Makerere University Vice Chancellor Professor Baranabas Nawangwe revealed that about 1,000 students drop out of the higher learning institution per year after losing money meant for tuition fees, on sports betting.
The Professor was speaking during an event at the College of Business and Management Sciences on March 12, 2024.
While making his remarks, the VC disclosed that the institution had conducted research that revealed most students spend money meant to pay tuition fees on betting.
In the end, the students end up failing to pay the required tuition fees leading to some of them dropping out of campus.
“We are losing at least 1,000 students who fail to complete their courses annually and the main excuse we are getting is failure to pay school fees,” Nawangwe said.
According to him, most students fall victims of gambling as they look forward to doubling the money given to them by their parents.
“Our investigations have shown that those students have not really failed to raise school fees. They actually get the fees from their parents, but they want to invest it in betting,” said Prof Nawangwe.
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In addition, the Vice Chancellor noted that some of the students continue lying to their parents even after dropping out of campus.
Makerere University Students betting trends
He further noted that some even go to the extent of taking their respective parents to the graduation ceremonies when they know they didn’t complete their courses.
“They ended up being broke and kept telling their parents stories. And parents don’t hear their names being read in the graduation booklet,” he said.
He gave an example of how a Makerere University student lied to his parents that he was kidnapped after spending all the tuition fees on gambling.
According to the VC, the second-year dental surgery student left his room at Makerere-Kikoni, going on to a hideout in Iganga District after losing all his fees in betting. He cut off communication with parents, relatives and friends.
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His parents reported the matter to the police, who then launched a search and investigation later smoking out the student from a hideout in Butama village, in Iganga District.
Uganda is an emerging gambling market and is among the countries that are witnessing the rise in the gambling industry in East Africa.
According to a report by The Economic Policy Research Centre, a major percentage of the gambling population in Uganda spend roughly 12% of their monthly income on the activity.
