General
Former Malaysian Prime Minister tips Makerere on the Oil Blessing
“The growth in wealth has been quite fast, but we have also managed to wipe out poverty in Malaysia,” said His Excellency Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
On Wednesday 30th October 2012, the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, members of management, staff and student representatives assembled in the Main Building Council room to welcome and listen to the words of wisdom from the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, H.E Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The former Prime Minister is credited with providing the critical leadership that accelerated Malaysia’s transformation from a predominantly agrarian economy into an industrial powerhouse.
“Oil exploration is a venture that brings a lot of added advantage. Because our oil reserves were small, we decided that we must participate and learn every aspect of oil exploration and production. When we started, our oil price was only 20 dollars per barrel. But today, our oil price is 100 dollars per barrel,”said His Excellency Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who served for 22 years as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The former Prime Minister also stressed the need to focus on education and better infrastructure to spur the development of any country. “We believe in education. The Government of Malaysia commits 25% of the national budget on education. We need knowledge and people skills to develop the country. “I am happy that the desire to acquire knowledge is great among Malaysians,” he said.
Al-Haji Habib Kagimu, the Chairman of Habib Investments (Habib Oil) and also a Trustee of the Makerere University Private Sector Forum described H.E Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as a transformational leader who stood up to challenge the World Bank model, and instead developed a model to transform a least developed country to one of the best success stories in the world.
At this historic visit to Makerere University, H.E. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad accompanied by his wife, Mama Siti Hasmah, and Chancellor of Multi-Media University of Malaysia led a high powered business delegation from Malaysia’s energy, manufacturing, telecommunication and oil sectors.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor John Ddumba-Ssentamu welcomed the former Prime Minister and his delegation to Makerere University. He informed the distinguished guests that at the time of their visit, Makerere University was marking 90 years of existence, and has therefore significantly contributed to human resource development at the national and international levels. Professor Dddumba-Ssentamu thanked the Government of Uganda for supporting the promotion of science and technology in Makerere University. He informed the delegation that Makerere faces a number of challenges.
“Makerere University, however, faces a number of challenges such as inadequate funding and limited resources for research. I am quite positive that these challenges can be overcome especially when we partner with institutions in Malaysia. We are hopeful that the business community in Malaysia can collaborate with Makerere University to overcome some of these challenges,” remarked the Vice Chancellor.
Hon. Ephraim Kamuntu, Minister of Water and Environment and an alumnus of Makerere University noted that at the time of
His Excellency, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad expressed his joy at finally being able to personally visit Makerere University, having previously only read about the 90 year old institution. He was therefore happy to make his maiden trip and address the Management, academia and staff on Wednesday 31st October 2012. independence in 1962, Uganda was at the same level of development with Malaysia. Hon. Kamuntu said that as Uganda celebrates her golden jubilee of independence, the visit of to Uganda very important because Ugandans aspire to move from least developed to first world status. In the same spirit, Hon. Kamuntu also commended H.E Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s visit to Makerere University. “If any transformation is to happen in Uganda, it must be hatched at Makerere University. This is the cradle of the transformation of ideas,” he stressed.
His Excellency, further stressed the significance of his visit to Makerere University as testament of the Government and the people of Malaysia’s belief in education, and their focus on initiating partnerships between Uganda and Makerere University on one hand and the business community in Malaysia on the other.
He then embarked on sharing the success story that saw Malaysia grow into an industrial power base:
“The first objective was to create jobs for Malaysians. When people are jobless, they think about how unfortunate they are, and they become anti-government. In order to create jobs, the Government of Malaysia provided land for farming to the people who were unemployed,” he said.
In addition, the Government of Malaysia embarked on industrialization focusing on labour- intensive industries. The Government also provided subsidies to rice growing in order to reduce the cost of living.
“We need a strong government to develop the country. Stability contributes to development. Attending to the problem of unemployment in Malaysia is responsible for our stability,” he said.
The Government of Malaysia also invited foreign investors to set up industries which would provide jobs to Malaysians. We prioritized the issue of local content and the Malaysians were able to acquire the required skills and knowledge in different sectors.
He was proud to mention that today, Malaysians are not only investing in the country, but also outside the country.
“With our small oil reserves, we decided that we must participate and learn every aspect of oil exploration and production. With the knowledge and skills acquired, the Malaysians decided to take on the oil business. I am pleased to mention that Malaysian oil companies are conducting businesses in other countries.
![[L-R] Mama Siti Hasmah, H.E. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Professor John Ddumba-Ssentamu in the Council Room, Main Building on 30th September 2012.](https://news.mak.ac.ug/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Makererere-Fmr-Malaysian-PM-HE-Tun-Dr-Mahathir-Mohamad-Visit-30thOct2012-Group.jpg)
The Government of Malaysia also focused on increasing wealth through prioritising the education sector and entered into partnership with the private sector to provide state-of-the art infrastructure. The Government owns a part of the privatized telecommunication companies, and a lot of infrastructure is privatized.
“Many people think that privatization is a capitalist evil, but we turned to privatization because nationalization had been repeatedly proven to be a socialist mistake. The big privatization project, however, is not for everybody-it must go to people who have the capacity and proven record of success,” states a powerful quote extracted from his Memoirs, page 500-504.
Concluding his message on economic development, wealth and oil exploration, His Excellency, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad informed the congregation in Council Room that everyone has a role to play in building the Uganda they would like to be associated with. He advised that the academia and every Ugandan should ask the question- What do we want to do for our country?
His Excellency then presented to a book titled “A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE: The Memoirs of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.” The book has 843 pages, and the preface states, “This is the story of Malaysia as I see it. This is also my story.” 
In the same book, from page 500-504, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia provides a working formula for nationalization and privatization highlighting where each model works best.
Also impressed by the Vehicle design Project –Kiira Electric Vehicle by the students from Makerere University‘s College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), His Excellency pledged to initiate strong linkages between the Makerere University students and their counterparts in Malaysia working on similar projects.
The former Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Professor Livingstone Luboobi and the Chairperson of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Dr. Tanga Odoi , Principals and Deans were part of the congregation that listened to the message on development, wealth, oil exploration and a good will invitation for partnership with Malaysian institutions and business community.
In moving a vote of thanks, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Professor Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza expressed Makerere‘s gratitude to H.E. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s for presenting the institution with a golden opportunity link up with the Malaysian universities and business community.
Article by
Ritah Namisango
Senior Public Relations Officer.
Makerere University has officially launched its Strategic Plan 2025-2030, marking a major milestone in its commitment to strengthening research, innovation, and human capital development in line with Uganda’s national development priorities.
The launch brought together senior government officials, university leadership, and development planners, including the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Henry Musasizi, and a representative from the National Planning Authority (NPA), alongside the University Vice Chancellor.
A Vision Anchored in National Transformation
Speaking at the launch, the Vice Chancellor underscored the University’s ambition to significantly expand graduate training and strengthen its contribution to national development. He noted that the institution is targeting a return to pre-COVID enrolment levels and a substantial increase in postgraduate numbers by 2030, with a focus on producing highly skilled graduates, innovators, and researchers.
He emphasized that the Strategic Plan positions the University as a key driver of Uganda’s transformation through knowledge generation, innovation, and entrepreneurship, aligned with national priorities.
“The staffing distribution is shown here. Under the approved establishment, we intended to have 419 Professors, but we currently have only 75. We planned for 473 Associate Professors, but currently have only 144. This clearly demonstrates that we still have considerable room for growth in strengthening our academic staff profile,” the VC said.
The VC appreciated researchers and research centres, that continue to attract substantial research funding. He highlighted the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and the Makerere University Walter Reed Project which attracted approximately US$70 million in international research funding into Uganda.
“When you combine the grants won by all our researchers through competitive international funding, the total exceeds US$200 million,” he said.
In her remarks, the Chairperson of the University Council, Dr. Lorna Magara, described the Strategic Plan as more than an institutional roadmap, calling it “a public covenant with the people of Uganda.”
She noted that the Plan marks “the launch of Makerere University’s next chapter,” adding that decisions taken over the next five years will shape not only the future of the institution, but also Uganda’s development trajectory through graduates, research, innovations, and leadership.
Dr. Magara emphasized Makerere’s unique national role as Uganda’s premier public university, entrusted with public resources and public confidence.
“Every investment made in Makerere must produce measurable value for the people of Uganda,” she said, underscoring the need for accountability, integrity, and impact.
Ambitious Targets for Transformation
The Council Chairperson and the Vice chancellor outlined bold performance targets under the Strategic Plan, including doubling postgraduate enrolment, increasing STEM enrolment from 30% to 55%, improving PhD completion rates from 10% to 35%, and more than doubling peer-reviewed research output, alongside a significant rise in patents and innovations.
Dr. Magara stressed that these targets are not aspirations alone but binding commitments against which institutional performance will be measured.
“Ambition is precisely what this moment demands. A strategic plan is not measured by the elegance of its language, but by the lives it transforms,” she said.
Call for Stronger Governance and Legal Reform
Dr. Magara also highlighted the need for reform of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, Cap. 262, noting that the current legal framework has not kept pace with the evolving realities of university governance and innovation.
She called on Government and Parliament to support a timely review of the Act to enable universities to better optimise knowledge systems, productive assets, and innovation capacity in support of national development.
Government Endorsement and Strategic Alignment
Hon. Henry Musasizi commended the University for developing a forward-looking Strategic Plan aligned with Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), which serves as the foundation for the country’s Tenfold Growth Strategy.
He explained that Uganda’s ambition to grow its economy from about USD 50 billion to USD 500 billion requires accelerated growth driven by productivity gains, innovation, and strong human capital development.
“Universities are central actors in national transformation. They are engines of knowledge creation, innovation, and human capital development,” he said.
The Minister stressed that government priorities include strengthening research, promoting industrialization, and ensuring that knowledge generated in universities is translated into practical solutions that support economic growth. He further highlighted the importance of accountability, efficiency, and value for money in public investments in higher education.
Universities as Drivers of the Tenfold Growth Strategy
In his presentation, the Senior Planner at the National Planning Authority, Samuel Kasule, emphasized that the Strategic Plan is firmly anchored in Uganda’s comprehensive development framework under Vision 2040 and NDP IV.
He noted that the Tenfold Growth Strategy seeks to accelerate Uganda’s economic growth into double-digit territory, enabling the country to achieve structural transformation and reach upper middle-income status.
Kasule underscored that universities play a critical role in this transformation through labour productivity, research, and innovation. He pointed out that priority sectors such as agriculture, tourism, minerals, oil and gas, and ICT depend heavily on skilled graduates and strong research ecosystems.
He also highlighted the importance of competency-based education, alignment of academic programmes with national human resource needs, and strengthening postgraduate training and research outputs.
A Shared Commitment to Transformation
Across all speeches, a strong message emerged: universities are central to Uganda’s development agenda and must evolve into research-intensive institutions that directly contribute to economic transformation.
The Strategic Plan 2025-2030 was widely commended for its focus on innovation, industry collaboration, digital transformation, and the commercialization of research outputs.
Government leaders reaffirmed continued support for higher education institutions through research funding, innovation ecosystems, and strengthened university–industry partnerships.
Conclusion
The launch of the Strategic Plan 2030 signals a renewed commitment to positioning the University as a key partner in Uganda’s development journey. With strong alignment to national priorities, the Plan is expected to accelerate research, innovation, and skills development necessary for achieving Uganda’s long-term economic ambitions. The Strategic Plan may be accessed at: https://mak.ac.ug/about/strategic-plan
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