerning the formulation of academic policy and the making of decisions leading to the award of academic qualifications. Those are matters falling squarely within the respondent’s specialised competence, to be exercised through its duly constituted organs, including the University Senate,” the ruling states-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
