DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ART AND APPLIED DESIGN
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN ART AND TECHNOLOGY (CEDAT)
MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
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The Julius Nyerere Leadership Center (JNLC) recently concluded a transformative three-day Youth Leadership Training program for secondary school student leaders. Held at Makerere University, the program brought together young leaders from six schools to build leadership competencies and instill core values inspired by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s principles.

Facilitators and Participating Schools

The program featured renowned facilitators, including Dr. Gardner Rwakiseta, Mr. David Nyaribi, Mr. Henry Kasacca, Mr. Saazi Ronald, Ms. Allen Baguma, Ivan Sabastian Ssegawa and Ms. Gloria Jombwe. The schools represented at the training included Kitante Hill School, Taibah International School, St. Mary’s College Kisubi, Luzira Secondary School, King’s College Budo, and Makerere College School. Each school sent a delegation of at least five student leaders, such as head prefects, speakers, and other prefects.

Program Highlights

Over the course of three days, participants engaged in interactive sessions on decision-making, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and servant leadership. These sessions were designed to challenge the students while cultivating a mindset centered on integrity, purpose-driven leadership, and service to others.

Widening the Scope of Leadership Training

Dr. Nansozi Muwanga, Executive Director of the JNLC, emphasized the Center’s mission to groom young leaders for societal transformation. “Since our inception, we have trained university leaders from across Uganda and received positive feedback. This success motivated us to extend our training to secondary schools,” she said. The initiative reflects the values of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, including Pan-Africanism, accountability, and transparency.

Dr. Muwanga highlighted that this program was a pilot initiative aimed at assessing its effectiveness in secondary schools. “After three years of training university student leaders and supporting Makerere University during guild leader inductions, we felt it was time to cascade these efforts to younger students,” she explained.

JNLC’s Legacy and Objectives

Founded in 2018 on the initiative of His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the JNLC aims to honor and preserve Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s legacy. The center focuses on:

1. Conducting policy-relevant research to bridge gaps between academia and practical policies.
2. Fostering cross-generational dialogues on African history, Pan-Africanism, peace and security, and revolutionary movements.
3. Training youth and emerging leaders.

Dr. Muwanga emphasized the importance of equipping young leaders with moral integrity and a service-oriented mindset. “Our youth program addresses leadership skill gaps while integrating emerging issues such as social media, digital literacy, mental health and well-being,” she said.

Empowering Young Leaders

With 78% of Uganda’s population under 30, the center’s programs aim to prepare young people to drive national progress. “You are not only the leaders of tomorrow but the influencers of today,” Dr. Muwanga told participants. She underscored the importance of ethical leadership, which fosters teamwork and reduces corruption.

Ms. Gloria Jombwe highlighted the inclusion of topics like financial literacy and emotional intelligence in the training to ensure holistic development. “Leadership intersects with various life spheres, and understanding these connections helps leaders to serve effectively,” she said.

Insights on Leadership and Resilience

During his session, Dr. Gardner Rwakiseta stressed resilience as a key leadership trait.  The need for resilience is key regardless of the situation that you are going through. “As a leader you need to be resilient, but how do you build resilience so that you maneuver the storm? One, you need to have values that are aiming for success, and then equip yourself with the skills to accompany your values,” he guided. In sum, “resilience equips leaders to navigate challenges effectively. It stems from strong values and practical skills,” he noted, drawing inspiration from President Museveni’s steadfastness in the face of criticism and ridicule on social media.

Mr. Ssazi Ronald encouraged participants to adopt servant leadership. “True leaders focus on lifting others. Leadership is not about self-interest but about guiding people toward collective success,” he said. He also disclosed plans to expand the program to more schools in future editions, aiming to create ambassadors within participating schools.

Reflections from Participants

Tabitha Nakayenze, Head Prefect of Luzira Secondary School, expressed a renewed commitment to servant leadership. “This training has inspired me to prioritize the needs of others, just as Mwalimu Nyerere did. I hope to demonstrate unity and equality in my leadership,” she shared. She believes many leaders today are self-centered, which hinders service delivery, but, trainings like this inspire young people to emulate leaders like Mwalimu Nyerere, who prioritized the greater good.

“Before coming here, I only knew Nyerere as the first president of Tanzania, and one of the people who fought for freedom of other people. Today, I have learnt many things about Julius Nyerere including the principles of pan Africanism, equality, and unity, and I hope to demonstrate these to my fellows,” she said.

Goodluck Kia Omondi echoed similar sentiments, highlighting the significance of servant leadership. “Learning about Nyerere’s life has taught me that leadership is about service. This training has been eye-opening,” he said.

“I am delighted to be part of this training. When you get exposed to Mwalimu Nyerere’s life, you see a person who dedicated his life to impact other people’s life through servant leadership. From the training so far, I have learnt that leadership is about service to others. Many people who get to office are self-centered, but I have realized that service is key to leadership,” Omondi said.

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: A Brief Legacy

Born on April 13, 1922, in Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania), Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a teacher and Pan-Africanist who later became the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania. Educated at Makerere College in Uganda and the University of Edinburgh, he championed values of equality, unity, and freedom. His leadership principles continue to inspire generations across Africa.

The JNLC’s Youth Leadership Training for secondary school leaders marks a significant step in nurturing ethical and capable young leaders to shape future policies in their schools and communities and later in Uganda and beyond.

The Audit Manager in the Office of the Auditor General, Mr. William Ezama has commended Makerere University for improving grants management and reporting processes.

“Since the Grants Administration and Management Support Unit (GAMSU) came into existence, there is a significant improvement on how grants in the University are managed,” said Mr. Ezama during the Capacity Building Workshop held at Makerere University on Tuesday 10^th December 2024.

Delivering a presentation on Financial Accountability and Auditing of Grant-Funded Projects in Higher Education Institutions in Uganda, Mr. Ezama emphasized the need to account for each public fund, indicating the value for money in terms of outputs/deliverables.

“Funding received through grants becomes public money. The Office of the Auditor General by law is mandated to conduct financial, value for money audits and other audits, in respect of any project or activity involving public funds,” he said.

Recounting earlier experiences before the establishment of GAMSU at Makerere University, Mr. Ezama noted that some Project Investigators had a tendency of personalizing funding received through grants.

“In the past, we encountered some cases where some grant holders would tend to personalize these grants because they wrote the proposals. However, this attitude is changing. I believe mainly because of sensititisation and capacity building programmes like the one that we are participating in.  I wish to emphasize that when you receive grants/funds, it becomes public money,” he stated.

Mr. Ezama thanked GAMSU for organizing the capacity building workshop on Legal, Financial and Managerial Frameworks for Grant-Funded Projects in Higher Education Institutions. He noted that workshops of this nature provide a platform to the different stakeholders involved in grants management to engage and understand the expectations of the government, funding agencies, other entities and partners.

Underscoring the importance of GAMSU, Prof. Sylvia Antonia Nakimera Nannyonga-Tamusuza stated the availability of substantial funding opportunities globally and revealed the need for researchers to strategize and tap into those financial resources.

“I want to assure you that there is a lot of money out there in form of grants. We need to strategize and tap into that money. Makerere University established GAMSU in 2020 with the core mandate of supporting faculty and staff throughout the grant lifecycle. This includes identifying funding sources, planning and preparing proposals, facilitating administrative review processes, ensuring compliance, managing grant funds, and successfully closing projects,” she explained.

Drawing from the experiences that grants are not free, and, also grants being legally bound, Prof. Nannyonga-Tamusuza informed the participants that the capacity building workshop bringing on board the university leadership, researchers and staff was aimed at strengthening grant administration and management skills and knowledge to manage projects of this nature.

“This capacity building program is about improving our proposal writing and understanding the rules and guidelines of the different funders. We also want to strengthen our grants administration and management skills, equip ourselves with knowledge and competencies to write winning grants and be able to manage them with compliance,” she said.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe who was represented by Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi underscored the significant contribution of grant funding to the financial sustainability of the University.

Cognizant of the strategic focus to transform Makerere University into a research-led institution, the Vice Chancellor implored leaders, researchers and staff to work hand in hand with GAMSU to continue writing winning grant proposals to support research.

“It is a timely workshop because we have strategically decided that Makerere becomes a research-led university. When you want to be research-led, it means that the intensity of research definitely has to increase. Research funding is crucial. Grants provide access to funds for research,” said Prof. Nawangwe in a speech read by Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs).

Reflecting on the ever increasing demands on the government’s resource envelope, which affects the funding remitted to universities, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi implored researchers and staff to accelerate grant application processes to win funds for research. He also appealed to the participants to exercise the highest degree of transparency in grants management and project execution.

Contributing to the discussion, the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration), Prof. Henry Alinaitwe encouraged the participants to read the Grants Administration and Management Policy, as uploaded on the Makerere University policies website, in order to understand and appreciate the roles and expectations.

With specific reference to Section 9 (7, viii) of the Policy, Prof. Alinaitwe commended GAMSU for developing the database of all grants in the University.

On his part, the University Secretary Mr. Yusuf Kiranda, acknowledged the substantial contribution of research grants to Makerere University’s funding portfolio, which is supplemented by approximately $8 million annually.

Mr. Kiranda applauded the Government of Uganda for being the primary funder of Makerere University. He credited the government for the timely payment of staff salaries, utilities such as water and electricity, teaching and learning expenses, as well as supporting research through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (MakRIF).

He called upon staff entrusted with financial resources to always be in position to provide value for money.  “The government has changed to programme-specific budgeting, which necessitates the need for staff to provide value for money in the implementation of different university activities,” he said.

The University Secretary, who is also the Secretary to Council, stressed the need for compliance as stated in the different sections of the Grants Administration and Management Policy. He pointed out that the University Council will not approve remittance of funds to any project, that is not registered or reflected in the Grants Management system of the University.

Delivering a keynote speech, Ms Nana Oye Akuffo, a Grants Administrator at the University of Ghana, with over 22 years of experience in managing grants, shared that research is dynamic and not static, and encouraged researchers and grant writers to study the research environment and adapt to emerging trends while applying for grants as well as focusing on conducting research that creates a meaningful impact on society.

Ms Akuffo emphasized the need for capacity building trainings in research and grants application and management. “Let us train our faculty members because they are key people. These are the people who will go and look out for the funding and we will manage it for them,” she said.

She urged researchers applying for grants to prioritize attention to the do’s and don’ts, noting that ignoring these details often leads to unsuccessful applications.

She underlined the need for integrity, professionalism, transparency and proper accountability in the management of grants. To expound this point, she reminded the participants that the donor community is interlinked, and the news of mismanagement of funds from a particular funding agency/body, will be relayed to other funding agencies/bodies.

Noting that different funders have different financial requirements and guidelines, she advised the participants to always study the needs of each funder in detail.

Pointing out that during the grant application process, funders request for specific policies available at the University and/or in the country, she requested the participants to always take note of the list of the policies required, and submit them as per the guidelines.

At the university level, the keynote speaker advocated for regular stakeholder engagements to ensure that every staff involved in the grant process is on board, developing policies for research development, and undertaking monitoring and evaluation of policies for learning outcomes to guide the next course of action.

During the question and answer session moderated by Dr. Venny Nakazibwe, the participants gained a deeper understanding on the need for the Project Principal Investigators, faculty and support staff to work together in all the processes of grant management and execution. In addition, participants reached a consensus that the existing structures at Makerere University namely the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration), GAMSU, and the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training should consolidate the efforts towards grants management, reporting and compliance.

Closing the half day workshop, Prof. Nannyonga-Tamusuza explained that GAMSU is working with the different units within the University to integrate the grants management system with the financial domain in order to track the entire process.

She stressed that compliance starts when the Principal Investigator or researcher reads the call for a grant, and decides to apply. She reported that during the grant application processes, a number of issues and documents are requested for, including mentioning the structures in place to assist in the execution of the grant, as well as staff or offices, and available university policies, among others.

Prof. Nannyonga-Tamusuza thanked the participants for dedicating valuable time to listen to the different presenters and the keynote speaker, and for actively participating in the discussions. She also thanked Ms Ritah Namisango for moderating the workshop.