General
Mak 69th Graduation Ends with Emphasis on Moral Integrity and Discipline
The curtains came down on the fourth and final session of the 69th Graduation Ceremony of Makerere University held on Friday, 18th January 2019, after the Chancellor, Prof. Ezra Suruma conferred degrees and awarded diplomas to graduands from the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS) and the School of Law (LAW). Notable among the graduands were; the former Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda Steven Kavuma; who graduated with a Degree of Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomatic Studies, Deputy Police Spokesperson, Polly Namaye; with a Degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication, former Member of Parliament for Rubaga South Division Hon. John Ken Lukyamuzi; with the Bachelor of Laws and 14 pioneer students of the Master of Arts in Defence and Security Studies.
The Chancellor congratulated all graduands upon reaching the important milestone in their academic journey. He also thanked the leadership and staff of Makerere University for the great work in training the wide range of professionals in the humanities and social sciences, law, engineering, architecture, medicine, fine art and design.
“I am sure you will all agree with me that it takes a great deal of effort and time to train and graduate over 13,000 graduands including PhDs and Masters Degrees. You have done excellently to prepare these students,” said Prof Suruma.
He called upon staff, students and the entire community of Makerere to be of high moral integrity. According to Prof. Suruma, if the meaning and value of education is to endure, then the record of each and every student must be an accurate and a true reflection of his or her actual performance.
“It is simply unacceptable to compromise on the moral integrity of the university. Anyone who participates in any way in falsifying the academic records of the university is an enemy and must be treated as such,’ he said.
He urged students, parents, faculty, alumni, government, media and the public at large to fight all forms of fraud, falsification and immorality in the university.
“My late brother, Dr. Livingstone Byarugaba used to ask me: ‘Do you need a torch to see the sun?’ Now I beg to ask you my brothers and sisters, do we need to be reminded that every time we push for a false mark or grade for a child or student who is not qualified, we are hurting ourselves? Who benefits when we increase or multiply unqualified doctors, pharmacists, teachers, engineers and pilots in the society?” asked the Chancellor.
He appealed to every Ugandan to take a stand and fight for the good of the country when he said, “wherever you find yourself, take a stand for what is right. Be a candle in the darkness and save our country for our children and our grandchildren. Charity begins at home. Education without integrity will not protect you and it will not protect Uganda. It will continue to kill and the future will get worse. Once our enemies realize our internal weaknesses it will not take them long to destroy us.”
He applauded the Vice Chancellor, Management and the ceremonies committee for the successful preparations for the 69th Graduation Ceremony.
The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, reiterated the need for staff and students to observe discipline in the university. According to Prof Nawangwe, the biggest obstacle to Africa’s development is indiscipline of the country’s elite.
“I wish to thank H.E. the President, the First Lady and Hon. Minister of Education and Sports and the members of the public for their support of the measures taken by Council and Management to improve discipline among students and members of staff at Makerere University. No University can fully utilize her potential in an environment where indiscipline, abuse and impunity prevail,” he remarked.
To the graduands Prof. Nawangwe said, “as you leave the gates of Makerere University, remember that you are now on your own. You will succeed in life if you put a few ideals ahead of you. These are self-discipline, respect for self and others, love for your Country and love for God. The opportunities out there are immense, but only the disciplined will find them.”
He reminded graduands to take note of the President’s pledge to support organized groups of graduates with seed funding to start businesses. He also unveiled his idea of establishing a Makerere University Student Employment Liaison Desk in the Office of the Vice Chancellor. This Desk, he said, will coordinate employment opportunities for students within and outside the University.
“The Country is yearning for jobs for our young people and everybody will be looking at you to prove the worth of your education. With a Makerere degree, you have no right not to succeed. The World is yours for the taking and it is only you to deny yourself of the opportunities out there,” he said.
Article by: Mak Public Relations Office
The Gender Mainstreaming Directorate (GMD), Makerere University on 14th September 2021 presented findings from phase one of the study on Enhancing Women’s Participation and Visibility in Leadership and Decision-Making Organs of Public Universities in Uganda through Action Research. The study team led by the Director GMD and Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Euzobia Mugisha Baine also consists of Assoc. Prof. Consolata Kabonesa, Dr. Anna Ninsiima, Ms. Frances Nyachwo, Ms. Susan Mbabazi and Mr. Eric Tumwesigye.
The team is also made of coordinators from participating Universities such as Busitema University-Ms. Elizabeth Birabwa, Kabale University-Sr. Dr. Eva Tumusiime, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST)-Dr. Specioza Twinamasiko, Muni University-Ms. Amandru Stella Wawa, and Gulu Univeristy-Sr. Rosalba Aciro.
Funded by the Government of Uganda through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), the study was inspired by the fact that women are persistently few in numbers as staff, more so in leadership and decision-making organs of Ugandan Public Universities. “This is despite all the various efforts at national and international levels; the numbers are not growing as fast as needed to meet development goals of the country” explained Dr. Euzobia.
Based on this background, the study team therefore sought to conduct a situational analysis of the gender terrain of the six public universities to obtain baseline information encompassing the composition of governance and leadership organs and senior staff by sex, as well as a needs assessment and profiles of potential mentors and mentees.
Furthermore, the team sought to explore the capacity to conduct gender-responsive research as well as the role of male staff engagement in gender equity interventions within the universities as the drivers of development.
Dr. Mugisha-Baine shared that results of the baseline would then be used to design participatory training manuals or guides on gender and leadership. The manuals would cover; Institutionalized mentorship, How to conduct gender-responsive research, gender and equity budgeting, among others.
“Within these manuals, we shall have a male staff engagement strategy in gender equity interventions in universities” she explained.
The development of the aforementioned materials would then be followed by their adoption and use to build capacity for women not only in leadership of participating and other public university but also beyond. “We shall periodically evaluate whether the capacity we have built has influenced women’s participation in leadership and decision-making organs of the university” supplemented the PI.
The capacity building trainings for women, it is envisaged, will lay the foundation for the formation of a functional Uganda University Women’s Think Tank, starting with the six participating universities. Dr. Mugisha Baine added that through this Think Tank, a monitoring and tracking system for gender representation in recruitment, promotion, retention/turnover and leadership of public universities shall be established and maintained.
At the conclusion of phase one, the study team had drafted participatory training manuals in gender and leadership with content on; gender specific critical analysis of the leadership spectrum of public universities, positioning of individual women within the institutional framework and strategies for their advancement, gender equity advocacy in the university setting, institutional mentorship, building capacity in conducting gender-responsive research, among others.
“This content will be validated by the participating universities before the actual research training is conducted” added the PI.
On behalf of the research team, Dr. Mugisha Baine thanked the Government of Uganda for providing the resources that facilitated phase one of the study and prayed that the Mak-RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC) would support the next phase of capacity building.
Speaking on behalf of the Mak-RIF GMC Chairperson, Prof. William Bazeyo, Dr. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala thanked and congratulated the team led by the Director GMD upon the milestones registered in the critical research.
“We are very proud of that work that is being done by all researchers in Mak-RIF and we would like to most sincerely thank Management for all the support throughout this process” she remarked.
Dr. Nkabala encouraged the research team to continue disseminating and using the findings for the furtherance of gender mainstreaming, particularly through the aspect of male staff engagement in gender equity interventions.
Prior to delivering the keynote address of the day, the Executive Director National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Prof. Mary Okwakol thanked the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe for inviting her to the important forum, noting that women’s participation in decision making and governance is a priority area of the Uganda Gender Policy 2007.
She commended Makerere University for being at the forefront of gender mainstreaming in Uganda, noting that this prominence was one of the reasons why the Gender in Education Policy 2007 provides for replicating the institution’s strategy in all other Higher Education Institutions.
Prof. Okwakol whose keynote address was punctuated incisive personal examples reaffirmed the statistics that women are generally not visible in leadership of Universities. That notwithstanding, in instances where they rise to leadership and decision-making positions, they are regularly subject to roles traditionally deemed as women’s inconsiderate of their managerial seniority and experience.
She nevertheless rallied the women to play their respective roles in enhancing participation and visibility at a personal level. The following were some of the strategies she proposed; work hard to acquire academic credentials so as to compete favourably with men, acquire necessary administrative training and experience, network among women, join professional networks as well as do research and publish.
On joining professional networks, she shared her personal experience as a young zoologist who joined UNESCO’s Tropical Biology and Fertility Programme. “Within a short time I was appointed Coordinator for Africa and after two years, I was elected as a Member of the International Board of Management. After serving for two years, I became Vice Chairperson of that Board and finally I became Chairperson of that International Board.”
At the institutional level, Prof. Okwakol appealed to the Chairperson Council and Vice Chancellor to proactively recruit women who meet the requirements for leadership positions even if it means actively seeking out the reluctant ones. In this regard, she shared that it would be useful for the university to develop a database of women and their qualifications to ease this process.
She shared that NCHE has in recognition of female underrepresentation at every level in Higher Education approved the establishment of a Gender and Equity Unit with the aim of promoting inclusive gender participation in the sub-sector.
“This unit has been placed under the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Accreditation which implies that as we look out for and regulate quality, gender will be a very important aspect of that regulation” she reassured.
Prof. Okwakol concluded by urging participants to read the; Third National Development Plan (NDPIII), Uganda Vision 2040, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) noting that there is no way all three can be achieved while women are left behind because they each make a case for inclusion of the female gender.
“What we are addressing here are historical injustices” said Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe as he commenced his remarks, “And in the case of Makerere University, it is well known that the institution started as a male-only institution and we all know the original motto was ‘Let us be men’” he added.
Citing examples from history such as; Marie Curie – one of the smartest physicists, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra – prominent Pharaohs of Egypt, George Eliot, Rosa Luxemburg and Hypatia – all great philosophers as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel – first female Chancellor of Germany, the Vice Chancellor said there is no plausible argument that there are things women cannot do as well as their male counterparts.
He said it was against this knowledge and in a bid to correct historical injustices that Makerere University pioneered initiatives such as putting in place affirmative action for girls, establishing a Gender Mainstreaming Directorate as well as a School of Women and Gender Studies. The Vice Chancellor nevertheless stressed the need to go beyond pioneering to protecting these gains through legislation. “Historically we have seen that discrimination can only be addressed by laws and policies.”
Prof. Nawangwe thanked the Government for providing funds to support Mak-RIF as well as the Funds GMC and Secretariat for ensuring that these funds are put to good use. He equally thanked the Chairperson of Council, Mrs. Lorna Magara for her not only her support but also sparing time to attend a good number of the research dissemination events.
Delivering the concluding remarks, Mrs. Magara acknowledged that the study was timely and relevant the contemporary University, as one of the critical drivers of the national and international development agenda. She therefore reechoed the Vice Chancellor’s thanks to the Government of Uganda for generously supporting the University’s research through Mak-RIF.
Turning to the keynote speaker she said, “I thank Prof. Okwakol for ardently discussing the critical issues affecting the female gender, the strategies to overcome the challenges, including sharing her inspiring personal experiences.”
Mrs. Magara equally thanked Prof. Okwakol for her very instructional analysis, providing mentorship guidance with the resultant impact of enhancing the female gender in decision-making positions. In the same breath she congratulated the PI and her team upon successfully concluding phase one of the project.
“Phase one has generated insights in understanding the status of women in leadership in public universities, the legal and policy framework and its implications on women’s visibility, the institutional mentoring systems and the gaps therein” she observed.
The Chairperson of Council acknowledged that the challenge of underrepresentation of women in leadership roles cannot be resolved at an individual level. She therefore advocated for broad based strategies that can address deep-seated structural and cultural biases facing women. “These include developing mentorship networks, enacting laws and policies that address the imbalances and providing training programmes to address the leadership gaps.”
She therefore pledged the University Council’s unwavering support to the Gender Mainstreaming Programme by ensuring an enabling policy environment that facilitates gender-responsive teaching, learning, research innovation and community service.
The research dissemination was moderated by the Principal Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ms. Ritah Namisango and the Director Communications, Learning and Knowledge Management, ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) and PRO Mak-RIF, Ms. Harriet Adong.
