On 29th January 2015, hundreds of people from various professions gathered in the Katonga Hall at Hotel Africana to witness a renowned academic and former Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba launch his autobiography “They will See Him”. In his memoir, Prof. Baryamureeba shares his life journey, childhood memories, family background and how all of this influenced him to become the man that he is today.
According to Prof. Baryamureeba, the title of the book is the direct translation of his name. This name embodies the dreams of his father, who upon birth named his son Baryamureeba; a Runyankore word meaning “They will See Him”.
“The name Baryamureeba embodies the dreams of my father. My father always told me that I was born to lead, to excel and to be great,” explained Prof. Baryamureeba.
Decades have since passed and the child born in rural western Uganda has now risen up the ranks to become a force to reckon with in the academic circles of Uganda. His story is not only fascinating but also inspiring, especially as it uncovers the unvarnished and uncomfortable truths about his life.
In his address at the launch, Professor Venansius Baryamureeba said he drew the inspiration to write his own biography from Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“President Barack Obama in his memoir “dreams of my father’’ tells a story of race and inheritance; I tell a story of breaking barriers and succeeding where many have failed. President Nelson Mandela in his autobiography “the long walk to freedom’’ tells a story of turbulence and pain under apartheid rule; I tell a story of my short walk to success. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in her memoir “this child will be great’’ tells a story of a child born to lead and be great; I tell a story of a child born to lead and be seen for his works,” Baryamureeba said.
According to Dr Rose Namara a former classmate, as a child, Baryamureeba was reserved and always emerged among the best performing students in school.
In his address, Youth MP for Western Uganda Hon. Gerald Karuhunga described Prof. Baryamureeba as hardworking, focused and a nationalist, especially with regard to his tremendous deeds towards nation building in the field of Academics.
“So those are the values we cherish that can build our nation, therefore Professor this book is like a guide on how to devote our lives to serving the people of Uganda,” he noted.
The Chief Executive Officer of NBS Television Mr. Kin Kariisa, congratulated Prof. Baryamureeba upon launching his autobiography and urged people to buy and promote the knowledgeable book.
“This book is going to inspire many technicians, doctors and politicians. A copy of “They will see Him; Memoir of a Remarkable Life.” goes for only UGX 35.000 and is available in all leading bookshops in Kampala,” Mr. Kariisa added.
Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba is the Vice Chancellor of Uganda Technology And Management University (UTAMU). He previously served at Makerere University as the Vice Chancellor, Dean of the Faculty of Computing and IT and Director of the Institute of Computer Science. He also served as Chairman of the Inter University Council of East Africa, Chairman of the Research and Education Network of Uganda, and has been Chairperson and member of several boards/ councils.
Prof. Baryamureeba has won several national and international awards and recognitions. He currently serves as the Chairperson of COMESA Innovation Council and Chairperson of Makerere University Business School Council among others. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Bergen, Norway.
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.
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 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.
Prof. Julius Kikooma – Director of Graduate Training
“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.