Makerere University is stuck with a challenge of lack of lecturers and intellectual staff supervision due to poor succession planning, Authorities have revealed.

According to Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the director of research and graduate training, the challenge arises from the university’s tradition of supervising students instead of grooming young scholars to succeed them upon retirement hence shortage of senior academic supervisors, especially professors.

“It is very clear in some departments where some senior colleagues retired without a succession plan by grooming somebody to take over from them, meaning we are grooming a decaying institution not a research led institution,” he said.

He emphasized that the normal practice is for a senior academic to mentor a junior who understudies behaviours of the senior academic such as attitude to research, society and their social life so as to groom them to take over when they retire.

“Mentorship is a fairly new area in the university, we only had researcher supervisors who have since retired without leaving someone who can do exactly what they used to do and this is killing research,

“Any staff with a PhD can supervise students but they have to supervise, teach and do community work as well, which means they have to prioritise their time and if you want them to do your work you need to give them an inducement to do your work,” he added.

  Makerere university, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the director of research and graduate training