General
Prof. Okwakol Calls For Transformational Leadership at HERS-EA Second Academy
The HERS-EA Second Academy is a follow-up of the Inaugural Leadership academy held from 2nd to 7th July 2017. Higher Education Resource Services, East Africa (HERS-EA), is an educational non-profit organization advancing women leadership and management in the East African Community (EAC) member countries. Established in 2014, HERS-EA is an affiliate of HERS based in Denver, Colorado, USA, and established in 1972.
The HERS-EA Second Academy set to be held from 1st to 6th July 2018 will accord participants the opportunity to meet their unique professional needs through sessions on Grant Writing, Institutional Budgeting, Navigating the Political Environment, Professional Women’s Economic Empowerment and Institutional Leadership. Other topics to be covered include; tips for Research and Publishing, Family Responsibilities versus Career Development among others, not to mention, a host of guest lectures.
This year’s events kicked off with pre-ACADEMY activities which included field visits to grassroots women’s groups under the Women Empowering Women (WEW) project, supported by Mississippi State University, USA. HERS-EA Secretariat welcomed Assistant Professor, Fashion, Design and Merchandising, Dr. Caroline Kobia, from Mississippi State University, who played a significant part in training HERS-EA women, in improving the quality of the reusable sanitary pads they have been producing. The WEW Reusable Sanitary Pads project was initiated by HERS-EA, to help provide sanitary pads to girls and women, in response to the established lack of access to menstruation hygiene products. HERS-EA currently supports three women’s groups in Butaleja and Bulambuli districts. In collaboration with Makerere University based platform: Africa Institute for Strategic Services and Development (AFRISA) the women’s groups have embarked on Poultry value chains, to address food security and broaden sources of income.
Welcoming facilitators and participants to the opening ceremony in the Main Hall on Monday, 2nd July 2018, the HERS-EA Coordinator-Ms. Naomi Lumutenga thanked the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe for believing in HERS-EA’s Vision while still serving as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration) and supporting Makerere University female staff to participate in the Inaugural Academy. She also thanked the Director, Directorate of Research and Graduate Training (DRGT)-Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi for endorsing the participation of female PhD students under Sida sponsorship.
“We also thank the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate (GMD) for hosting our secretariat and the Directorate of Legal Affairs (DLA) for the priceless advice. Outside Makerere University, we thank all the Vice Chancellors who have nominated participants to the academy” remarked Ms. Lumutenga.
She thereafter paid special tribute to volunteer facilitators from the United States of America namely; Prof. Catherine Hawkins from Texas State University, Dr. Meghan Millea from East Carolina University and Ms. Shauncey Hill from Mississippi State University, for sacrificing their time and resources to share their skills with academy participants.
Prof. Mary Okwakol on top of being the Vice Chancellor of Busitema University and Chairperson of the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) is also Member of the RUFORUM Committee representing East African Countries and member of the World Women University Presidents Forum Organising Committee representing Africa. Despite the aforementioned commitments and more, she is still a wife, mother of three, and grandmother of five.
“I owe all that I am to my unschooled but educated parents who despite not having gone to formal school, still had the wisdom to value the education of the girl child instead of marriage, as was the case then” she said.
Despite seeming to have it all together now, Prof. Okwakol confessed to having had to overcome a lot of cultural and institutional challenges along her career path, which included overt and covert sexism, as well as having to endure and rise above long-entrenched stereotypes. She also had to pass up her PhD training opportunity twice over; in Bern and Oxford, so as to raise her then young children. “What good will it profit you if you get this paper while your young family crumbles?” reminisced Prof. Okwakol, of the wise advice from a friend who’d had to leave her young family in Nairobi to do her PhD in London.
“I am telling you all this so that you know that what you are going through, I have gone through and triumphed” empathised Prof. Okwakol.
Herself a 2007 Graduate of HERS-South Africa, Prof. Okwakol, thanked HERS-EA for promoting the advancement of women in leadership and management in Higher Education through training. “Women at all levels have the ability to care for and nurture others” she shared, before adding “Women bring commitment to teaching as well as supporting the learners, be they male or female. Furthermore, the presence of women in policy making leads to more balanced policies.”
She therefore urged the facilitators, participants and members of the audience present to be transformational leaders. “Strive to be purpose-driven, choose to be role models and always walk the talk so as to have idealized influences. Have genuine concern for those you lead, be innovative and challenge your followers to do likewise” said Prof. Okwakol. “It is transformational leaders who will build transformational institutions” she added.
As such, she called upon Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to instutionalise mentorship, noting that presently, there was an obvious absence of consistent mentoring structures. She observed that most early to mid-career women are often tied down by family responsibilities which called for organisations to institutionalise mechanisms such as sabbatical leaves for women, to enable them undertake research and publish.
On a parting note, Prof. Okwakol stressed the importance of physical fitness in advancing career. “Take good care of your health and wellbeing” she advised, “Busitema University has six campuses in Eastern Uganda and since I also have a number of meetings both in and out of the country, I travel a lot. The only way I manage is by doing exercise every day! It is very important that all parts of your body receive that flow of blood” she concluded.
Representing the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe at the opening ceremony, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi acknowledged that he had an important stake in the day’s proceedings because leadership in HEIs often goes hand in hand with research and graduate training. “It is therefore critically important that Makerere sets the pace in empowering women to take part in leadership.”
Prof. Buyinza shared that Makerere University has demonstrated its commitment to HERS-EA, by funding a total of twenty women; ten at Inaugural and ten more at the Second Academy. “With continued support through the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate (GMD) and other Units, Makerere University will continue to collaborate with and provide support to HERS-EA in this initiative, whose benefits are for all.
“Makerere University is proud to host this Academy and to support the HERS-EA goal of striving to increase the visibility of women in Higher Education Institutions’ senior management positions” concluded the Vice Chancellor’s remarks.
Speaking on Makerere University’s Gender Mainstreaming Programme, the Acting Director GMD-Dr. Euzobia Mugisha Baine shared a timeline right from the admission of the first six female students in 1945 to the present day strategic objectives. Achieving gender equality and non-discrimination for all staff and students is a strategic objective of Makerere University as espoused in its Gender Equality Policy. “Promoting women participation in leadership in Higher Education Institutions is therefore common ground for the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate and HERS-EA” she added.
Dr. Mugisha Baine shared with her audience the guiding principles of the Gender Equality Policy as: Women and men in the University are not a homogenous group; Gender equality means that the different behaviour, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally; Intra household family relations may have adverse effect on the University functioning; Transformation in individual consciousness about gender equality and women’s rights as well as organisational culture and governance are a prerequisite for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and Sustainable development is possible only if based on equal partnership and mutual respect between women and men.
“I therefore welcome you all to the HERS-EA Second Academy. I have always been amazed by Ms. Naomi Lumutenga and Prof. Margaret Khaitsa’s passion for women and I am excited that your idea has become a reality” added. Dr. Mugisha Baine.
Article by Public Relations Office
The Senior Program Director, Higher Education and Research in Africa, International Program, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Prof. Omotade Akin Aina on 23rd May 2025 visited Makerere University during his short trip to Kampala. Prof. Aina was received on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe by Prof. Tony Oyana, Principal of the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS).
During his visit, Prof. Aina met with the Project Implementation Committee, representatives from the Consolidating Early Career Academics Programme (CECAP) phase I Fellowship Cohort, and current Fellows of phase II. The meeting discussed the progress of CECAP II, which focuses on fostering academic development and research among early-career academics.
CECAP II is being implemented by Makerere University in collaboration with four other Ugandan public universities, including; Busitema University, Gulu University, Kyambogo University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza, the Project Principal Investigator was represented at the meeting by the Director of Graduate Training, Prof. Julius Kikooma.
By Moses Lutaaya
The Directorate of Graduate Training at Makerere University has equipped several Senior ranking lecturers with expert knowledge in a Training of Trainers’ workshop on “Philosophy of Methods”.
In his remarks at the opening of a 3-day training workshop at Level4 Conference Hall – Senate Building, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “The teaching of Philosophy of Methods gives all participants the fundamentals to extend knowledge to other learners, hence its importance in upholding the Makerere University values.”
Kikooma urged and challenged the participants to also attend and actively participate in the follow up of learners’ training of students, stating that the PhD students need support as the directorate continues to coordinate the curriculum of PhD by-research that was approved by the senate recently.
“To holistically implement the senate approved PhD curriculum, we are coordinating capacity building trainings of all stake holders in a structured approach with the different units of the University. Many more trainings including Training of Trainers in advanced research methods course are on the way.”
He further urged the participants to be intentional in their teaching profession and in whatever they were doing, adding “Apart from focusing on practices as teachers and researchers, we can engage in wider philosophical debates in our research areas so that we are relevant in the society and in the empowerment of PhD research students.”
The participants for the Philosophy of Methods training were from College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University Business School among others.
During the same training, Dr. Dickson Kanakulya stressed the need to train senior lecturers in the Philosophy of Methods, saying, “The biggest connection is that societal problems require concrete research to find solutions. Our challenge in Africa is that we employ a short barrow approach to find solutions to problems. This cannot work. We need consistent researchers to solve problems. Lasting solutions to societal issues can only be got through training such as Philosophy of Methods, where researchers come up with new models for societal solutions.”
Dr. Kanakulya said that Makerere University remains the biggest research University in Africa and philosophy of Methods helps to come up with good research tools that produce good research outputs. “Research has shown that the higher the number of PhD researchers in any given country, the higher the levels of development of that country e.g. the USA, China etc., adding that research is not limited to only medicinal or agricultural related issues.”
He said philosophy of methods, encourages philosophical creativity in research, “It is meant to bring out philosophical generation of concepts, theories and ideas. It is meant to encourage students to question the existing philosophical assumptions and status quo in a given field of knowledge such that new philosophical concepts are created.”
For successful rollout of government programs like the National Development Plan 4, Dr. Kanakulya said that Philosophy of Methods training needs to be integrated into such systems. “Philosophy of Methods focuses on ethical thinking aspects. For example, for a better rollout of the Parish Development Model, we need implementers to be ethical.” He added.
Prof. Sulait Tumwiine, the associate Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at MUBS said, “This is a discussion where new ideas are shared to guide and gauge applicability in the current knowledge diversity coupled with lots of technological development including Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT.”
He added, “As professors of Universities, we need to understand how we leverage on what comes up so that it does not take our space, but also appreciate how we can support growth of knowledge. The Philosophy of Methods training is the answer.”
Dr. Jim Spire Ssentongo highlighted that Philosophy uses more of the critical mind than Science. He added that philosophy is more of speculation of the mind.
“Sustainability of philosophy Education encourages us to continue training. Philosophy being the oldest discipline retained special status in the academia as a pinnacle of pursuit of knowledge. All disciplines have major elements of philosophy citing examples in the philosophy of Mathematics and Physics.
Dr. Spire added, “If you do not understand philosophy, you cannot deeply investigate anything because philosophy is the reality of understanding everything. Philosophy is the basis of understanding what knowledge is and how it is arrived at.”
Also participating in the workshop was Prof. Joseph Ntaayi from MUBS, in his remarks he said PhD students need the philosophy of methods training to understand how to best to create knowledge. He added that ontological and epistemological questions that lead to good research design methods can only be answered by this training.
Dr. Robert Kakuru, a Lecturer in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences said that the Philosophy of Methods training is needed by every graduate student as well as supervisors to critically determine the choice of methods to use in academic research. For example, “If one wants to use a questionnaire as an interview approach, one should understand, why that approach and yet without this training, the why cannot be answered.” He added.
The Philosophy of Methods training was organized by Directorate of Graduate Training with funding support from the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA).
-
Agriculture & Environment3 days agoMUARIK Main Gate Gets a Facelift
-
Business & Management1 week agoCoBAMS Annual Report 2024
-
General1 week agoVice Chancellor Updates Media on Medical Drones, Road Safety Research & Various Issues
-
Business & Management2 weeks agoAERC Delegation Pays Courtesy Call to VC
-
General2 weeks agoProf. Aina Visits Mak, Evaluates CECAP II Progress