Nawangwe and how he fraudulently became a Professor

By Makerere University Lecturer (Name withheld)

Mr. Nawangwe was promoted to the rank of Professor of Architecture in 2013. Prior to that, he was Associate Professor of Architecture, a position, which he ascended to in 2004, according to his CV. While it is contested how he became Associate Professor, we disregard that, and focus on how he fraudulently ascended to the rank of Professor by analyzing the requirements for promotion to this post at the time he applied.

According to the Human Resources Manual (HRM) of Makerere University (2009), which was in force at the time of Nawangwe’s application for promotion to Professor, the requirements for promotion to this rank were as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Requirements for promotion to Professor (HRM, 2009)

Post	Minimum Academic Qualifications	Years of Teaching	Publications	Supervision of Graduate Students	Contribution to Community
Professor	PhD or Master’s Degree in Clinical Sciences	Ten Years of Teaching experience	Five new recognised publications since promotion to the rank of Associate Professor	Supervision of five Graduate Students to completion. At least 2 (two) Graduate Students to completion since last promotion	Required

As indicated in the introduction, we focus on publications here. Besides the applicant for the promotion submitting the publications, they are supposed to be vetted externally. During the external vetting process, the following guidelines are to be followed according to the scoring system in Section 6.7.1 of the HRM, 2009. Assessors should be requested to submit the following information on each publication. Assessment of the publication in relation to:

1. Originality and contribution to knowledge.
2. Relevance to the academic discipline.
3. Relevance and currency of literature.
4. Relevance or consistency to the individual’s own specialization in an academic discipline.
5. Quality of published work.
6. Overall quality.

For each aspect (a) to (e) above, a grade should be given as per the grading system shown in Table 2. A score of A (Excellent) should only be awarded when indicators in (a), (b) and (c) are highly regarded. For number (f) above (i.e. overall quality), the grade should reflect the average of numbers (a) to (e) above.

Table 2: Grading system of publications by External Vetter (HRM, 2009)

Paper/ Book	(a) Originality and contribution	(b) Relevance To academic discipline	(c) Relevance and currency of literature	(d) Relevance or consistency to individual’s own specialization in academic discipline	(e) Quality of published work	(f) Overall quality
1
2
3
4
5

Analysis

Nawangwe was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004. We now analyse his publications between 2004 and 2013 when he was promoted to Professor.

The only work found in the public scientific domain, to which Nawangwe contributed between 2004 and 2013 is listed below:

1. Nawangwe, B. (2013). The Architectural Transformation of Makerere University Neighbourhoods during the Period 1990-2010. Second International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology. Pages 50 – 56.
2. Birabi, A. K., Nawangwe, B. (2011). Mitigating threats to local knowledge embedded in Earthen Architecture. The case of preserving African Architectural Semiotics. Terra 2008, The 10^th International Conference on the study and conservation of Earthen Architectural Heritage, Bamako, Mali, 1-5 February 2008.
3. Nawangwe, B. (2010). The evolution of the Kibuga into Kampala’s city centre – analysis of the transformation of an African city. The future life of the African City Centre. African Perspectives Conference Proceedings; Bakker, Karel A, Pages 223-227.
4. Nawangwe, B., Nnaggenda-Musana, A. (2005). Informal Response To Housing Shortage In Post-Independent Uganda – Any Lessons For Architects? XXXIII IAHS World Congress On Housing Transforming Housing Environments Through Design, 27 – 30 September, University Of Pretoria, South Africa.
5. Nawangwe, B., Sanya, T., Senkatuka, I. (2005). Architectural modernism: in post-independence Uganda.   Modern Architecture in East Africa around Independence: Conference Proceedings. p. 149-158.

We contend that Nawangwe does not have publications to merit promotion to the rank of Professor of Makerere University. All his publications are conference proceedings (Table 3).

Table 3: Analysis of Nawangwe’s so called publications

#	Papers found in Google Scholar where Nawangwe features as author/co-author	Type of paper	Number of citations
1	Nawangwe, B. (2013). The Architectural Transformation of Makerere University Neighbourhoods during the Period 1990-2010. Second International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology. Pages 50 – 56.	Conference Proceedings	Not cited by anyone
2	Birabi, A. K., Nawangwe, B. (2011). Mitigating threats to local knowledge embedded in Earthen Architecture. The case of preserving African Architectural Semiotics. Terra 2008, The 10th International Conference on the study and conservation of Earthen Architectural Heritage, Bamako, Mali, 1-5 February 2008.	Conference Proceedings	Since this paper was published in 2011, it has been cited three times.
3	Nawangwe, B. (2010). The evolution of the Kibuga into Kampala’s city centre – analysis of the transformation of an African city. The future life of the African City Centre. African Perspectives Conference Proceedings; Bakker, Karel A, Pages 223-227.	Conference Proceedings	Since this paper was published in 2010, it has been cited twice.
4	Nawangwe, B., Sanya, T., Senkatuka, I. (2005). Architectural modernism: in post-independence Uganda.   Modern Architecture in East Africa around Independence: Conference Proceedings. p. 149-158.	Conference Proceedings	Since this paper was published in 2005, it has been cited only once.
5	Nawangwe, B., Nnaggenda-Musana, A. (2005). Informal Response To Housing Shortage In Post-Independent Uganda – Any Lessons For Architects? XXXIII IAHS World Congress On Housing Transforming Housing Environments Through Design, 27 – 30 September, University Of Pretoria, South Africa.	Conference Proceedings	Since this paper was published in 2005, it has been cited only once.

None of Nawangwe’s so called publications appears in a refereed journal. What Nawangwe considers as publications are just conference proceedings that do not merit the requirements for promotion to the rank of Professor at Makerere University. They are just ‘empty’. Our assertion of the emptiness of Nawangwe’s so called publications is justified by the following:

1. One of his so called publications has never been cited, in spite of having been published nearly ten years ago. The maximum number of citations for any of his work is only three times; with some papers having been published nearly twenty years ago. Lack of citation of publically available scientific material over a period of ten years and more reflects ‘emptiness’ and a lack of contribution to the knowledge that other researchers look out for.
2. As indicated above, and according to the HRM (2009), the publications submitted for consideration for promotion should be subjected to external vetting. The external Vetter is supposed to review the contributions, based on the originality and contribution to knowledge; relevance to the academic discipline; relevance and currency of literature; relevance or consistency to the individual’s own specialization in an academic discipline and quality of published work, among others. Either the external review report was not sought, ignored or it was fraudulent.

Conclusion

Based on analysis of Nawangwe’s so called publications, we contend that he was fraudulently promoted to the rank of Professor of Architecture of Makerere University. A Professor is an academic rank and to protect the name of Makerere University, masqueraders should not be allowed to be called Professors. We hereby call for the removal of the title of Professor from Nawangwe.