General
Prof. George Mondo Kagonyera installed as Makerere Chancellor
Prof. George Mondo Kagonyera has been installed as the Chancellor of Makerere University, in a highly colorful ceremony presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, His Excellency Hon. Edward Ssekandi on Thursday 12th January, 2012 . He will be serving for a second term spanning for the next four years. His first term run from October 2007 – October 2011.
In attendance at the University Main Hall were a number of Ministers, Foreign dignitaries, Makerere University Staff, the Lord Mayor of Kampala – Erias Lukwago and the press. The Department of Performing Arts and Film put up energetic performances that added colour to the event. The Chairperson of Council, Eng. Dr. Charles Wana Etyem revealed that members of the University Council unreservedly endorsed the candidature of Prof. Kagonyera because of his able leadership during his first term. In his acceptance speech Prof. Kagonyera, committed to serving the University unreservedly and called upon the University community to appreciate the uniqueness of Makerere University.
“Makerere University has a unique responsibility to offer leadership in academic excellence as well as participating in finding solutions to problems that affect the economic, social and political development – not only in Uganda but also in the East African region and Africa at large. I appeal to the Staff and Students of Makerere University not to take our unique position lightly. We must at all times endeavour to focus our minds and actions on issues that are relevant to our calling and values as a university,’’ he said.
The fresh Chancellor appealed to Government to revise the law stipulating that Chancellors are Titular Heads, without powers, to at least accord them responsibilities. He re-echoed his appeal for Government to use Makerere University and other Institutions of Higher learning for finding solutions to the development needs of the country. “Your Excellency, there are so many ideas at Makerere University in a range of fields, that would, if applied on an industrial scale, economically transform this country,’’ he emphasized. He thanked the Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Jessica Alupo, development partners, and Makerere University staff for the efforts in steering Makerere forward.
The Vice President, Hon. Edward Ssekandi described Prof. Kagonyera’s appointment as a reaffirmation of the trust the Management and Staff of Makerere University have in him as the Titular Head. He pledged continued Government support towards Makerere and the ongoing innovations.
“During His Excellency the President’s last visit to Makerere University on 24th November 2011, he noted with great pleasure the excellent work being done by the staff and students of Makerere University. He particularly appreciated the advances made by the Vehicle Design Project in coming up with the Kiira Electric Vehicle. The Government of Uganda has therefore agreed to allocate at least 50acres of land to house the Centre for Research in Transportation Technologies (CRTT) and provide additional funding directly through the Ministry of Finance (up to the tune of 154 billion Uganda Shillings) over the next five years. The Centre’s welfare will be overseen by a Board of Trustees,’’ he said amidst applause.
“I wish to reassure the Chancellor of the Government’s full support to Makerere University. Do not be in any way limited if we can help. The President noted your concern during his visit, requesting the President’s Office to take up the task of handling Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, so that brilliant projects from students are not frustrated at the implementation phase. We are considering this request and at an opportune moment, we will revert to you,’’ he added.
Education Minister Hon. Jessica Alupo challenged Makerere University to be the centre of change throughout East Africa and called upon the private and public sectors to focus on Makerere.
“Mr. Vice Chancellor, you are steering a University that has great potential, with a vibrant student base. One of the challenges before you right now is to see that this University continues to positively impact on our industrialization as a country. We all know that industrialization is key in driving world economies. I call upon the private and public sectors to look up Makerere and partner with her in advancing many of the ongoing innovations,’’ she said.
“Students on the other hand should seriously consider making use of the 40b put aside by government to address unemployment by financing innovative ideas. This is your money, go ahead and make use of it. We have now moved into regional cooperation and this means your innovations will have broader reach and relevance. I challenge you to think East Africa now. Here you will ride on the advantage of cohesion and compatibility to gain more ground with your innovations,’’ she advised.
The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, pointed out that Prof. Kagonyera was identified as a suitable candidate way back.
“My first time to meet him was in 2007 when he appeared before the ‘’Chancellor Search Committee’’ of which I was a member. In an interview that lasted about 40 minutes, he repeated the sentence I love Makerere University 14 times. He emerged the best candidate for the position of Chancellor of Makerere University. Professor Kagonyera has been providing constructive advice, which we as Management have taken seriously. We are grateful to H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda for having appointed Professor Kagonyera Chancellor of Makerere University for another term after Makerere University Council unanimously recommended him for re-appointment,’’ he asserted.
“When we came into office on 1st November 2009, we pledged to improve University-Government relations through constructive projects/ interventions with the different government ministries/ departments. We have lived up to our pledge. Today the different colleges are highly involved with government ministries/ departments. As Acting Vice-Chancellor, every six (6) months I provide a comprehensive progressive report to Makerere University Council that is copied to all stakeholders including the Rt. Hon Prime Minister and the Minister of Education and Sports among others,” he added.
At the close of the function, the guests were treated to a delicious luncheon, befitting of such an installation.
Story by Marion Alina
Asst. Communications Officer, Public Relations Office
By Moses Lutaaya
The Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) has in collaboration with Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors.
Participants were academic staff from two colleges namely, College of Engineering, Art and Design (CEDAT) and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
The three-day training that took place at the Telepresence Centre, Senate Building ended on Friday 20thJune 2025.
In his closing remarks to the participants, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “This is the first cohort we are working together with the Center for Teaching and Learning to put together continuous professional development Program so that we are able to enforce the new teaching and learning policy.”
He said that before lecturers are allocated students for supervision, they must first go through this form of formal teaching and learning training to equip them thoroughly with certification required of supervision of graduate students.
“We are coming up with process to ensure that the certificates earned by participants allow you to supervise graduate students. This is the direction of the university and we must ensure that such trainings are concluded and completed successfully by all participants”, Prof. Kikooma.
“We can only have you certified upon completing all the exercises in the training process. This is when you will be eligible to receive the work load for supervision”, He added.
“This training of Supervisors is going to be continuous so that all academic staff in colleges and schools are equipped. This first cohort is going to be our building block to the future trainings in the colleges.”
With such capacity building trainings, Prof. Kikooma said that the university is on the right path to achieving its targets in the new strategic plan of increasing the number of graduate students while progressively reducing the under graduate students.
He further hinted that, “We are in the process of writing a curriculum on this, which will be presented for approval before it is rolled out.”
He echoed all participants to share the knowledge they have acquired adding, “Share all you have learnt, do not keep it. Be open minded, have proper communication channels and the sky will be the limit for you.”
Dr. Robinah N. Kulabako, The Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at CEDAT welcomed the training adding, “This training is very pertinent. I have had the opportunity to supervise Masters and PhD students for over 15 years and I must say that the need to be subjected to this training cannot be over emphasized because there is need to learn, unlearn and relearn many aspects involved in the supervision process.”
She added, “We are moving towards knowledge-based supervision rather than experience-based supervision. This means we must be informed and equipped to be able to advise, guide and mentor to be able to lead a successful supervision journey for both supervisor and supervisee.”
Dr. Andrew Gilbert Were – a lecturer at CEDAT and a participant said, “It is important that all supervisors of graduate students receive this certification from Makerere University through a systematic training process that enables them to attain diverse skills to facilitate learning of graduate students from diverse cultures and with unique set of circumstances.”
“This training is long overdue. In fact, it was an oversight that we could be allowed to supervise students without undergoing supervisors’ training.”
Dr. Dorothy Ssebowa, The Director Centre for Teaching and Learning support- CEES said, “The training this time round has had a mix of early career professionals including Lecturers, Supervisors and Professors share experiences. We have learnt a lot more from experienced supervisors who have shared practices on how they have done supervision over the years.”
“The knowledge and experience-based approaches have made this collaboration very active, interactive and learner centered which has resulted into a collaborative learning from the interdisciplinarity of staff from CEDAT and CAES. The issue now is to continue with professional development across all levels.” She added.
The Makerere University Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors. This activity was supported by the iCARTA – Institutionalization of Advanced Research Training in Africa, a NORHED II Project at Makerere University.
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