The third session of the 68th Graduation Ceremony of Makerere University held on 18th January 2018 was dedicated to the Makerere University Business School (MUBS), as the School presented a total of 3,611 graduands for the conferment of degrees and the award of diplomas.
The spotlight on the day rested on Ms. Namyenya Caroline; the best Humanities and best overall student, who attained a First Class Honours Degree in Bachelor of Commerce with a CGPA of 4.95. For her excellent performance, the high scoring student from MUBS received a plaque, UGX1million and an assortment of souvenirs from the Makerere University Convocation which were presented to her by the Chancellor, Prof. Ezra Suruma.
On the same day the Acting Director Gender Mainstreaming Directorate, Dr. Euzobia Baine Mugisha recognised Ms. Nabunya Gladys as the best student of the Female Scholarship Foundation at Makerere University. Ms. Nabunya graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in the Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a CGPA of 4.72 from MUBS.
The Chancellor congratulated the graduands upon reaching the coveted milestone in their academic journey and advised them to always value the degrees attained. “The degrees we are awarding you today testify to your discipline and commitment and to your capacity to face and overcome the hardships and pains and tears of academic struggle. Your graduation testifies to the world that in the face of adversity, poverty, deprivation, doubt and danger, you have exhibited determination and survival. Today you stand tall among the survivors and heroes of academic wars,” he said.
He appealed to graduands to use the knowledge and experience they have attained during their academic journey to save the African nations from the alarming financial challenges when he said, “Thousands of Ugandans bear deep scars from lost battles as they attempted to form, own and sustain Ugandan banks. Anyone who thinks that neo-colonialism is dead is either ignorant or a liar. The battle for us to control and direct our economic destiny is as urgent and as serious as ever.”
The Chancellor urged students to always fight for and strongly defend the dignity of the African nations and the African people in particular from being openly attacked and abused by countries from other continents. “So stop resting on your laurels and expecting that you are now ready to sit back and relax. No. You are now ready to join the war for the economic and intellectual emancipation of the African people,” he remarked.
The Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe commended the Principal, Management and Staff of MUBS for the continued improvement in teaching and the tangible developments that have been made in the academic curriculum. He acknowledged the efforts of the management in enlarging the financial and knowledge base of the School through Corporate Social Responsibility as well as knowledge transfer partnerships and networking.
“This development has been extended to the Luzira Upper Maximum Prison and currently 90 inmates are enrolled on both certificate and diploma programmes of Makerere University Business School. Additionally, MUBS contributes computers, paints the prison facilities and annually holds a symbolic graduation ceremony in the prison to motivate the inmates and help them think about life after prison,” he said.
Prof. Nawangwe applauded the School for building an incubation hub that is intended not only to create employment but also to tap into good ideas and innovations that students and members of public have to offer. According to Prof.Nawangwe a number of entrepreneurship programmes are currently being run by the School through the Entrepreneurship Centre, all intended to nurture entrepreneurship not only among the students but also the general public.
He thanked the Government of Uganda for constructing the Faculty of Computing and Management Science block with funding from the African Development bank and also commended the leadership of the MUBS for using internally generated funds and support from Government to undertake several other projects around the School.
The Principal, Makerere University Business School Prof. Wasswa Balunywa advised students to always have a positive and all-encompassing approach towards work in order to make the desired difference in community. He emphasized discipline among graduands and encouraged them to develop and expand their job environment through prudent management of soft skills.
“You are going out to the world, which expects a lot from you. We have trained you to be critical thinkers and not mere job seekers. Go out and create the jobs the Country is yearning for. With a degree from one of the best universities in the world, there is no reason for not succeeding. As business experts, you are in position to be at the forefront of changing the economy. Make the degree you have obtained count, have integrity and transform the world,” he said.
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.