Student protests after Makerere denies him parking card "for driving car he does not own"

A student has accused the Makerere University estate department of unfair treatment when they denied him a student parking access card because he is using a car that is not registered under his names.

Denis Peter Nabende, a student of Masters in Journalism and Communication says on September 24, 2019, he applied for a student paring access card but was told he could not get it because the log book of the vehicle was not in his name.

“A staff informed me that this was part of the requirements on top of a copy of the driving permit which should be in the names of the registered car owner as well,”Nabende says.

In his letter, the Makerere University student says it is very presumptuous for the institution to assume that every individual fully owns the car they drive.

“What happens to students who drive cars given to them by an acquaintance for the duration of their study or one who drives a company owned or allocated car? Would they be required to pay for parking tickets for the duration of their study? How this case would be handled,” Nabende wonders.

The student says he currently spends an average of five hours a day and four days a week at the university but he has to pay shs3000 every time he reports for lectures, a thing he says is unfair to him as a student at the same institution.

Nabende also accuses the university of ignoring the use of modern technology of data, analytics and innovation to track traffic flow and access control other than using manual and ancient means.

“You can for instance make use of a common identifier which is the centrally allocated student number. This would be linked to the specific number plate that the student presents at registration for the semester long access card. This way, you will have linked the student to the car plate since it is the student who has interest in accessing the university and not the car owner.”

“Why must ownership of the vehicle be of interest to the university .Must all students own the cars they drive?”

A number of other students have taken to social media, especially twitter to express concern over the same matter.

When contacted for a comment, Makerere University spokesperson, Dr.Muhammad Kiggundu didn’t pick our repeated calls and messages to him.