Makerere University Business School (MUBS) has for the fourth consecutive time produced the Best Overall and Best Student in Humanities; Ms. Namuwaya Hajarah Ali, who graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business Computing (First Class Honors), scoring a CGPA of 4.94 in the Bachelor of Business Computing. Ms. Namuwaya was recognized for her outstanding academic achievement by the Makerere University Convocation during the third session of the 69th Graduation Ceremony on 17th January 2019.

She received a cash prize of one million shillings, a plaque and souvenir items; presented to her by the Convocation Chairperson, Dr. Fredrick Tanga Odoi. Graduands from MUBS were conferred upon degrees and awarded diplomas of Makerere University.  Among these, was Miss World Africa, Quiin Abenakyo who graduated with the Bachelor of Business Computing.

The Chancellor, Prof. Ezra Suruma commended Makerere University Business School for producing the Best Overall Student in the Humanities for four consecutive graduation ceremonies since 2016.

He thanked the leadership and staff of MUBS for the continued academic discipline; and the tremendous efforts to groom business-oriented social entrepreneurs in the country.

“We cherish discipline and academic integrity and we applaud your vision of being the benchmark for business and management education in the region. Thank you for the positive contribution you are making towards the global reputation of Makerere University,” he acknowledged.

He congratulated Mr. Stephen Ssembuya, an alumnus of MUBS upon winning the Pakasa 2018 Youth Awards in the social entrepreneur category. Mr. Stephen Ssembuya runs one of the biggest cocoa growing and chocolate processing farms in Buikwe district.

According to Prof. Suruma, Mr. Ssembuya is an excellent example to the young people that there are enormous opportunities in dealing in agricultural commodities such as beans, maize, ginger, coffee, cocoa, tea, honey, cassava, sesame and soya beans.

“There are opportunities for increasing production, processing, drying, standardizing, packaging, storage and marketing in the domestic markets, regional markets and global markets. Despite challenges in accessing capital on competitive terms, I believe that we can forge ahead to reform the financial sector and to increase access to affordable capital so that we can take full advantage of our natural resources,” he explained.  

The Chancellor urged graduands to put to good use the education, skills and experience they garnered throughout their stay at University when he said, “Uganda needs people willing to innovate, to create new things, to add value to our raw materials and to extend and consolidate the gains that have been made thus far. You are those people and we are counting on you. Go change your world. Be of good courage, God will strengthen your arm.”

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, applauded Makerere University Business School for promoting vibrant interaction between Professors, researchers and undergraduate students. According to him, the interaction has played a vital role in enabling a vast number of students to excel in their academics.

“I am happy to report that Makerere University Business School has continued to taking the University to the community. They have established campuses at Jinja, Mbarara, Mbale and Arua. This is the right direction if we are to make quality higher education accessible to all qualifying candidates,” he said.

The Principal of Makerere University Business School, Prof. Juma Waswa Balunywa, congratulated graduands upon reaching this coveted milestone in their academic journey and advised them to always value the degrees they have attained. “I urge you to accord respect to the degrees you have attained because a degree is what differentiates you from other people.  You should therefore give it the respect it deserves,” he cautioned.

Article by Mak Public Relations Office