General
MAK holds Go Green Campaign Week
As part of the collaboration between Bangor University-UK and Makerere University which is aimed at promoting sustainable development in the two universities and their communities, Bangor and Makerere students are joining hands through their student engagement initiative, to implement the very first Go Green Week at Makerere. Slated to run from Monday 27th February to Friday 3rd March 2017, the aim of this event is to create awareness about climate change. The campaign will run under the theme, “The Green Makerere We Desire.”
The Go Green week at Makerere is organised by the Sustainability Program-coordinated by the Planning and Development Department (PDD), in collaboration with the Students Sustainability Action Group; and supported by the Sustainability Lab-Bangor University, Hub Cymru Africa and the UNDEB-Student Union Bangor.
Students are taking the lead in creating awareness under this theme and are engaging fellow students and staff to receive their views on the greener Makerere they envision.
According to Ms. Pamela Matovu, the Coordinator of Sustainable Program at Makerere University, the activities of the Go Green Week are basically run by students under their Sustainability Action Group. “The sustainability program is currently engaging University students to actively work together, learn and create sustainable practices. Through the Students Sustainability Action Group, students are engaging with fellow students and staff to receive views on the greener Makerere they desire,” she said.
She explained that students are involved in activities aimed at creating awareness. They are reaching out to students in the respective halls of residence, hostels and colleges. The participants are using placards in strategic areas within the University to exhibit environmental management messages and a photo booth will be set up in the halls of residence.
“Everything starts with awareness. We have engaged students from all Colleges to make this possible. We have also engaged students from plant science. We have concentrated on creating awareness within the University, but later we shall involve the entire community,” said Mr. Ahumuza Emanuel, a fourth year student of Urban Planning and Regional Planning at Makerere University.
Mr. Ahumuza, also the Team leader of the Students’ Sustainability Action Group reiterated that much as Makerere University is green, they needed a pattern in creating a greener Makerere and were looking for a comprehensive plan of attaining a greener institution with a structured pattern.
The Go Green week events can be followed on Twitter via the #gogreenmak hashtag.
About the Go Green Week
Go Green week is an annual week of climate action which is part of the National Green Week- an annual campaign initiated by the Green Education Foundation (GEF) which runs between February and April.
The Go Green week encourages students to run activities throughout the week to raise awareness and demand stronger actions to tackle climate crisis.
In the UK, it is organized by the People and Planet https://peopleandplanet.org/ with support from the National Union of Students (NUS). Students in UK universities run their activities during the week of 13th to 19th February.
Article by: Charles Iga-Mak News
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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