General
Chancellor Urges African Leaders to Solve Unemployment by Supporting Domestic Enterprises
The Chancellor of Makerere University Prof. Ezra Suruma has challenged African Governments to evaluate the effect of entrusting their respective economies to foreigners as a way of solving unemployment among their populations. Speaking during the second session of the 69th Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday, 16th January 2019, Prof. Ezra Suruma said that African governments have withdrawn from investing and supporting domestic enterprises hence permitting foreigners to dominate the economy and operate on private basis.
“Selling government enterprises to foreign owners in the name of privatization cannot solve the problem of unemployment. The problem is now bigger than ever before partly of course because of high rates of population growth. I do not believe that there is any serious government in the world that expects foreigners to solve its employment problem. At best they can contribute but they cannot substitute for domestic investment and domestic enterprise,” he said.
According to Prof. Suruma, Africa in the past faced global ideological contradictions concerning the choice between liberal capitalism and a planned economy. He noted that the world has since the 1980s changed and the second and fastest growing economy in the world today is a planned economy. In his humble opinion, the idea that government withdrawal from investing in and supporting domestic enterprises solves the employment problem is a cruel joke.
“Even the capitalists themselves have abandoned this extremist ideology in favor of more complex activist government policies. In the circumstances in which we found ourselves in the 1980s and 1990s we opted to accept conditionality from global lenders that virtually required us to eliminate government enterprises in favor of foreign enterprise,” he explained.
The Chancellor added that the performance of the Chinese economy in the past three decades has demonstrated beyond doubt that private enterprise requires systematic and deliberate support from Government. Prof. Suruma, therefore said that it is the duty of government to ensure that domestic entrepreneurs have access to capital on terms that will enable domestic enterprises to compete with foreign enterprises in the sale of their goods at home as well as in regional and domestic markets.
“As we move to sell our oil resources in the near future, I hope that some of the oil revenues will be channeled into capital to finance domestic enterprises owned by Ugandans so that we are no longer dependent on foreign enterprises to create full employment. If you wish to find out more about these ideas please read my book, Advancing the Ugandan Economy: A Personal Account (published by Brookings Press, Washington DC, 2014),” he remarked.
During the second session of the 69th Graduation Ceremony, graduands from the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Bio-Security (CoVAB) and the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS) were conferred upon degrees and awarded diplomas of Makerere University.
The Chancellor congratulated the overjoyed graduands upon their academic achievement. He extended sincere gratitude to the parents, guardians, teachers, mentors and peers for the help and counsel accorded the graduands over the years.
Speaking about ethical uprightness, Prof. Suruma said, “It is simply unacceptable to compromise on the moral integrity of the university. When that happens everyone suffers. We begin to doubt the value of every degree coming from Makerere University. Those who have worked hard to earn their marks become victims of those who have cheated. Anyone who participates in any way in casting a shadow over the academic records of the university is an enemy and must be treated as such.”
He therefore urged students, parents, faculty, alumni, government, the media and public at large to fight all forms of immorality and to say an irrevocable NO to all forms of corruption in the university.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe applauded members of staff that graduated in their respective academic disciplines. “Your dedication to improve yourselves academically as well as our students is commendable. I am certain this will boost the Makerere University academic profile,” he said.
He thanked the President of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Hon. Janet Kataaha Museveni for the unwavering support to Makerere University to consolidate her position as a modern 21st Century University. In the same spirit, the Vice Chancellor thanked the development partners for supporting Makerere University’s mutually beneficial development programmes.
“Our visibility as an institution continues to improve with your support, and we are constantly exploring ways to incorporate the sustainability component in all our activities. Makerere University has continued to rank among the top five universities in Africa and among the top 400 globally. Makerere is also considered the best black university on earth. We welcome more development partners to support us in further strengthening teaching and learning as well as research and innovation,” he said.
During the second session, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Uganda recognized the best performing student in Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) at Makerere University. The Chancellor together with the Association’s representative presented the ACCA Award to Ms. Tumukunde Elizabeth amidst thunderous applause from the congregation.
On the same day, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme at Makerere University recognized its best student of the year 2019; Mr. Katuramu Charles who scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.58, earning himself a First Class Honours degree.
Article by Mak Public Relations Office
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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