The purpose of this qualitative single-case study is to critically investigate the institutional, epistemological, and political friction experienced by dual-role academic–indigenous leaders at Makerere University as they navigate conflicting governance demands from traditional chiefly knowledge systems, corporate university management, and national political patronage networks. Guided by postcolonial institutionalism, the institutional logics perspective, and decolonial epistemic frameworks, the study examines how these leaders manage bureaucratic performance metrics, corporate auditing practices, and managerialist structures. Data collection involved 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight dual-role academic–indigenous leaders and four senior public law practitioners, alongside a focus group discussion with six senior faculty members, for a total of 18 participants. This qualitative data was complemented by doctrinal analysis of key Ugandan public law decisions and statutes. Findings reveal a complex trialectic friction between communal, consensus-driven accountability rooted in ancestral custom; the hyper-individualised, metric-centric audit culture of New Public Management; and the dominant influence of national political patronage. Indigenous administrative lifeworlds and restorative practices are systematically marginalised or co-opted by rigid statutory compliance barriers and partisan networks. The study concludes that the uncritical adoption of New Public Management in African higher education breeds institutional alienation. It recommends statutory reforms by the National Council for Higher Education and the establishment of operationally insulated hybrid governance mechanisms within university councils to foster genuine epistemic pluralism.
Joseph Kikomeko, Charles Muweesi· East African Journal of Arts...· 0 citations
The traditional model of internationalisation in higher education relies heavily on physical cross-border mobility. This structure inherently excludes the vast majority of students in developing countries due to financial challenges, visa restrictions, and systemic global inequalities. This study examines the implementation of Internationalisation at Home (IaH) as a strategic framework to democratise and reimagine global learning opportunities within Ugandan higher education, using Makerere University as an institutional case study. Guided by a qualitative exploratory single-case study design, this research utilised document analysis of institutional policies, direct observation of campus digital infrastructure, and semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 18 participants, including senior university administrators, academic deans, senior faculty members, and student leaders. Empirical saturation was achieved at 18 participants. The findings reveal that while Makerere University’s strategic plans highlight global engagement, actual practices remain fragmented, elite-centric, and dependent on outbound physical mobility. Implementation is restricted by rigid curricular approval processes, weak technological infrastructure, high bandwidth costs, low faculty digital literacy, and a persistent marginalisation of indigenous knowledge systems. The study concludes that the current mobility-dependent approach fails to provide equitable global competencies to the domestic student majority, creating an educational gap between a mobile elite and a non-mobile majority. The study recommends that the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) establish national IaH quality assurance guidelines and credit-transfer structures for virtual exchanges. It further recommends that universities implement systemic curricular audits to integrate Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and formally validate localised epistemologies. This creates a balanced, decolonised, and globally responsive educational ecosystem
Joseph Kikomeko, Charles Muweesi, Fred Kamoga Musisi· East African Journal of Arts...· 0 citations
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