Makerere speaks out as senior lecturer’s ex-wife revives 15-year-old acid attack case

Makerere University has broken its silence after the former wife of one of its senior academics revived allegations that he masterminded an acid attack that left her with severe facial injuries 15 years ago.

Hanifah Nakiryowa has in recent weeks taken to social media to accuse her former husband, Dr Faisal Buyinza, of arranging the December 11, 2011 attack. 

Buyinza is now the head of Makerere University's Department of Economic Theory and Analysis at the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS). 

Nakiryowa has also detailed her experience in a recently released biography titled ‘Hanifah.’

She currently lives with a surgically reconstructed face following the acid attack.

“This gentleman is the reason I look like this today. He is still a lecturer, still manipulating young women. Beware. It has been 15 years and now it is my moment of truth,” she says in one of the videos.

Makerere responded on Thursday, October 1, saying it had noted the “serious concerns” raised in the social media videos about a member of its academic staff.

The university did not name Buyinza or announce an investigation against him. It instead stressed its policies against sexual harassment, gender-based violence and misconduct.

“We recognise that such matters can cause profound distress and that it takes courage to speak about experiences of harm,” the university said.

Makerere said it maintains “a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment, gender-based violence, and any form of misconduct that threatens the well-being” of its community.

It encouraged anyone with complaints to report them through the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate, Office of the Dean of Students or MakSafeSpace, its online reporting platform.

Court reports from the period show that Nakiryowa was attacked with acid on December 11, 2011.

Prosecutors later accused Buyinza of attempted murder, alleging that he had masterminded the attack at Mugenyi Flats in Kampala. He denied the charge. 

Nakiryowa told Buganda Road Court that her seven-year marriage to Buyinza had broken down before the attack and that she had moved out of their home.

She testified that on the evening of December 11, Buyinza asked her to return to the house. According to her court testimony, she reached the gate at about 8pm and called him, but he told her to walk to the house.

She said she knocked on the door but received no response. While she stood outside, an unidentified person approached and poured a liquid on her face. 

Acid also splashed onto the couple's one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, who was with her. Both were admitted to Mulago hospital with burns. She suffered extensive injuries to her face, including damage to her eyes and nose. 

Nakiryowa told court that Buyinza had threatened her before the incident and accused him of hiring the person who carried out the attack. Buyinza denied knowing about or arranging the attack. 

She later underwent treatment and reconstructive procedures abroad. A 2014 court report noted that she was undergoing an operation in London while proceedings against Buyinza continued. 

The attempted murder case dragged on for more than two years, with repeated delays blamed on the failure of prosecution witnesses to appear.

In one hearing, a key police witness failed to testify, forcing court to adjourn the matter. 

By July 2014, only two prosecution witnesses had testified; Nakiryowa and her father 

On July 23, 2014, the Director of Public Prosecutions discontinued the attempted murder case.

State attorney Lillian Omara presented a letter from then DPP Mike Chibita informing Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Lillian Bucyana that the prosecution would no longer pursue the matter. The court discharged Buyinza. 

The decision came after the prosecution repeatedly failed to produce more witnesses. The court had previously given the state a final opportunity to bring additional witnesses. 

Buyinza, who had denied the allegations throughout the proceedings, was therefore released without being convicted of the attempted murder charge. After the case was discontinued, he was quoted as saying: “God can never forget his servant.” 

Nakiryowa now alleges that the failure of witnesses to appear was not accidental. She claims Buyinza used influential associates, including the son of a senior military officer, to intimidate witnesses.

In her latest revelations on social media, Nakiryowa accused Buyinza of abusing his position when she was his student at Makerere.

She alleges that he withheld her marks and those of some of her friends until she agreed to date him. She says she became pregnant before graduation and later spent seven years in a troubled marriage with him.

She says the couple had two children.

“At the time he attacked me, my daughter was five years old. Fifteen years later she is 20. That means that at 20 she could be a student at CoBAMS; she is a potential target for men like Dr Buyinza,” Nakiryowa said in one of her recent videos.

She also accused her former husband of failing to support their children's education.

“We are talking about a PhD holder and head of department in a national university, he has educated masses. But do you know that he is not responsible for educating his own children? I have raised and educated my children myself in private schools in the US,” she said.

Makerere appointed Buyinza head of the Department of Economic Theory and Analysis in 2024 after Dr Joweria Teera handed over the office. The university said at the time that he had served as a senior lecturer and supervised graduate students. 

Buyinza was later promoted to associate professor in the Department of Economic Theory and Analysis. 

Makerere said on Thursday that formal complaints are investigated under its safeguarding, sexual harassment and staff disciplinary procedures while observing “natural justice and due process for all parties”.

The university did not state whether Nakiryowa has lodged a formal complaint or whether it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Buyinza.