Staff Reporter
MASERU — The person who will succeed Professor Adelani Ogunrinade as vice-chancellor of the National University of Lesotho (NUL) has a huge task of repairing the institution’s tattered reputation, says the head of the university’s highest decision-making body.
Dr ‘Molotsi Monyamane, chairman of the recently appointed NUL Council, says they are looking for a “visionary” who will unite the fractious NUL community.
The next incumbent will be expected to align the university’s vision with the needs of the country, Monyamane said in an interview with the Sunday Express.
“That person must be able unite people behind a common vision that will pull this university out of this mess,” he said.
Monyamane said the next vice chancellor must have a “broader understanding of the challenges that are facing Lesotho and the region”.
“That way they will be able to deliver the kind of graduates that are competent enough to deal with these problems,” he said.
That person, he added, must focus on training professionals who will add value to the country.
“We want a person who knows that Lesotho does not have doctors and the university needs to train them,” he said.
“We want a person who knows that we need engineers and agronomists.”
A passion for good corporate governance is a prerequisite, Monyamane said.
“That person must be passionate about adhering to proper corporate governance guidelines which are currently lacking at the university,” he said.
“That person must be committed to ethical conduct as well as the values of accountability, responsibility, transparency and fairness.”
The university was in urgent need of a culture change, Monyamane noted.
“This culture of indiscipline must stop,” he said.
“But we will need a strong character supported by all stakeholders to deal with such an entrenched culture.”
Yet beyond these qualities, Monyamane said, the new vice-chancellor must have a clear understanding of the problems that are ailing NUL.
“We are looking for a person who has institutional memory — a person who understands where the university has come from and where it is going.”
Monyamane also said although they “don’t have a candidate in mind as yet” they were looking for a “professor who has a proven record of reviving and remodelling universities”.
He admitted “such a candidate will be difficult to find but we believe we will be able to find them”.
“We have big problems that need big people,” he added.
NUL VICE-CHANCELLORS
l1975-1980: MT Mashologu, BA (Rhodes), BA (Hons) (Belf), PCE (London)
l1980-1984: AM Setsabi, BA Admin (UBLS), MPIA (Pitt) Dip Soc-L, LLD (hc) (St FX).
l1984-1986: BA Tlelase, BA (SA).
l 1986-1987: (Acting) LBBJ Machobane, AA (Piney Wood), BA MEd (Tuskegee), MA (Lehigh), PhD (Rdin).
l1988-1991, 1992-1995: AD Baikie, MSc Ed, EdD (Indiana) Dip in Fine Art, Postgrd Art Teachers Cert (NCAST), Diploma Ed Media (Indiana).
l1997-2000: Professor Maboee Moletsane, a former student of the University of Botswana, Lesotho & Swaziland (the predecessor of NUL), had earlier also been on the staff of the university. In 1976 he rose to become Dean of the Faculty of Education. Subsequently he worked as professor of education at the University of Transkei and at the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the North.
l2001-2004: Dr Tefetso Henry Mothibe was vice-chancellor of NUL from March 1 2001. He was put on terminal leave on September 1 2004.
l2006-2010: Professor Adelani Ogunrinade studied at the University of Ibadan and graduated in Veterinary Medicine obtaining Distinctions in Medicine, Surgery and Parasitology in 1974. He won the University of Ibadan Prize for Postgraduate Studies, the DH Hill Prize in Veterinary Medicine and the Coomassie Prize for Overall Best Student — all in 1974.
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