Two long time Acting (Ag.) Heads of Department from the School of Computing and Information Technology, College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS) have handed over office to substantive heads.

Dr. Evelyn Kigozi Kahiigi who has served for eight years in Acting capacity as Head, Department of Information Technology (IT) has handed over the instruments of power to Dr. Fiona Tulinayo Penlope.

Dr. Peter Nabende who has served for nine years in Acting capacity as Head, Department of Information Systems (IS) has handed over to Dr. Agnes Nakakawa as substantive head.

The handover ceremony for the duo was held on 27^th July 2022 in the CoCIS Conference Room witnessed by the Principal CoCIS, Prof. Tonny Oyana, the Dean School of Computing and Information Technology Assoc. Prof, Gilbert Maiga, the representative from Internal Audit Mr, Aggrey Luwuliza, the Human Resource  Officer, CoCIS Mr. Godwin Okiror, and staff from the college.

 Prof. Oyana who described succession as part of life and management thanked the outgoing and incoming heads for offering themselves to serve the college. He noted that offering oneself for service is a public good and a challenge for all.

“You should have time for the college. There are three key responsibilities; Research – as you have to continue being a scholar; Teaching – a service that you offer to the nation to transfer knowledge to students; and thirdly Service to our country because God created us to serve him and others”. Prof. Oyana advised.

Prof. Oyana stressed that teaching is not a job but rather, a calling of transforming somebody’s life and adding value.  Whereas money facilitates teaching, the professor advised it should not be the primary motivator for staff.

“Thank you Fiona and Agnes  for accepting to take on the responsibility to serve the College, Makerere University and Uganda at large. Allowances are important and will come, but, they should not be your primary motivation but to do good. When you leave office and you find you have uplifted someone, you will find happiness”, Prof. Oyana counselled.

The Dean School of Computing and Information Technology Assoc. Prof. Gilbert Maiga hailed the college management for organizing the handover expressing hope that this would be the practice whenever there is change of office.

Prof. Maiga appreciated the outgoing heads for their dedicated services and sometimes serving outside the working hours. He equated the role of the heads of departments to the wheels on which the vehicle moves.

“I thank Evelyn and Peter for the job well done. The whole university depends on departments and I thank you colleagues for being good wheels in the university. They ensured students are admitted and graduate, so we are really very grateful for their services.

“To the incoming, It is a challenging assignment but we want to thank you for offering yourselves to serve and meet this challenge on behalf of the university. This university is a bureaucracy and in a bureaucracy, decisions are made by committees.  A Department is so important in a way that once it decides, the Dean cannot overrule unless there is proper reason, which must be taken back for further consideration”, he added.

Outgoing Heads of Department speak

Outgoing head Department of Information Systems Dr. Peter Nabende thanked God for keeping him healthy and available to serve under different Principals, Deans and Administrators who accorded him support with different but effective styles of leadership and management.

“I did substantive work in acting capacity as no one was willing to take up the substantive position but I am glad Dr. Agnes Nakakawa has accepted to take over. I appreciate the work by my colleagues, they have been resourceful, hardworking and supporting the department and university in different roles such as internship coordination, handling graduate programmes, examinations, teaching and research work”, Nabende appreciated.

The outgoing head Department of Information Technology Dr. Evelyn Kigozi Kahiigi thanked the office of the Principal, the Dean and Administrative officers for the guidance and mentorship during her eight year tenure noting that by the time she took over, the department had only one associate professor and one lecturer but many staff have ascended in their academic ranks.

“In eight years, I have been able to have an opportunity to act as Dean while he was on sabbatical leave, had an opportunity to serve as examination coordinator and I did a good job and all structures were put in place. The university adopted one of the forms I developed for non-registered students,” she reported.

Dr. Kahiigi also said  as only female dean on the fourth floor,  all cases of students in need of counselling  came to her door adding that, this gelling provided  her an opportunity to connect with students across the school through an open door policy.

“Also God and family. As head you are everybody’s person and in so doing the family suffers. I thank my family for the support and God who has guided and given me grace to lead a wonderful team till today”, Dr. Kahiigi said.

Kahiigi informed the successor that the most challenging time for the head is during graduation when parents and students are excited and expressed the need for proper coordination and being available to support the students.

Staff  hail outgoing heads

Speaker after speaker, praised Dr. Evelyn Kahiigi and Dr. Peter Nabende for their exemplary service and humility.

“These are people who have stood the test of time working in acting positions and they have given us hope that if appointed to a higher office, they can handle”, Dr. Agaba Joab said.

The departments have not found better and exceptional heads. Your commitment to work has motivated us. Dr. Evelyn is a mother and we thank you for mentoring  us and we commit our unwavering support to the in-coming Head.

In Peter, we also found a very responsible person, I felt at home that we had two heads of department to consult anytime and were available physically and on phone”, said Dr. Annabella.

“It is encouraging to continue having female Heads of department. I thank the outgoing head Dr. Evelyn who has been a parent and at times of need would welcome you to her home to fix a problem. Dr. Fiona, you have our support.

“Peter, you are very flexible even in times of pressure you always found a way of calming down the situation,” Another one said.

New Heads of Department accept the appointment

“I am accepting the role. I will not chicken out. I am not an administrator but a teacher by calling. I appreciate the Principal and all colleagues who have been calling upon me to take up the administrative role”, Dr. Nakakawa said, thanking the outgoing head and  staff for the support and the university management for trust.

“I want to say, I accept. I thank the University for entrusting me with the responsibility. I am not threatened by words. Let me experience and see how it is.” Dr. Fiona Tulinayo Penlope said,  pledging that she will deliver.

About the new Heads of Department

Dr. Tulinayo Fiona Penlope

Fiona Tulinayo is a Lecturer at the School of computing and Information Science, Makerere
University. Dr. Tulinayo holds a PhD in Information Systems from Radboud University,
Nijmegen in the Netherlands; a Master of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelors of Industrial and Fine Arts from Makerere University. She specializes in systems development and computer graphics designing. Dr. Tulinayo has also undertake several trainings including scientific writing from University of Maastricht Language Centre, business process management from Vught, and Information Knowledge Systems organization from Zeist School for Information and Knowledge Systems in The Netherlands. Dr. Tulinayo has also specialized competences in modeling including; conceptual and domain modeling, system dynamics modeling, method engineering and process modeling. Further, she is an astute researcher, collaborator, technical and scientific writer with specialized abilities in handling institutional and development processes and management. Fiona has also provided several technical and institutional capacity development and support to the Ministry of Justice, Uganda and the Monitor Publications in Uganda.

Dr. Agnes Nakakawa

Agnes Nakakawa is an Information Systems professional and a Statistician. Since 2004, she has been involved in academia where she has proficiently lectured curriculum in the field of Computing and IT. She is also a diligent researcher in the Department of Information Systems at the School of Computing and IT. Nakakawa Agnes holds a PhD in Information Systems (Enterprise Architecture and Collaboration Engineering) from Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands). Her PhD research involved developing a process/method that enterprise (IT) architects can use to deeply involve and collaborate with organizational stakeholders during the creation/design of baseline and target enterprise architectures. During her PhD research, she closely collaborated with several enterprises in Uganda. Dr. Agnes Nakakawa also holds an MSc. (Computer Information Systems). Her Masters research involved developing a spatial decision support tool that can be used to locate suitable landfill sites for municipal waste management in Wakiso and Kampala districts. She also holds a Bachelors degree in Statistics (Statistical Computing) from Makerere University.

Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer, CoCIS