Pauline Uti Mazrui, the wife to the Late Prof. Ali Mazrui, has made her maiden visit to Makerere University in a bid to renew the commitment of taking Mazuriana projects forward. Mrs. Mazrui was in the company of Mohamed K. Mazrui- a cousin to the late Prof. Mazrui. The team was received by the Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu, members of Management and officials from the Makerere University Private Sector Forum (MUPSF).
Mrs. Mazrui was overjoyed at visiting Makerere University, describing it as a place dearest to the late Prof. Mazrui’s heart. “It’s quite an honour to see a place that built Prof. Mazrui. Uganda and Makerere University were so close to him. When you visit our house, you see his photos with Ugandan women dressed in the traditional busuti. He used to say his most productive years were at Makerere University,” she explains with nostalgia.
“We should come together as a team and see how to keep his memory alive. How do we harness the resources that we have in common to ensure that we continue building peace, tolerance and acceptance as some of the ideals he believed in,” she added. Pauline explained that most of the efforts towards reawakening Prof. Mazrui’s works will be embedded in research, as the best way of legalizing him.
The Vice Chancellor emphasized that Makerere University benefitted from Prof. Ali Mazrui in as much measure as he did benefit from it. He called upon Mrs. Pauline Mazrui to play a key role in taking on his legacy. “We are not looking for resources from you, but Prof. Mazrui had friends. If you can connect us to those friends, then you will have done your part in assisting Makerere University, Uganda and East Africa,” he said.
According to Nuha Mwesigwa of the MUPSF, Mrs. Pauline Mazrui is on a mission to trace and appreciate the different Universities that Prof. Mazrui worked at and also has a passion for peace building. She is scheduled to meet the Principal and members of Staff from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS).
Background
In 2009, Makerere University together with Makerere University Private Sector Forum (MUPSF) hosted Professor Ali A. Mazrui through a series of joint colorful events, the climax of which was the launch of the Ali Mazrui Chair and Scholarship Endowment and the Mazrui Centre of Global Studies (MCGS) at Makerere in his honor and to uphold his name in perpetuity. The two constituted the Makerere-Mazruiana Projects (MMP).
The Mazrui Chair at Makerere was in honor of the exemplary record of his accomplishments that began at the University in 1963. Professor Mazrui received that honor during a colorful ceremony which, was officiated by H.E Yoweri Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda, represented by Professor Apolo Nsibambi, then, Prime Minister of Uganda.
The Mazrui Chair is intended to attract future scholars of exceptional distinction in the objective that any new holder would repeat Professor Mazrui’s illustrious record of the past. The Chair is intended to support nationally and internationally credentialed research professors and lecturers in teaching, research, new innovations and knowledge management and exchange plus those engaged in writing and publishing.
Professor Ali A Mazrui proposed the agenda of his Chair at Makerere to focus on African’s Triple Heritage; a subject where he had written a book, done a television series and taught classes at two universities, and lectured across continents. In his own words, the Professor remarked ‘it may be easier to promote this project as it will be focusing on the Indigenous African Civilization; Islamic civilization and Western Civilization. This qualifies it to be called; The Mazruiana Chair of Africa’s Triple Heritage’ (Ali Mazrui).
Compiled by Marion Alina