Minister of Education ,Mrs Janet Museveni inspects burnt structure
Prof. Nawangwe says main building will be rebuilt in shortest time possible
Makerere to mark 100 years in two years time
Makerere university’s academic and financial records were safely stored in digital form and were not destroyed in a fierce fire that gutted the Ivory Tower-the 98 year old university’s iconic symbol.
“The fire at our Main Building was a very big tragedy. However, I would like to assure all our alumni, staff, students, and general public that all our records past and current; human resource materials , student, academic and financial records are all safely stored in digital form,” Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe the Makerere university Vice Chancellor stated.
Police fire fighters put out the blaze they battled for close to 8 hours saving much of the main building structure. “When I came, the fire was still on the other side [right hand side] in the roof, and when the fire brigade came, the first vehicles didn’t have enough pressure to push the water into the roof,” said Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, explained adding that the vehicle with a crane arrived after the fire had crossed to the left side of the Ivory tower.
Built with 20th century British architectural designs it was completed in 1941 with funding from the Colonial Development Bourse.
Among the offices which were affected by the fire include that of the vice chancellor and his deputies, the university bursar, directorate of finance, internal audit, director human resource, public relations and university’s main hall among others.
Prof. Nawangwe assured the nation that the university administration was determined to restore the building to its historic state in the shortest time possible. Mrs Janet Museveni, the Minister of Education inspected the razed structures and promised government’s support to rebuild the main building to its historical symbolism. The Katikiro of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga who is himself an alumni of Makerere University where he read law said ; “I trust Government will support VC, Barnabas Nawangwe, to spearhead investigations to establish the cause of the fire, and, more importantly, to restore the Ivory Tower to its original state and appear
