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Arbitrary borders are only artificial-EAC Secretariat

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“The borders of the East African countries Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi were a creation of European colonialism” remarked Rt. Hon. Eriya Kategaya amidst his opening remarks at the

“The borders of the East African countries Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi were a creation of European colonialism” remarked Rt. Hon. Eriya Kategaya amidst his opening remarks at the

East African Community (EAC) Sensitization workshop held at Makerere University on 7th May 2010.

The EAC was consolidated after the signing of a treaty by the Heads of State in 1999 and inaugurated in 2000.

The workshop was geared towards helping students and academic members of staff understand exactly what the EAC was, what it was doing to attain its goal of formation of a community and also act as an invaluable source of feedback on what can be improved within this effort.

Hon. Eriya Kategeya makes his remarks at the workshopsAs far back as 1897, the British tried to revive regional cooperation and integration for they had realized that they could not manage and administer effectively and efficiently small and unviable entities like Uganda Protectorate or Kenya Colony separately.

However, the integration declined and eventually collapsed due to problems such as inadequate involvement of the people in the decision-making process, and ideological differences among partner states.

However, on Friday, the First Deputy Prime Minster and Minister of East African Community Affairs Hon. Kategaya, reassured the congregation that this time around, there would be no such thing as a collapse. “The current East African Community is built on a firmer foundation and measures have been put in place to mitigate any collapse.” The minister highlighted.

In order to avoid another collapse, the current EAC secretariat is making the community more people-centered and market driven. Power has now been decentralized from the summit to the council of ministers; the civil societies, local government and private sector as the key stakeholders. Also, procedures for withdrawal from the community are more stringent and rigid.

Hon. Beatrice Kiraso-EAC Dep. Sec. General “African states continue to be marginal players in the global world. We produce what we do not largely consume. We are the producers of the western world’s raw materials that they sell back to us expensively as processed goods” Hon Beatrice Kiraso, EAC Deputy Secretary General said.

Hon. Kiraso challenged the gathering to stand up against arbitrary borders. These borders are only artificial and are separating Africans that speak the same language and have the same cultures. She also urged that all Ugandans should be in favor of EAC because with it, Uganda ceases to be land locked.

“Countries that are more developed than the African countries have integrated such as the European Union which consists of 27 countries. This justifies our efforts to move towards integration too” added Hon. Kiraso.

With this, it is evident that deeper regional integration has become necessary for sustainable economic survival the world over. Donor countries have found it necessary to integrate for survival- the bigger, the better, the stronger!

In all, it is hoped that with integration, there will be more attractive investment and trading blocks, drastic reduction in the cost of doing business and also free movement of people and goods, among others.

Downloads 

Ministry of East African Community Affairs overview (powerpoint)

Brief Overview of the EAC (powerpoint)

Frequently Asked Questions on the EAC

 

 

 

mwamai@admin.mak.ac.ug, Public Relations Office

Denis Wamala

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

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Call for Application: 2025 SNRM session 4 Summer School

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Participants in focused group discussions. Leiden-Delft-Erasmus East Africa Research Network (LEARN) in collaboration with the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University a workshop to deliberate strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change in urban centres in the East African Region, Theme: “Resilient Urban Futures: Adapting Livelihoods to Climate Change”, 4th-5th September 2024, School of Public Health Auditorium, Kampala Uganda.

Context:
Natural resources in Africa are being depleted at an alarming rate due to several factors, including unsustainable human activities, climate change, and population growth. A primary condition of sustainable development is to ensure that the pressures do not exceed the environmental limits, and that demand for the resources does not exceed levels that can be sustainably provided by nature. Therefore, there is a pressing need for transformative, systems-thinking approaches and tools that can tackle the diverse challenges facing these systems. In Africa, this need is compounded by a lack of data and monitoring, which significantly hinders sustainable decision-making.

Investing in young scientists who are committed to take lead in sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources is very important. Capacity building of young scientists will enhance their knowledge and skill on sustainable natural resources and their involvement for implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) in Africa. To this effect, SNRM summer schools have been implemented in three sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2022 with support from Volkswagen Foundation; to build a critical mass of skilled and competent young natural resource scientists in Africa through training, capacity building and mentorship. Session 4 (2025) will target competent young scientists (MSc and PhD students) in Africa and Germany to further develop their knowledge and skills in systems thinking, advanced data collection and analysis, and application of emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), and embracing transdisciplinary approaches. In addition, we include an ideation workshop where students can work on real problems to come up with solutions for sustainable transformations in natural resource use.

Organizers: Leibniz Universität – Hannover (Germany), University of Antananarivo, University of Abomey Calavi (Benin), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Ghana (Ghana), University of Parakou (Benin), The Technical University of Kenya, with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).

Venue and dates: Nairobi, Kenya, 16-28 November 2025

Target: MSc and PhD students, early in the program of less than 35 years of age from any university/research institution in either sub-Saharan Africa or Germany with an interest in natural resources management.

Participants and Scholarships: The course is fully funded and open to 20 MSc and PhD students from Africa, and 5 from Germany. Funding will cover the costs of air ticket, accommodation, meals, visa, and transportation. However, participants will cover the cost of their travel health insurance.

Topics

SNRM Summer School Session 4: Transformative pathways in biodiversity management and conservation.
This summer school is designed to deliver four modules over a two-week period. The modules are designed to enable the students to acquire new ways of designing data collection protocols and analysis for transformative sustainable natural resources management.

Module 4.1: Data collection I
Skills in data collection for a transformative and sustainable management of natural resources (water, wildlife, forest, land, livestock, crops) monitoring and data collection techniques; remote monitoring tools, earth observation system data, e.g. satellite data sources, LIDAR, and UAV aerial images. Collect and analyse In-situ data on biotic and abiotic parameters, map and analyse data using R or Google Earth Engine, field data collection and retrieving data from online databases.

Module 4.2 Data management and processing
Introduction to tools and methods of managing large and diverse data sets of natural resources such as time series, spatial, directional, and multivariate data. Practicals will include data storage, organization and conversion into various formats using databases such as PostgreSQL and statistical programming software such as R and Python; scripts.

Module 4.3 Ecological monitoring, modelling and management
This module aims to teach participants how to anticipate and validate trends that can be observed in various ecosystems. Lectures include ecological monitoring and its design; population monitoring studies; metrics in population monitoring; methods for monitoring and assessing marine ecosystems; human ecology to socio-ecological systems; climate change impact of ecosystems; suitability assessments; overview of the principles underlying wildlife monitoring and prediction systems for climate change adaptation. Practicals will include field data collection (individual and group); ecological data analysis using R or PAST; modelling and experiencing the behaviour of complex systems using Vensim.

Module 4.4 Natural habitat restoration ideation lab
This module is designed to spur students’ innovation and creativity, and to help students comprehensively identify interdependencies across the 17 SDG goals. Participants will be trained on ideation processes for solutions and intervention for transformative natural resource management. They will work collaboratively in small groups on case studies and develop pathways of transformative sustainable natural resource management. Examples of projects include forest (mangrove) ecosystem and habitat restoration, improved technologies for agricultural production, nature-based solutions for improving water quality, and reversing land degradation.

Language: The course will be delivered in English. Participants are expected to be fluent in writing and speaking the English language.

How to apply

Applicants are kindly requested to fill in the application form available from https://snrmafrica.com/ and submit the following documents in English through the system.

  • a curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
  • a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page)
  • a confirmation of university enrolment
  • a reference letter from the academic supervisor
  • project summary of MSc/ PhD project (1 page including objectives, methodology
    and key findings or expected outcomes).

Important dates
Application deadline: 30th June 2025.
Announcement of accepted applicants: 15th August 2025.
Confirmation of attendance by selected participants: 12th Sept 2025.
Summer school held: 16 – 28 Nov 2025.

Further information is available from

The secretariat info@snrmafrica.com
Dr Lydia Olaka lydiaolaka@tukenya.ac.ke
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Stuetzel stuetzel@gem.uni-hannover.de

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