… I have been . . . encouraged to select this topic for this year’s foun-
dation lecture by the now generally accepted fact that the universities and
colleges in most developing countries in general, and the university
colleges in East Africa in particular, still have a predominance of expat-
riate academic staff, some of whom may still hold views on university
autonomy and academic freedom which are either strange or totally
inapplicable to East Africa. Because of this, and since the governments
of all developing countries look up to their universities and university
colleges for guidance, advice and in some cases for direction in the various
matters relating to the very intricate and multidisciplinary problems of
development, it is not surprising that in several African countries in recent
times, there have been sharp clashes and misunderstandings between the
politicians on the one hand and the university academics on the other,
some of whose ideas on university autonomy and academic freedom are
not in keeping with the stark realities, needs and aspirations of these
rapidly developing countries. These clashes and misunderstandings between
politicians and academics were unnecessary and could have been avoided
as I shall show later.