Poor communication puts Nkumba at risk*

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*By James Mubi*

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The dissemination of information at campus from the powers that be down
to students has remained a subject of rocket science, exposing the mantle of
the Public Relation’s Officer (PRO) of the University to criticism.

Taking an example of last holiday, students were given circulars showing
no tuition increment at all but students were extremely shocked to report
back when tuition has been increased. This leaves every body wondering
whether the PRO sat in the back and forth meetings to increase tuition or it
came as a surprise to him too. PRO is meant to sit at the top management
meetings of the University, sit at all school’s managerial meetings, like
school of law, education, and if he fails the different Deans have to
furnish him with all the information such that he is in position to
disseminate correct information to students and at appropriate time through
various media like radio, newspapers like Nkumba Times, among others.

The recent protest of second year law students on Oct 20th is another
case in point to take Nkumba to cleaners for its poor flow of information.
The law students were told to repeat year one at a wrong hour, with course
works already submitted, exams are just a round the corner, later at 5:17pm,
students had a breath of fresh air when they received letters from the
office of the Vice Chancellor pardoning them on grounds that they was late
communication from the University. God forbid, supposing these fierce
students had flamed up the law building and lib the University would be at a
great loss. And supposing the students staged a violent demonstration
against the 5% tuition increment, buildings would be pulled down. My strong
urge to the University is that if they don’t improve on the way information
flows from top to bottom, they are running a great risk.

Communication in the modern world is an indispensable tool to an
individual or an organizations for instance if you have an appointment with
your girlfriend and due to an avoidable circumstances you fail to make it,
You expose yourself to criticism if you don’t communicate to her in advance.
And if an organization does not trickle down information well to its public
then that organization would be walking on a tight rope. Nkumba University
should work on the way information flows to students because the recent saga
by law students, the University was to blame for its late communication but
not projecting the guilty on the Guild captain Okebe Nathan. Okebe could
only step in to assist the vulnerable students by calling upon the victims
to come on board and discuss the way forward so the step taken by law
students by paralyzing studies the all day was wrong because it affected the
innocent students who had nothing to do with their plight.

The PRO should plan for the unexpected scenarios because to avoid protests
at campus, the PRO should have specific days to communicate and clarify on
matters concerning student’s welfare.
* The writer is a
freelance journalist and political editor Nkumba Times*
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