𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀

(2/2) The record of @VUKampala also deserves mention: • In mid-2023, @PharmacistsUg told @VUKampala to stop advertising a Bachelor of Pharmacy that was not yet accredited, and Prof. Muganga reportedly said PSU had no right to halt it (@DailyMonitor). • On 1 February 2024, @nche_uganda was reported to have cautioned @VUKampala over the same unaccredited BPharm course (@parrotsug). • In April 2024, the @VUKampala BPharm programme was accredited with a set limit on numbers (@kampalareportug). • On 19 October 2026, PSU raised concerns over reports of 364 students admitted by Victoria in one intake against an annual limit of 50, and asked for online pharmacy exams to stop (@PulseUganda). Holding a university to the conditions it accepted is not "gatekeeping" in my view. For a private university that runs on fees, every extra student brings in more money, so there may be an insatiable desire to enrol as many students as (im)possible. Regulation exists for this very purpose: commercial interest must never override public safety and interest. I take the @PharmacistsUg /@nche_uganda concerns as public-spirited rather than "gatekeeping". This conversation matters, because a patient in need of help does not have the time or opportunity to ask where the pharmacist trained. The patient simply trusts the professional, and that trust is sacred. It is earned through the quality and rigour of the pharmacist's training. If we allow profit to go ahead of quality and rigour and cut corners on tomorrow's professionals, the bill will come due at the dispensing counter, on the pharmaceutical manufacturing floor and in the quality of our pharmaceutical policy discourse, and patients will ultimately pay the painful price of these actions. I am also not persuaded by Prof. Muganga's thoughts on "education tourism". Foreign students come here only if their higher education regulators back home recognise the degree, and that depends on how seriously we guard its quality here. We cannot have our cake and eat it: we cannot expect to be the destination of choice for foreign pharmacy students and at the same time cry foul when a regulator asks us to abide by accreditation conditions. So, Prof @ReachDrMuganga, no one contests that Uganda needs many more pharmacists. But I am certain that you, too, want every pharmacist in our communities to be well trained: someone you would trust to hand medicine to your own child. Insisting on that is not gatekeeping. It is what we, as pharmacists and educators, owe the public. My 2 cents

I have cleared in full the @CentenaryBank loan that had placed the only family home of five orphaned children at risk. Many will recall the young girl who tearfully shared her family’s predicament during our Expose the Corrupt rally in Kanungu. Their uncle had mortgaged the family’s only home to secure a bank loan and subsequently disappeared, leaving the children facing the possibility of losing their inheritance. Today, I am pleased that this matter has been brought to a positive conclusion. The outstanding loan has been cleared to ZERO. Arrangements will now be made to transfer the property title into the names of the five children and have it appropriately caveated to safeguard their interests and protect their inheritance. Beyond securing their home, all five children will be supported in their education up to Senior Six (S6). I sincerely thank the new Kanungu District LC5 Chairman, Mr Byamukama, for his generosity in offering the children scholarships at his school. I also appreciate everyone whose kindness and compassion have contributed to this intervention. I will task the LC5 Chairman, together with the children’s aunt and caretaker, to oversee their welfare, education and continued protection. We must ensure that these children grow up in a secure and supportive environment. This is about more than clearing a bank loan. It is about protecting the inheritance of vulnerable children, restoring hope and giving them an opportunity to build a better future. May God bless the kind people