Makerere University concerned about increased drop-out over sports betting

KAMPALA, Uganda

Uganda’s Makerere University has expressed concern about a high drop-out rate linked to sports betting.

The vice-chancellor of Uganda’s largest and oldest higher learning institution, Barnabas Nawangwe, on Tuesday said at least 1,000 students drop out annually after losing tuition fees to sports betting.

“Our investigations have shown that actually, those people were dropping out not because they failed to pay fees. They got fees from their parents and wanted to invest in betting in order to get interest,” the Daily Monitor newspaper quoted Nawangwe saying.

He said some students have been duping their parents of their academic progress and even accompanying them to the graduation ceremony, knowing they have not been attending class.

“They ended up being broke and kept telling their parents stories. And parents don’t hear their names being read in the graduation booklet,” the professor said.

There have been reports in Uganda of students losing their tuition to sports betting companies.

In May last year, a Makerere student allegedly kidnapped himself after losing his tuition money to a sports betting scheme.

He was found hiding in the eastern district of Iganga after a police search.