By Anthony Kusingura
Adequate housing as a right under Article 11(1) of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, as well as other international instruments to which Uganda is a signatory.
The CESCR General Comment No.4: The Right to Adequate Housing clarifies that shelter should be interpreted broadly beyond simply having a roof over one’s head, and that adequate shelter must have adequate and affordable privacy, space, lighting and ventilation, basic infrastructure, and location in relation to basic facilities to promote peace, security, and dignity.
Uganda is required to recognise the right of its citizens (including university students) to adequate food and shelter. However, a simple stroll through university students’ residences across the country reveals the ugly reality that much work needs to be done to improve their habitability.
The facilities available fall short of the minimum standards set by some of our sister societies, who have recognized the importance of students staying in adequate, fit-for-purpose accommodation of reasonable quality, where the learning, living, and psychological environments favor their success in academic and co-curricular activities.
According to research, students who live in university-affiliated residences are more likely to succeed socially and academically because they have access to additional resources and conducive environments that are available on university grounds.
In addition, many students have been robbed, raped, or murdered on their way to or from their private residences off campus. Life in university-affiliated student residences also needs an overhaul, as they have their own set of challenges. Their residents will admit to congestion, bedbug infestations, inaccessibility to students with disabilities, poor meals, and insecurity, all of which have an impact on student performance.
It is concerning that, despite the government’s promise to facilitate adequate housing in its Vision 2040, The New Vision of Tuesday, September 27th, 2022, the government is instead heading in the opposite direction, pregnant with a proposal to scrap the meager funds for meals and accommodation provided to a few students enrolled in government scholarship programs but staying in private hostels. This is likely to exacerbate the students’ already difficult living situation.
