General
Sir Tim Berners-Lee visits Makerere
The hall was filled with students eagerly waiting to at least catch a glimpse of this world famous gentleman, credited with inventing the World Wide Web from its humble beginnings to its current sophisticated nature with arms touching almost every corner of the globe.
The hall was filled with students eagerly waiting to at least catch a glimpse of this world famous gentleman, credited with inventing the World Wide Web from its humble beginnings to its current sophisticated nature with arms touching almost every corner of the globe.
Michael Niyitegeka, Head, Corporate Relations Office at the Faculty of Computing & IT Makerere and emcee for the day welcomed Sir Tim as he’s famously known to Makerere University and thanked the facilitator Stephane Boyera for making the visit possible. He then invited Dr. Idris Rai , Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Computing & IT make a few remarks.
Dr. Idris Rai thanked Sir Tim for making time to come to Uganda and Makerere University in particular. Citing his PhD work, which focused on designing and analyzing mechanisms to support Quality of Service in Edge Routers of IP Networks, he hoped that Sir Tim’s presentation would help everyone present to better appreciate how the World Wide Web operates, concluding by inviting him to deliver his presentation.
Sir Tim thanked everyone present for making time to come and listen to him, especially appreciating that a number of students from different Universities i.e. Makerere, Kyambogo, Nkumba and Gulu were present as well. Launching into the history of the World Wide Web first, in his own words "I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the Transmission Control Protocol and domain name system ideas the World Wide Web was created, which ran on the NeXT machine. The specifications of Universal Document Identifiers (UDIs) now called the Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) published on the first server in order to promote wide adoption and discussion"
With the growing need for Web clients for other platforms, browsers such as Erwise, Viola, Cello and Mosaic eventually came on the scene. Then the need for servers to provide examples of WebPages arose, which led to the creation of the first Web server (info.cern.ch). Sir Tim then founded the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org) in 1994, with its base at MIT, which is a neutral open forum where companies and organizations to whom the future of the Web is important come to discuss and to agree on new common computer protocols.
He then talked about The Semantic Web, which is an evolving development of the World Wide Web in which the meaning (semantics) of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to "understand" and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content.
Sir Tim then went on to answer questions from the gathering, notable among whom, was Prof. James Patrick Mangeni Head, Research Education Network Uganda and an alumni of Sir Tim at Oxford University. Prof. Mangeni thanked Sir Tim for his visit and looked forward with sharing experiences especially with the advent of the undersea fiber cable that will improve bandwidth capacity and foster research.
A vote of thanks moved by Prof. Mangeni signaled the close of the talk and an opportunity for Sir Tim to interact with the Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Baryamureeba, members of staff and students who had graced the occasion.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed Makerere University Chancellor Dr. Crispus Walter Kiyonga as Uganda’s Second Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament.
The appointment was announced on May 26, 2026, as part of the cabinet reshuffle for the 2026–2031 government term. Dr. Kiyonga now assumes one of the senior leadership positions in government while continuing to serve as Chancellor of Makerere University.
Dr. Kiyonga is both Chancellor and alumnus of Makerere University. He studied at Makerere University School of Medicine from 1973 to 1978, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB). He later obtained a Master of Health Science in Population Dynamics from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 2004.
Born on September 19, 1952, in Kasese District, Dr. Kiyonga attended Bwera Primary School, Nyakasura School, and Kings College Budo before joining Makerere University.
He was appointed Chancellor of Makerere University in August 2024 and formally installed in October 2024, succeeding Professor Ezra Suruma.
Political and Public Service Career
Dr. Kiyonga entered national politics during Uganda’s 1980 elections, where he won a parliamentary seat on the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) ticket. He later joined the National Resistance Movement during the liberation struggle and subsequently served in several senior government positions after 1986.
He represented Bukonjo County West in Parliament from 1980 to 2016 and was also a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1995 Constitution.
Over the years, Dr. Kiyonga has held several ministerial portfolios, including:
- Minister for Cooperatives and Marketing
- Minister of Finance
- Minister of Internal Affairs
- Minister of Health
- Minister without Portfolio
- Minister of Defence
During his tenure as Minister of Health, he played a key role in Uganda’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Gulu in 2000.
From 2016, he served as Uganda’s Ambassador to China, where he represented Uganda during a significant period of Uganda-China relations.
Dr. Kiyonga’s appointment marks a return to frontline government leadership after several years in diplomatic service and university leadership.
Significance for Makerere
As Chancellor, Dr. Kiyonga serves as the titular head of Makerere University and presides over major ceremonial functions, including graduation ceremonies.
His appointment reflects the longstanding contribution of Makerere University alumni to public service and national leadership in Uganda and across the region.
Speaking during his installation as Chancellor in 2024, the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Janet K. Museveni, noted that Dr. Kiyonga’s experience and networks would support the advancement of the university.
Makerere University congratulates Chancellor Dr. Crispus Walter Kiyonga upon his appointment and wishes him success in his new role.
The Writer is a Volunteer in the Public Relations Office, Makerere University and the Mak Sharks PRO | Est. 2014
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