The Makerere University-Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) Annual Review Meeting (ARM) has today Monday 2nd October 2017 kicked off under the theme "Multidisciplinary Research for Social Transformation”. The colourful opening ceremony was presided over by the Ambassador of the Royal Swedish Embassy to Uganda H.E. Per Lindgärde. The Ambassador was accompanied by his First Secretary in charge of Research Cooperation, Dr. Gity Behravan. After a brief courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe in his office also attended by Director, Directorate of Research and Graduate Training, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the officials then made their way to the Main Hall for the day’s proceedings.
Makerere University is implementing the US$32million Bilateral Research Cooperation agreement for a five-year period (2015-2020). The main objective of the research program is to strengthen the capacity of public universities to conduct and sustain high quality research that will contribute to the development needs of Uganda and beyond.
Welcoming guests to the ARM, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi shared that the event was organized to discuss and appraise research undertakings, share information and learn about developments in the fields of Research, Technology and Innovation achieved in collaboration with Kyambogo University, Busitema University, Gulu University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST).
“Your Excellency, I am proud to report our contribution to policy formulation at different levels including: The Energy Policy for Uganda; The policy on use of energy-saving bulbs; land amendment bill; various policies in health, such as policies on HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB treatment and control, National Gender Policy; policies on peace and conflict management and good governance and, National Compensation Policy for Avian Influenza. The Sida research programme has supported most of these initiatives” said Prof. Buyinza.
In his remarks, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe thanked the Royal Swedish Embassy in Uganda for honouring Makerere by choosing the institution to host the joint Review Meeting every year. “Over the past 16 years of collaboration, the Swedish government has invested to the tune of US$ 73 million into Uganda’s graduate training and scientific environments in the public universities; the main recipient being Makerere University. The Swedish support has played a fundamental role in strengthening our capacity to deliver our core functions.”
Prof. Nawangwe reassured Ambassador Lindgärde of Makerere’s commitment to consolidate the achievements of the previous phases while taking a multidisciplinary approach. “Your Excellency, I would like to assure you that Makerere University will optimally and appropriately utilise the allocated resources as well as ensure timely implementation of all activities.”
During the previous phases of the Makerere-Sida Bilateral Research Cooperation the University has successfully trained 210 PhDs, 95 Masters Graduates and 20 post-doctoral fellows. Under the current research collaboration 337 university staff from Makerere, Kyambogo, Busitema, Gulu and Mbarara University of Science and Technology have been recruited and will be trained in partnership with eleven Swedish institutions.
In his address, H.E. Per Lindgärde congratulated Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe upon his election as Vice Chancellor of Uganda’s oldest and largest research University. “I appreciate that you already are familiar with our bilateral research cooperation through your involvement with the program in various capacities from its very start in 2000. This is indeed an advantage and will be of great help for you in ensuring that the Makerere University will be able to provide innovative teaching, learning and research services that are needed for effective implementation of our cooperation. The Swedish Embassy is looking forward to working closely with you in this endeavor.”
The Ambassador admitted that although improving higher education was a complex challenge, the sector remains essential to Uganda’s development. He noted that it was time for the nation to reassess its policies and allocate the resources needed to make higher education the dynamic engine that can power Uganda’s economy for decades to come.
Dr. Gity Behravan in her remarks reiterated the Ambassadors for the need for Uganda to accord more priority to funding research. “The lesson learned here is that funding of universities cannot be a lesser priority for a nation. Further, funding cannot be left to international donors, it is not sustainable. The issue of funding universities is a matter of development of and for a country, and needs to be steered nationally.”
Addressing the partnering universities on research uptake, Dr. Behravan noted that it is important that research findings and innovations should reach beyond the university. She urged all researchers to not only inform existing policies but also aim at critically appraising them, so as to come up with policy alternatives based on the new knowledge arising out of their research.
She further urged the research communities in the partnering universities to establish synergies with other Sida-funded programs especially as the final phase of the Makerere-Sida Bilateral Research program approaches its end. She commended the Department of Mathematics for already embracing this strategy and going ahead to develop a regional PhD curriculum in Mathematics, which has already been approved by the National Council for Higher Education.
As part of this year’s ARM, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences will showcase research under the Social Sciences and Gender Research Day, moderated by: Dr. Andrew Ellias State and Dr. Consolata Kabonesa. The rest of the ARM shall be conducted in the form of meetings at the various colleges.
The 3rd annual Fundis and Technicians sensitization event and exhibition by manufacturers of building materials organized by the Department Architecture and Physical Planning at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University came to a close with a call for increased partnerships between training institutions and the community.
The event that attracted 200 participants including masons, fundis, painters, builders, metal and electrical fabricators ran from Thursday 24th to Friday 25th October 2024 at CEDAT. It was supported by several stakeholders and was characterized by training sessions and an exhibition of building materials by different companies that make cement, paint, water tanks tiles and many more.
Prof. Henry Alinaitwe, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration represented the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe at the opening of the training. In his remarks, he extended appreciation to the technicians for accepting to take part in the training which he said was key in ensuring that they gain from continuous learning. Prof. Alinaitwe observed that although some of them did not get through formal training, it was important that they took part in such training programs to keep abreast of the developments in the construction industry where they undertake the bulk of the work as masons, technicians, plumbers, and metal fabricators.
‘Keep improving, we need to up our game in terms of quality’, he said while making reference to the need for quality output. He cautioned them on issues of cost and cheating of their clients by making realistic costs. ‘We need to cost the work well taking into account the materials, the labor, the equipment used, and the overheads’. The other area that needed to be taken care of by the technicians included time management, which reflects on attitudes towards work, team work. While addressing the gathering in his capacity as Chairman of the Engineers Registration Board, Prof. Alinaitwe said the upcoming engineering Registration Bill, if approved, has a provision for the registration of all artisans and hence the need to have the minimum requirements for the stakeholders to be registered. He also stressed the need to bring on board as more women as possible. ‘We want to see more women, who can do some aspects in construction better than men like painting.
Prof. Moses Musinguzi, the Principal of the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology while welcoming the trainees to the college said the training is a good initiative that will help address challenge of skill and work match. He encouraged the trainees to do smart work, and take due consideration of ethics and customer care. He encouraged the department to extend the training opportunity to other units of the college and the university and also make it more formal, as part and parcel of the training program of the college in liaison with bodies like UBTEB.
Assoc. Prof. Kizito Maria Kasule, the Deputy Principal CEDAT while appreciating the initiative of the department said countries like Germany have apprenticeship training that help the training of students to gain skills equivalent to those acquired while in formal institutions of learning. He said the academia in Uganda is increasingly recognizing the importance of the informal sector in the growth of the country. ‘We need to learn from you. Almost 90% of the people in the construction industry have been informally trained’. He said by learning from each other, the two sectors jointly make a contribution towards the development of the country.
Dr. Amin Tamale Kiggundu, the head of the Department of Architecture and Physical Planning said the initiative, a community outreach program of the college started three years ago in the year 2022 with 60 Fundis and masons, in 2023, the number was increased to 120 Fundis and the current 2024, was 200 Fundis of various categories, including painters, builders, metal fabricators, plumbers and electrical fabricators. He said this community outreach program aims at sharing the accumulated scientific knowledge in building, design and construction technologies at CEDAT, sharing the expertise, knowledge and experiences with communities in greater Kampala and hence bridging the existing knowledge and skills gap between the training institutions and the communities.
The 21st century is characterized by collaboration, partnerships, and establishment of knowledge economies. He said based on the trainings held so far, it is clear that partnerships between the training institutions and the communities were possible especially the Fundis who are closer to the communities. ‘We also want to learn from the Fundi’s experiences, how they are able to connect to the communities in some cases better than those who have gone through the training institutions’, he said. He further noted that the majority of fundis are young people that need to be supported with skills and other ways of nurturing them. The dream of the department, he said is to introduce an open door policy that allows fundis and other university students to come to learn.
Several organizations supported the event and participated in the exhibition and they included Habitat for Humanity, Uganda, Green Building Council Uganda, The National Building Board, Uganda Clays Limited, Centenary Bank, Steel and Tube Industries Ltd, Simba Cement, Plascon, Goodwill, Cresttanks among others.
Dr. Elizabeth Patricia Nansubuga, Chairperson of the Makerere University Retirement Benefits Scheme (MURBS) Board of Trustees, announced this milestone during the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the year 2023/24 held on Thursday, 24th October 2024, at Makerere University Main Campus, School of Public Health Auditorium.
The AGM attracted various stakeholders, including trustees, Audit Committee Chairperson CPA David Ssenoga, Board Evaluation Consultant Vincent Kaheeru, URBRA Representative Mark Lotukei, Audit Committee members, co-opted members, and university administrators.
Presenting the performance report, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Nansubuga highlighted that this is the highest interest declared by the scheme in the past five years, and she anticipates continued improvements. She noted that for the previous financial year, which ended in June 2023, the Board of Trustees declared an interest an interest of 12.34%.
Dr Nansubuga also announced that the scheme has achieved a Net Investment Income of UGX 44.6 billion, far higher than the UGX34.4 billion collected in Contributions during the year.
The Chairperson of the Board also revealed that the fund value had grown from UGX352.4 billion recorded at the end of the last financial year to UGX409.2 billion, indicating an increase of 16.1%.
“By 30th June 2023, MURBS had a fund value of UGX 352.4 billion. The Board of Trustees targeted Fund growth of 17%, and I am glad to inform you, that the fund value of MURBS, as per the Audited Financial Statements of 30th June 2024 is UGX 409.2 billion, which is an increase of 16.1%. This achievement was made possible by strategic periodical activities undertaken by the Board and our fund managers, supported by the strong oversight committees of the Board,” she reported.
She attributed the positive growth to factors such as improved debt recovery, operational efficiency, timely remittance of contributions by the sponsor (Makerere University), an increase in project and contract contributions, and the recovery of UGX8.85 billion in debts.
Dr. Nansubuga also expressed gratitude to Makerere University, the scheme’s sponsor, for consistently remitting contributions, a key factor that has significantly contributed to MURBS’ smooth operation. “I am happy to announce that the sponsor-Makerere University remitted your retirement benefits for the financial year 2023/24,” she said.
In the same development, Dr. Nansubuga reported that MURBS registered a legal victory against Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) over a real estate investment in Sonde undertaken in 2019, and which URA sought to tax heavily. She notified the AGM that MURBS won the case and was awarded costs which also set a precedent.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to inform you that during the financial year, we received a favorable outcome on a key court case. How did we end up with this case? In 2019, MURBS invested in real estate, we bought land in Sonde,” Dr Nansubuga explained.
“Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) then charged us with a tax assessment worth UGX600 million. It has been four (4) years in the tax appeals tribunal. Since then, the lawyers, the former and current trustees, have been appearing before the appeals tribunal, but in December 2023, MURBS won the case. We challenged URA, and this case was awarded with costs. URA has to pay MURBS. We therefore saved UGX600 million,” she added.
In terms of governance, Dr Nansubuga said that the scheme made changes in the board. Initially, the trustees were six and they needed a seventh member, and following a competitive race, they recruited another trustee; CPA Edina Rugumayo who has over thirty years in accounting.
“In terms of governance, we continue to uphold good governance practices and we align with international standards. Last year during the presentation, I said we were six and we needed to have the seventh trustee because the Board composition is supposed to be seven,” she explained.
“So, following a competitive process, we recruited an independent trustee. It was a very competitive position. You must have served on board which has over UGX50 billion. So, from that process, we were able to recruit CPA Edna Rugumayo Simbwa. She is a certified public accountant with over thirty years of experience in accounting, taxation, and corporate governance,” she mentioned.
She also thanked other stakeholders for making sure that MURBS activities run smoothly. These entities include Makerere University, KPMG, Gen Africa, Arcadia Advocates, Zamara, URBRA, and Stanbic Bank among others.
While discussing investments, Dr. Nansubuga mentioned that 86% of MURBS’ funds are currently invested in government bonds, but added that the Board is exploring diversification to reduce risks.
“86% percent of our money is invested in government bonds, and sometimes, you do not have to put all your eggs in one basket, there is a high concentration of risk. so that is one of the key material risks that we want to address to reduce the amount we have in government securities. We want to diversify our portfolio and avoid investing heavily in government securities. The Board will venture into other fields in order to earn money or return on investment from the diverse undertakings,” she said.
In terms of membership, Dr. Nansubuga reported a 4.4% increase, with the number of members rising from 8,229 to 8,590. She attributed this growth to the reinstatement of in-house beneficiaries and an increase in project and contract staff.
Dr. Kakuba also thanked the sponsor-Makerere University for remitting the membership contributions timely which has helped the scheme to grow.
Dr. Godwin Kakuba -Secretary, MURBS Board of Trustees, who presented the record of the 13th Annual General Meeting stressed that the AGM climaxes a financial year and the Board of Trustee has been vigilant on this and has not missed any AGM for 14 years now.
“We applaud the sponsor because many of these positives in the chairperson’s report can only be attributed to the support by the sponsor through fulfilling the obligation of remitting members’ contributions to the scheme,” he added.
Partner Asad Ssenoga, an independent auditor who audited the scheme said that he was impressed with the level of compliance that the scheme exhibited in all aspects. He said they focused on ensuring that the member contributions are supported with statements and allocated to members appropriately.
“Overall we were satisfied with the work we did on the audit, the numbers that were presented by the Chairperson are the correct numbers that we audited. We were comfortable with those numbers, due process was followed during the audit,” he said.
Mr. Mark Lotukei who represented the CEO of Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA) thanked the Trustees for always prioritizing governance, which has helped them to reach several milestones.
“As URBRA, we look at governance as the biggest component of our compliance. MURBS Trustees from the former to the current, have taken governance as the most important aspect. We really encourage them to continue with this good practice because governance informs all the other aspects,” he said.
Mr. Arthur Kibira, a member in attendance, expressed his appreciation for the Board’s efforts. He urged them to explore higher-risk investments for potentially greater returns. He expressed concern over the scheme’s heavy reliance on government bonds.
“Dr Elizabeth Nansubuga, I want to congratulate you, and your team and also congratulate ourselves. But, I want to believe that there is room for improvement. I am one of those who do not believe that the sky is the limit, we are limited by our own thinking. I am thinking that high risks give high returns. Is there a way of managing those risks, so that we could push this 13.40% interest to a figure much higher? If we do so, we shall say we have learnt how to manage risks,”, he guided.
The Research Chairs concept is similar to Centers of Excellence (for instance in supporting world-class research in a priority area), but also has many distinguishing features. Most notably, it recognizes individual excellence, leadership and talent. The O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chairs Initiative (ORTARChI) builds on the work of Oliver Tambo, a prominent South African and pan-Africanist with a science education background, who believed in creating change through education and in cooperation and solidarity among African nations. The Initiative focuses on celebrating his legacy in building knowledge-based economies for the advancement of Africa.
ORTARChI builds on and leverages existing continental frameworks and interventions geared towards institutional capacity strengthening; recruitment and retention of excellent researchers; and incentives to support research that contributes to socio-economic and transformative development.
Ten (10) O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chairs across seven (7) countries in Africa, namely; Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia have been selected for funding through a rigorous and competitive two-stage review process. These research chairs are focused on research priorities identified by each host institution in conjunction with, especially the Science Councils, and in alignment with AU Agenda 2063 and STISA 2024.
Prof. Noble Banadda from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences had been inaugurated as one of the first 10 (ten) Oliver Tambo (ORTARChi) Chairs. Unfortunately, Prof. Banadda (R.I.P) passed on in July 2021, which created a vacuum. To ensure that Uganda and Makerere University continue to tap into the ORTARChi, we are glad to announce the appointment of Associate Professor David Meya from the College of Health Sciences at Makerere University for the purpose. The appointment will attract USD 170,000 annually for 5 years for graduate research with a target of training 5-6 PhDs, 10-15 Post-doctoral fellows and 10-12 Masters of Medicine and Master of Science Students at Makerere University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
Makerere University has had the pleasure of attending 2024 O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chairs Annual Gathering in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The annual gathering is co-hosted by the Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, National Research and Innovation Fund for Development (FONRID) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. The theme for this year’s gathering is: “African Sovereignty: A Catalyst for Research Collaborations and Social Impact in the Continent“. At the annual gathering, Uganda was represented by Associate Prof. David Meya (Uganda Chair Elect, ORTARChI), Prof. Henry Alinaitwe (Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration, Mak), Associate Prof. Robert Wamala (Director, Research and Graduate Training) and Dr. Martin Ongol (Ag. Executive Secretary, UNCST). Assoc. Prof. David Meya – ORTARChI Chair Elect – is from Makerere University’s School of Medicine at the College of Health Sciences.