Computing & IS
Ag. Heads of IT & IS Dr. Evelyn Kahiigi & Dr. Peter Nabende hand over office
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 27th 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
KAMPALA, Sept. 18, 2026 — Makerere’s and Ugandan clean-air technology initiative AirQo has been named a finalist for the 2026 Earthshot Prize, earning global recognition for its efforts to improve air-quality monitoring across Africa using low-cost sensors, open data platforms and artificial intelligence.
AirQo was selected in the Clean Our Air category of the environmental award founded by Britain’s Prince William. The initiative is among 15 finalists chosen from nearly 7,000 nominations across 169 countries, according to The Earthshot Prize.
The recognition highlights AirQo’s work addressing a longstanding shortage of air-quality data in African cities, where pollution from transport, industry and waste is growing alongside rapid urbanisation.
Founded at Makerere University in 2015, AirQo has installed more than 500 air-quality monitors across 16 cities in nine African countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa. The organisation says its network provides real-time air-quality information to communities with a combined population of more than 30 million people.
The Earthshot Prize said AirQo’s monitoring systems are designed for African conditions, including dust, unreliable electricity supplies and limited internet connectivity. The network combines fixed monitoring stations with mobile sensors mounted on motorcycle taxis, known locally as boda bodas, to collect street-level pollution data.
The data is disseminated through digital platforms, dashboards and application programming interfaces, while artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools are used to calibrate sensors, forecast pollution levels and identify pollution hotspots.
Air pollution remains a major public health challenge across the continent. The Earthshot Prize said air pollution was the second-leading risk factor for death in Africa in 2019 and contributed to an estimated 1.1 million deaths that year.
AirQo founder and Makerere University computer science professor Bainomugisha said the initiative was established to address the lack of reliable local air-quality information in African cities.
“Air pollution has remained invisible across too many African cities because the data needed to understand it has been scarce,” Bainomugisha said in a statement. “Being named an Earthshot Prize finalist will help us scale this infrastructure, equip more African technologists and city leaders, and make reliable air-quality data a public good.”
According to AirQo, its data and technical expertise helped inform Uganda’s first national air-quality regulations and have been used to support traffic-management measures in Kampala. The organisation said its monitoring systems are intended to help governments identify pollution hotspots and guide policy decisions, while acknowledging that monitoring alone does not reduce emissions.
As a finalist, AirQo will receive support from The Earthshot Prize aimed at expanding its operations, attracting investment and strengthening partnerships with governments, funders and technology organisations.
The initiative plans to expand to 10 additional African cities in the coming years, develop an open-source air-quality platform featuring a conversational AI interface, and increase technical training for students and clean-air specialists through programmes at Makerere University.
Prince William, founder and president of The Earthshot Prize, said the finalists demonstrate that environmental solutions can be scaled despite mounting global challenges.
“Every year, our finalists give me renewed optimism,” he said. “They show us that, even as the environmental challenges remain urgent, extraordinary people around the world are already proving that progress is possible.”
Five winners, one from each Earthshot category, will be announced during the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Mumbai, India, on Nov. 17.
AirQo has secured about $6 million in funding and support from partners including Google.org, the World Bank and the Clean Air Fund, according to the organisation.
The Earthshot Prize, launched in 2020, seeks to identify and scale solutions addressing five environmental challenges: protecting and restoring nature, cleaning the air, reviving oceans, building a waste-free world and tackling climate change.
Details in the Earthshot Press release below:
Daily Monitor:
Nile post:
Earthshot prize:
https://earthshotprize.org/winners-finalists/airqo
Airqo:
Computing & IS
Prof. Engineer Bainomugisha Takes Over as Principal of CoCIS, Pledges Focus on Excellence, Research and Innovation
Prof. Engineer Bainomugisha has officially assumed office as Principal of Makerere University’s College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS), pledging to work with staff, students and university management to strengthen academic excellence, research, innovation and the welfare of the college community.
Bainomugisha formally took over the leadership of the college during a handover ceremony held on the afternoon of September 10, 2026, in the Block A Conference Room, Level 4. He succeeds Prof. Tonny Oyana, while the immediate handover was conducted by Dr. Peter Nabende, who had served as Acting Principal for about one month.
The ceremony was moderated by CoCIS Principal Human Resource Officer Julius Lebo and attended by a representative from the Office of the Makerere University Chief Internal Auditor, heads of departments, deans, administrative and support staff, as well as student representatives.
Bainomugisha said he was honoured and privileged to serve as Principal, thanking the University Council, University Management, Senate and the Search Committee for entrusting him with the leadership of the college.
He said his appointment followed a competitive selection process involving the Search Committee, Senate, the Appointments Board and ultimately the University Council.
“I would like to thank the University Council, the University Management, Senate, and the Search Committee for giving me the opportunity to serve as a College Principal,” Bainomugisha said.
He also expressed appreciation to Vice-Chancellor and other university officials for accommodating his participation in the selection process, including allowing him to make his Senate presentation online while he was travelling.
Four priorities for CoCIS
In outlining his vision, Bainomugisha said he wants CoCIS to build a strong reputation around four key areas.
First, he said the college should be recognised for producing graduates who demonstrate excellence, with teaching and learning aligned to Makerere University’s strategic plan.
Second, he said CoCIS should become globally recognised for undertaking impactful research.
Third, he identified innovation and technology transfer as another priority, stressing the need for innovations developed at the university to move beyond academic settings and create wider societal impact.
Finally, he pledged to promote a conducive working and learning environment for both staff and students, underpinned by teamwork.
“I would like to see a College that is known to produce graduates who are really excellent,” he said. “I would like to see a College that is globally recognised to undertake impactful research. And I would like to see a College that is also known for innovations and technology transfer.”
He added that the college should also be “a conducive work environment for staff and students, as well as teamwork.”
Bainomugisha called for collective responsibility in achieving the priorities, saying the Principal’s office would work with academic and administrative units, students, University Management, Council and other stakeholders.
He acknowledged that the college faces several challenges, but said these would have to be tackled progressively.
“There are many challenges that the outgoing principal has outlined, and I believe that we can work together to address some of those challenges,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll address one challenge at a time. We cannot promise that we’ll address all of them on day one.”
Nabende hands over college with staffing and programme challenges highlighted
In his handover report, Dr. Peter Nabende provided an overview of the college’s academic programmes, staffing situation, research and innovation activities, budget, committees, grants and other administrative matters.
Nabende said he had sought to build on the handover report prepared by the former Principal, Prof. Tony Oyana, while incorporating developments from his one-month period as Acting Principal.
He said his report was structured around the responsibilities assigned to him, including implementing university policies and regulations, overseeing academic programmes, promoting research and innovation, coordinating the college budget, managing units and committees, mobilising resources and research grants, and providing progress reports to university management.
Nabende said no legal cases had arisen during his brief tenure, noting that he had sought to operate within university policy and regulatory frameworks.
He also provided an overview of CoCIS academic programmes, noting that accreditation and curriculum review remain important issues for the college as the university moves toward competence-based education and training.
According to Nabende, a number of programmes remain active and accredited, while others are under review or being proposed. He noted that the college must prepare for the implementation of the competence-based education and training framework, which institutions are expected to comply with by 2027/2028.
“This is a critical item that will concern the college for the coming one year,” he said, urging the college to strategise to meet the requirements.
Staffing shortage raises concern
One of the major challenges highlighted in the handover was staffing.
Nabende said the college is operating a growing number of academic programmes while facing limited staffing capacity. He warned that increasing student enrolment, combined with staff shortages, could put pressure on the quality and effective delivery of academic programmes.
He also raised concern about the increasing attrition of staff, saying several employees had recently left the university, including some who had recently obtained PhDs.
“We have increasing attrition rate. We have a number of colleagues who are leaving,” he said, describing the trend as concerning because the college can find itself replacing staff at roughly the same rate as those leaving.
He said the university and college leadership need to find ways of addressing the staff exodus.
Nabende also reported that Jinja Campus remains severely understaffed and said the college continues to support some of its programmes through staffing arrangements involving CoCIS departments.
He further pointed to administrative staffing gaps, saying the workload generated by the college’s growing numbers of programmes and activities affects productivity, output, quality and responsiveness.
Research and innovation on the rise
Nabende said CoCIS has experienced increasing research activity and output in recent years and urged the college to build on that growth.
He cited a number of research and innovation initiatives, including the Ocular project, AIRCOR and work involving natural-language technologies, speech recognition, artificial intelligence applications in mental health, agriculture, livestock health and education.
He said the college’s innovations had also attracted recognition from government officials, citing a recent visit by the Minister responsible for Science, Technology and Innovation.
The college currently has 24 external research projects, according to the handover presentation, alongside seed grant initiatives supporting staff and students.
The seed grant programme has supported 56 staff projects and 48 student projects, with the projects continuing.
Nabende encouraged the college to continue nurturing such initiatives so that smaller research projects can develop into larger programmes with greater impact.
Budget and financial position
The handover report also outlined the college’s budget position for the first quarter.
Nabende said approximately Shs461.5 million had been released for the quarter and that roughly one-third had been utilised at the time of the handover.
He noted that most budget-related processes are now managed electronically, allowing administrators to monitor requests, expenditure and other financial information through the university system.
The incoming Principal was therefore handed responsibility for continuing implementation of the approved budget while working with relevant administrative offices.
Graduation and academic administration
Nabende said the College Academic Board had considered and recommended results for the 2025/2026 academic year, placing CoCIS in a good position ahead of the forthcoming graduation.
He, however, called for attention to student complaints and graduate examination processes to ensure that more students are cleared for graduation.
He also outlined the work of various college committees, including the Establishments and Appointments Committee, Finance Committee, College Academic Board, Quality Assurance Committee, Appeals and Academic Policies Committee and Contracts Committee.
Despite leaving the Principal’s office, Nabende said he would remain available to support the new Principal in his capacity as Deputy Principal and academic staff member.
He thanked the university leadership, fellow principals, deans, heads of departments, academic and administrative staff and students for supporting him during his brief tenure.
Nabende also praised Prof. Oyana for steering the college before his tenure and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as Acting Principal.
“I’m really, really happy that I was given the opportunity to act as a principal,” he said, describing the experience as an important opportunity for him.
He told Bainomugisha that he would continue to support the college and university’s strategic direction.
Internal Audit calls for a smooth transition
Representing the Office of the Chief Internal Auditor, Aggrey Luwuliza commended Nabende for accepting to act as Principal and subsequently handing over the office.
Luwuliza said handover processes are important because they formally mark the transition from one office-holder to another and allow incoming leaders to understand the status of an institution.
He urged the outgoing and incoming principals to agree on the contents of the handover report and areas requiring follow-up so that the transition does not become a source of disagreement.
“We are here to support you,” Luwuliza said, stressing the importance of agreement between the two office-holders before the formal handover.
He also congratulated Bainomugisha for accepting the responsibility of leading the college and wished him success.
Students welcome new Principal
CoCIS student chairperson Jim Ainamani, a fourth-year Bachelor of Software Engineering student, congratulated Bainomugisha on his appointment and pledged students’ cooperation.
Ainamani said students’ experiences at the college are significantly influenced by its leadership and expressed optimism that the new Principal would continue the tradition of caring leadership.
“For the time I’ve been here, for the three and a half years, I have been able to witness caring principals, from Professor Tony to our outgoing principal,” he said.
He said students hoped to work with Bainomugisha, learn from his leadership and benefit from an improved experience at the college.
Staff pledge cooperation
Dr. Swaibu Kyanda Kaawaase, Head of the Networks Department, delivered a vote of thanks on behalf of the college, welcoming Bainomugisha and pledging staff cooperation.
Kaawaase said staff expected positive developments under the new leadership and would work with the Principal to make CoCIS more innovative and globally recognised.
He also highlighted staff welfare and student experience as areas where cooperation would be important.
“We pledge cooperation in all aspects to ensure that our college can be the one that can be talked about in the rest of the globe as being very innovative,” he said.
He further pledged cooperation to ensure students receive the best possible education and staff welfare is strengthened.
A new chapter for CoCIS
The transition comes at a time when CoCIS is expanding its academic programmes, research and innovation portfolio while simultaneously confronting staffing constraints, programme accreditation and review requirements, rising student numbers and staff attrition.
Bainomugisha begins his tenure with a detailed handover outlining both the achievements and pressure points facing the college.
Rather than promising an immediate solution to every challenge, he called for a collaborative approach focused on addressing issues progressively.
He also reaffirmed that the Principal and Deputy Principal would work closely together, maintaining continuity in the leadership of the college.
“As we are just starting off, what I’m praying for is for God to give us wisdom and good life, and teamwork,” Bainomugisha said. “I look forward to working with you all.”
The handover formally closes Nabende’s brief stint as Acting Principal while marking the beginning of Bainomugisha’s tenure, with the new Principal expected to steer CoCIS through the next phase of academic, research, innovation and institutional development.
Who is Engineer Bainomugisha?
Note: Name Origin: “Engineer” is his actual first name, given by his parents who noticed his childhood curiosity about how things work.
Engineer Bainomugisha is Professor of Computer Science and the former Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Makerere University. His research focuses on Computer Science-driven solutions to the prevailing world challenges. He is also passionate about contributing to quality Computer Science education that is of sufficient breath and depth, practical and fast enough. Professor Bainomugisha currently leads several innovative initiatives that aim to create and apply computational methods and tools that can improve the quality of life especially in the developing world setting.
His current research projects include building networks of miniature devices to: measure and derive trends of air quality in over 50 urban centers in Uganda to tackle the growing air pollution challenge in developing countries; monitor soil conditions to help farms make smart decisions; measure the quality of road infrastructure in Uganda to help municipalities and road users. Professor Bainomugisha and his team are also building a multi-cloud solution that supports portability of apps and services between private and public clouds while taking into account unique African realities like bandwidth constraints, Internet and power outages. Previously
Professor Bainomugisha investigated and developed programming languages and software tools to help programmers easily write highly adaptive mobile software without worrying about low-level concerns. His research in this area helped create iScheme and Flute programming languages. He is also the Principal Investigator for several research projects including “Probabilistic low-cost air pollution monitoring”; “Centre for Data Technology”; “Build Research Capacity for Innovative ICT4D”; and “African Virtual Cloud Initiative”;
Professor Bainomugisha received a Ph.D. and MSc. in Computer Science from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium in 2008 & 2012, respectively; and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Makerere University in 2006. Prior to returning to Makerere University he worked as a pre-doctoral and postdoctoral researcher at the Software Languages Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer CoCIS
Photo Credits: Peninah Nalubega 4th year Journalism and Communication student
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