PSU said MUST’s Bachelor of Pharmacy programme would remain unrecognised until the concerns raised by the society were addressed to the satisfaction of its council.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda (PSU) has again withdrawn recognition of Mbarara University of Science and Technology’s (MUST) Bachelor of Pharmacy programme, raising concerns about the professional registration of 58 students expected to graduate this week.
In a notice issued on October 27, 2026, PSU cited concerns over academic standards, student admissions, staffing, supervision and the facilities used to train pharmacy students.
The society argued that although the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) is responsible for accrediting academic programmes, additional oversight is needed to ensure that universities maintain appropriate admission numbers, teaching facilities, staffing levels and clinical training sites.
“PSU Council has the distinct statutory mandate to recognise and de-recognize pharmacy programs that do not meet prescribed standards for purposes of membership into PSU and subsequent registration as a pharmacist,” the statement reads.
PSU said MUST’s Bachelor of Pharmacy programme would remain unrecognised until the concerns raised by the society were addressed to the satisfaction of its council.
The notice comes as MUST prepares to graduate 1,670 students at its ceremony scheduled for Thursday, October 29, with 58 of them completing the pharmacy programme.
Speaking to journalists at the university’s Kihumuro Campus on Tuesday, Vice Chancellor Prof. Pauline Byakika-Kibwika said the pharmacy students had continued attending classes despite the dispute.
“We have 58 graduands this year and all our students never missed a class. We admit 60 students per semester, meaning some didn't make it to another year for this cohort, due to different reasons,” Byakika said.
She also announced that the university had secured approval from the Ministry of Public Service and the Ministry of Finance to recruit a substantive head of the pharmacy department.
The position fell vacant in May after Prof. Patrick Ogwang left MUST to join Soroti University.
Byakika said the university had made interim staffing arrangements as it prepared to recruit a replacement.
“We have asked the lady nurse to step aside and we have asked the deputy dean, who is a senior lecturer and pharmacist, to fill the gap. We have issued an advertisement today after approvals, and in two weeks we shall have recruited a head of department for Pharmacy at MUST,” she said.
The vice chancellor defended the university’s capacity to train pharmacy students, saying its admissions were aligned with the available teaching infrastructure and resources. She cited an intake of 60 students per semester.
The dispute raises questions about the respective roles of higher education regulators and professional bodies in training and registering pharmacists in Uganda.
While NCHE oversees the accreditation of higher education programmes, PSU says its recognition requirements determine eligibility for membership in the professional body and subsequent registration as a pharmacist.
For the 58 students preparing to graduate, the immediate concern is whether the dispute will affect their eligibility for professional registration and entry into practice.
The university’s planned recruitment of a substantive department head within a fortnight could address one of the staffing concerns, but the two institutions have yet to announce a resolution to the wider disagreement.