General
Verbal Explosion as Literati Celebrate the Spoken Word
The atmosphere was literally thick with words as literature teachers, students and enthusiasts from all walks of life gathered on Thursday 9th November 2017 in the Quality Assurance Directorate’s Telepresence Centre, Makerere University to launch Word Craft. Word Craft is a two hour documentary directed by Prof. Sr. Dominic Dipio, Department of Literature, College of Humanities and Social Science (CHUSS) focusing on the Word as what defines and shapes human relationship in its everyday and specialised usages.
“The role of film is to create a forum for people to talk about things” said Prof. Dipio quoting Ousmane Sembène, one of Africa’s greatest film directors and novelists. Prof. Dipio couldn’t hide her delight as she scanned the room and acknowledged the presence of her Principal-Prof. Edward Kirumira, Deputy Principal-Dr. Josephine Ahikire, Acting Dean-Dr. Gilbert Gumushabe, Head of Department-Dr. Okot Benge, Former Deputy Principal-Prof. Abasi Kiyimba, Former Head of Department-Dr. Susan Kiguli and so many great writers present. She sent the room into rapturous applause when she, in a special way, introduced Prof. Austin Bukenya, fondly referred to as Mwalimu-the man who taught her to “write with a PUNCH!”
Earlier, Wake; a Christian rapper, poet and spoken word artist had taken the audience on an engaging reflective journey with Ssengegya/sieve a poetic recital urging the audience to always carefully consider each and every word before they speak. But not even his soulful acoustic guitar-accompanied delivery could steal Word Craft’s limelight.
Prof. Dipio explained that the documentary explores the impact of the Word from three perspectives namely; the Spiritual, Traditional and Literal Word. Shooting of the film commenced during the Holy Week in April 2017 with upcountry scenes recorded in the Madi community of West Nile and concluded at the Department of Literature in Makerere. She paid tribute to her hardworking team led by Mr. Ramadan Ddungu.
Word Craft is a mellow no-frills film shot in typical documentary style, with soothing narrations dominated by Prof. Dipio, interspaced with several hymnals and traditional Madi pieces. It does not intend to put you at the edge of your seat but you will find yourself making multiple mental notes of questions that you’ll need answered thereafter.
The film sets out on a spiritual tone with Father Alenyo delving into the potency of the Word of God as written in the scriptures and its creative effect, before crossing over into captivating traditional illustrations of the spoken word such as the ciliri by the Madi community. The audience was at one point rocked with waves of excitement when Mwalimu’s baritone and frame came into view as he animatedly recited a folktale to a handful of wide-eyed children. The captivated handful’s excitement would soon be replaced with fright as the tale turned creepy and the hitherto warm-voiced talebearer metamorphosed into a growling monster.
“Poetry is the first language of mankind” shared Prof. Abasi Kiyimba in the film “and poetry is part of the delivery” he added as he effortlessly broke into performing an Islamic prayer. He appreciated the role played by the spoken word, noting that traditionally, tales, poems and proverbs were tools that helped to nurture morals within the social and historical contexts.
As the film progressed into its Literal Word phase, in his usual philosophical style, Mwalimu observed that just as the ability to see words didn’t make one literate, the ability to say words didn’t make one articulate. “if you are going to speak precisely, proficiently and professionally, you have got to be trained. That is what is called oracy” explained Prof. Bukenya.
The aftermath of the screening had the audience bubbling with excitement; almost surging forth to share their views, and the moderator Dr. Danson Kahyana had to pull all the stops to preside over the proceeding panel discussion and audience interaction.
“This event is a continuation of a story that started from time immemorial. The word has always been there and I have been a part of it since 1968” shared Prof. Bukenya. He congratulated Prof. Dipio and the whole team involved in the film production upon a job well done. “Let us live the spoken word and let us not just live it in theory. I want us to be more communicative about the spoken word” encouraged Prof. Bukenya. He charged the audience to firmly guard against “tertiary orality” which often manifested itself in people talking more to their phones that to each other.
In a moving submission, Dr. Virgil Onama, a public health specialist by profession and a spoken word guru by passion lauded Makerere University and Prof. Dipio for breathing new life into the spoken word through Word Craft. “This is the beginning of the reincarnation of Makerere and Word Craft has demonstrated that we can initiate, originate and substantiate the originality of our culture by documenting it” he said, before adding “we need to put it on record that we are the people giving significance to our ‘Africanness’.”
He lamented the current trends like social media that had made us irrelevant to ourselves by replacing the spoken word with digital texting on WhatsApp, and when we did speak, it was in a cacophony of English words, that paled in comparison and expression to richer, multilayered languages such as his own; Madi. He shared that his latest contribution to the spoken word is the compilation of a Madi-English dictionary, set to be released before the end of 2018.
“We do things by saying them” chipped in Prof. Abasi Kiyimba, “we mean them and have the right to say them” he continued. “We need to have the authority to back the things we say so as to appropriately replay when prompted or authorized, for example, saying ‘I do’ when reciting your marriage vows,” he shared, in line with his current research on ‘Words that Perform’.
Commenting on the future of the spoken word, Prof. Bukenya said “People are getting more illiterate as they get more digital. A lot of people are losing the skill of the written word as they get more literate. However, we should develop these skills side by side. Teachers should underline and emphasise the spoken word. Encourage, promote, inculcate and systematically teach the spoken word.”
“The word is here to stay and poets, spoken word artists need to be given audience and a platform” continued Prof. Dipio. “The word as an art has to develop, even as much as we have this technology today. We should use technology as a tool to capture and preserve the spoken word.”
“Humanities are not useless and I thank Prof. Dipio for raising the flag high through this film and her other works” said Dr. Josephine Ahikire as she made the concluding remarks of the day. “I congratulate the Department of Literature headed by Dr. Okot Benge and the Acting Dean-Dr. Gilbert Gumoshabe for steering the School of Languages, Literature and Communication to raise ideational leadership as a college. Through books, film and performance, we use our power to make Makerere what it is” she added, and thereafter declared Word Craft launched.
The award for the most spirited performance at the Word Craft launch went to Mr. Peter Kagayi, a lawyer by training and versatile poet by writing and execution. His energetic performance on “The Word” so stilled the audience that you could have thought someone repeatedly stole their breaths in the breaks that punctuated the performance. He truly lived up to Dr. Kahyana’s introduction of his act as “the leading performance poet”.
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Launched: Word Craft Documentary Film by Prof. Dominic Dipio
On 20th January 2025, the blazing afternoon sun was temporarily obscured by cloud cover as a convoy complete with VVIP security detail quietly made its way to the Main Building. As the convoy came to a stop at the Main Building’s Eastern staircase, all eyes were peeled to see who this VVIP was. As she emerged, there was no fanfare whatsoever as she proceeded to pleasantly greet the welcoming party. Princess Zahra Aga Khan, graceful by all standards, had arrived at Makerere University, an institution fondly talked about by her father His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.
It was indeed humbling that Princess Zahra Aga Khan, a Member of the Board of Directors of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and Trustee of the Aga Khan University (AKU) could include Makerere University on her itinerary. She had earlier on the same day paid a courtesy call on the President H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at State House Nakasero, and presided over the graduation of 120 students of the Aga Khan University-Kampala.
Princess Zahra who was received by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi and the Dean Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH), Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze was thankful for the warm reception and Makerere’s unwavering legacy.
“My whole life, my father always told me that Makerere was the best University in Africa,” relayed Princess Zahra, before adding “And my whole life he told me how sad it was that tertiary level degrees had been de-funded and what fragility that bred in these countries.” She went on to explain that her father’s philosophy was that if a country cannot train its upper degrees, it cannot build a free, fair and successful economy.
Princess Zahra nevertheless expressed how glad she was to see that Makerere still remains a beacon of higher education, and that the Main Building that was gutted by fire was reconstructed to perfection. “So to come here and see it looking so amazing and beautiful is really good.”
She confessed that her itinerary, though involving many hops to preside over graduations in Kenya, Tanzania and finally Pakistan, was testimony of how much Aga Khan Institutions had evolved over the past twenty years. Princess Zahra explained that partnerships with Makerere and other universities, especially in the aftermath of events such as CoVID-19, were crucial in helping Aga Khan Institutions to adjust. “An institution can become far stronger and more resilient,” she explained.
In his welcome remarks, Prof. Buyinza thanked Princess Zahra for including Makerere on her eventful itinerary. “We are more than a century old and have greatly impacted the development and economy of this country, not on our own, but with the big network of our partners in many respects. Your coming reinforces the resolve that we must work together for the good of humanity.”
The Acting Vice Chancellor equally welcomed members of Princess Zahra’s delegation who included; her daughter Sarah Boyden, Mr. Zakir Mahmood-Chairman Board of Trustees AKU, Mr. Amin Mawji, OBE-Trustee AKDN, Dr. Sulaiman Shahabuddin-President and Vice Chancellor AKU, Dr. Tania Bubela-Provost and Vice President Academic AKU, Zeenat Shahabuddin-Regional CEO for Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) in East Africa, and Joseph Mwizerwa-Associate Vice Provost AKU-Uganda.
Contributing to the day’s discussion, Dr. Sulaiman Shahabuddin the President and Vice Chancellor AKU who has been in Kampala for the last twenty years, admitted that the new campus in Nakawa heralds a new era of growth as they commence student activities in June 2025.
“Makerere has been and is a distinguished University in Africa. We look forward to engaging and discussing how best we can come up with programmes that can benefit Uganda and Ugandans” he remarked.
As a rejoinder, Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze admitted that AKU’s and Makerere’s academic programmes present a number of potential synergies both in training and research. “Cancer clinical care and research is a big issue for us here; the burden is growing and we need to do more work to be able to characterize exposures and what it is that’s driving it.”
Other areas singled out in the discussion as potential for collaboration included; the environment, climate change and its linkage with health and other issues, and harnessing of the potential Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Makerere University currently partners with the Ministry of Health to roll out EMR systems nationwide, so as to optimize health service delivery in line with the Uganda Vision 2040.
“We have already done quite a number of facilities across the country for HIV, probably more than 1,000, but right now we are moving towards having an integrated electronic system for all care, the interoperability of multiple systems that exist, and being able to scale that up” complemented Prof. Wanyenze.
Prof. Buyinza who brought the lively discussion to a close concurred that a lot of potential areas for collaboration exist between the two partners and reassured Princess Zahra Aga Khan and her delegation of the Makerere’s readiness to undertake joint activities for the good of humanity. He also used the occasion to observe a moment of silence in honour of His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, who passed away on 4th February 2025.
Following the signing of the Vice Chancellor’s Visitors Book, Princess Zahra Aga Khan and her delegation proceeded to the Makerere University Innovation Pod (Mak UniPod), where they received a guided tour from Dr. Cathy Ikiror Mbidde, the Director.
Prof. Henry Alinaitwe on 20th February 2025 officially handed over the Office of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration)-DVCFA to Prof. Winston Tumps Ireeta at a ceremony presided over by the Acting (Ag.) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi. The handover was witnessed by the University Secretary-Mr. Yusuf Kiranda, Chief Human Resources-Mr. Deus Tayari Mujuni, Chief Internal Audit-Mr. Patrick Akonyet, University Bursar-Mr. Evarist Bainomugisha and Chief Legal Affairs-Ms. Nanyondo Sumaiyah Sebuta.
Equally present to witness the ceremony were the Chief Estates and Works- Eng. Okuk Geoffrey, Dean of Students-Dr. Winifred Kabumbuli, Deputy University Secretary-Mr. Simon Kizito, Mr. Juma Katongole-Representing Director ICT Support, Ms. Susan Mbabazi-Representing Director Gender Mainstreaming, Ag. Manager of Planning and Development-Mr. Emmanuel Kitamirike as well as staff from the Vice Chancellor’s and Deputy Vice Chancellors’ Offices.
Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi in his remarks thanked Prof. Alinaitwe for the effort and support rendered to the University through the DVCFA’s Office and prayed that Makerere could continue tapping into his knowledge.
“As colleagues we have a shared agenda and a common destination as we do the best for Makerere. I thank Prof. Henry Alinaitwe for being a hardworking colleague of great humility, collegiality, and being open-heartedly committed to the principle of trust” remarked Prof. Buyinza, who also expressed belief that God has bigger plans for him as he exits office.
In the same breath, Prof. Buyinza congratulated Prof. Ireeta on his new role, admitting that he has what it takes to carry on from where his predecessor left off. “Thank you for accepting to take on this appointment; it takes a person of great responsibility to accept the huge mandate of this office.”
The Chief Human Resources Officer, Mr. Mujuni thanked Prof. Alinaitwe for steering the Office of the DVCFA and pledged to correspondingly support his new supervisor, Prof. Ireeta. The University Secretary, Mr. Kiranda equally thanked Prof. Alinaitwe for the guidance, support, and flexibility accorded to his office to fulfil its mandate.
“Although it is difficult for us to sit here and witness this handover, we are comforted to have previously worked with Prof. Ireeta and look forward to the continuity in service that his experience presents” added Mr. Kiranda.
The Chief Internal Audit Officer, Mr. Akonyet in his tribute thanked Prof. Henry Alinaitwe for his guidance as immediate supervisor, which helped shape the internal audit function. Like Mr. Kiranda, Mr. Akonyet thanked Prof. Ireeta for his support as a member of the University Council’s Audit Committee and expressed confidence that his passion for service would greatly benefit the University in his new role.
Presenting his handover report, Prof. Henry Alinaitwe reflected on a number of achievements such as: Mobilising resources for the Makerere@100 Celebrations and other activities; establishing the Grants Administration and Management Support Unit (GAMSU); realigning Makerere’s Ten-Year Strategic Plan to the Five-Year NDP-recommended interval; Payment of outstanding In-house Benefits; Harmonization of staff salaries; as well as Recruitment, Promotion and Training of staff.
Prof. Alinaitwe equally highlighted achievements such as: Formulation of the ICT Policy and purchase of related equipment; Developing a Security Masterplan and enhancing surveillance, personnel numbers and equipment; Support to Student Affairs Management and Governance including overseeing the Emerging Leaders Program; Renovation of Student Halls of Residence; Establishment of the Disability Support Centre; Leading the Design Team for the Reconstruction of the Main Building; Improving Competitiveness of the Staff Housing Policy; Improving the University Fleet and Vehicle Access Control; Improving the Budgeting Process through Unit Ledgers and Accounts; among others.
He concluded by thanking the University Council and the Vice Chancellor for entrusting him with the role of DVCFA as well as all the support rendered to his office in the execution of his duties. “Whereas I have read out all these various achievements, they have largely been due to all your respective contributions and I thank you for that.”
In his acceptance remarks, Prof. Winston Tumps Ireeta similarly thanked the University Council and Vice Chancellor for entrusting him with the responsibility of overseeing the Office of the DVCFA. He acknowledged that despite the fact that he was taking over from Prof. Alinaitwe on whose behalf he had acted a number of times, he still has big shoes to fill. “However, with my God, all things will work out” he prayed.
The incoming DVCFA requested Prof. Alinaitwe to always accept consultation on matters relating to the office and pledged to be as results-oriented as his predecessors. “Let’s all work together for the good of our University” he concluded.
Following the Handover Ceremony, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi on behalf of Members of Management presented a plaque to Prof. Henry Alinaitwe in appreciation of his dedicated service as Ag. DVCFA from 16th November 2021 to 19th February 2025.
In a pivotal meeting held earlier this morning, the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Henry Alinaitwe, met with project implementation partners from the Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) and the Korea National Open University (KNOU) to discuss the upcoming Project for Enhancing the Distance Education Environment at Makerere University in Uganda (2024-2028). This collaboration, set to launch on February 27, 2025, is poised to revolutionize the university’s distance learning initiatives.
The project, which is generously funded by the Korean Government through KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), will receive a substantial investment of USD 12.2 million. It aims to address critical areas in e-learning at Makerere University, with key components focusing on the development of a comprehensive e-learning master plan, capacity building for staff in Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL), equipping two state-of-the-art content development studios, and the development of necessary infrastructure.
Prof. Henry Alinaitwe expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “This project marks a significant milestone for Makerere University as we strive to enhance our distance learning capabilities. The integration of advanced technology and capacity building will not only improve the quality of education but also ensure greater accessibility for learners across the region. We are grateful for the generous support from the Korean Government and look forward to the successful implementation of the project.”
The delegation from Korea, led by Prof. Chun Se yeoung, also expressed their commitment to the success of the project. Prof. Chun Se yeoung remarked, “We are excited to partner with Makerere University on this transformative project. We believe that by enhancing the distance education environment at Makerere, we will not only benefit the university but contribute to the development of higher education in Uganda and the broader East African region. Our goal is to build a sustainable and scalable model that empowers educators and students alike.”
The project is expected to have a lasting impact, significantly strengthening Makerere University’s capacity to offer high-quality education remotely, thereby increasing access to learning opportunities for students across Uganda and beyond.
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