Students of the School of Finance and Banking (SFB), are up in arms against their guild which they accuse of awarding tenders to personal friends. The angry students claim they have evidence that leaders of SFB Association of Students (SFBAS) award tenders without following normal tendering procedures. “Matters are being conducted without following rules. There was influence peddling by SFBAS’s executive members,” a female student alleged. Several documents seen by The New Times also indicate that the school’s management had in past been informed of the bickering among the SFBAS members. “We have written several letters to the management but they always tell us to solve the matter internally. Students are being exploited,” a member of students’ parliament said. The student representatives claim the tendering process is always marred by lack of transparency and fair competition. “The problem is that those who raise the tender issue are isolated and the school’s management is not helping us,” another student, who declined to be named alleged. A whistleblower of the alleged illegal tendering and Speaker of the students’ parliament, was fired last week. “I became a sacrificial lamb but nobody is going to silence me because we cannot allow students to be exploited,” James Shyaka, the ousted speaker of students’ parliament said. The controversial tenders include management of both internal and external school’s canteens, a restaurant, photocopying machines, public phone and a pool table among others. According to documents from students’ representatives, the guild president, Mucyo Murinzi, is accused of influencing the tender committee members, a claim The New Times could not verify by press time. “You know, some of the executive leaders are powerful personalities at the school,” the source said. The students have also petitioned the Office of the Ombudsman to intervene, claiming the school’s management has turned a deaf ear to the ongoing irregularities. “We suspect that some money changes hands. The other problem is that the contractors inflate prices which we cannot afford,” another student complained. On December 28 and 30, SFBAS tender board committee met and handed six tenders to contactors. But some tenders were not advertised and simply handed back to the previous holders, a move that riled students. Mucyo could not be reached for comment. Ends
