After the Olympia Hostel owner, Dr. Joseph Byamugisha, rubbished off calls by the Gender Mainstreaming Department at Makerere University to have the hostel Custodian (Reuben) dismissed for alleged sexual harassment last week, the guild have devised means to ‘conclude’ the matter.
Reports reaching our desk confirm that the students held a meeting yesterday and issued an ultimatum to the owner, to have the custodian out of office by 10 am today (Tuesday, 20th August, 2019).
“On Monday 19th August 2019, the Guild Leadership held a consultative meeting with the Makerere Students community and relevant stakeholders within the Civil Society (to forge a way forward on the plight of our students in Olympia Hostel)” Marion Kirabo, the Guild Minister in charge of Gender and Ethics said in a statement.
The meeting, according to her statement, resolved three major issues which were immediately sent out to the concerned parties.
1.The custodian must be suspended by Tuesday, 20th August at 10 AM to allow investigation into the sexual harassment allegations without undue influence and also secure the safety of the victims.
2.An independent sexual harassment investigative committee is constituted by relevant authorities.
3.The electric locks at the hostel be changed back to double locks to ensure the security of the occupants of the room.
She went on to warn that failure to heed to these resolutions shall prompt the guild leadership to take more radical measures.
Olympia Hostel has been in the news for sometime now after girls attached to the hostel intimated that their hostel custodian was a sexual terrorist that had over the years threatened their well being in the university and the hostel due to unending sexual advances and in some cases threatened rape.
The girls started an online petition calling for his dismissal and used the platform to recount horrifying tales about sexual harassment in the hostel. But up to now, nothing has been done.