Humanities & Social Sciences
Prof. Andrew Ellias State hands over Deanship to Dr. Justus Twesigye
The Dean School of Social Sciences Prof. Andrew Ellias State on 1st December, 2022 handed over office to the Dr. Justus Twesigye at ceremony presided over by the Principal College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS) at the School’s premises.
Prof. State assumed office as Dean on 4th December, 2014 from Assoc. Prof. Charles Bwana. He served for the first four-year term and was re-elected for another term culminating into eight years of service. State extended appreciation to all staff in and outside the School for the cooperation and support that has enabled him execute his eight years of Deanship.
“I also wish to thank Makerere University for giving me the opportunity to serve in the capacity of Dean. I am aware that my service may not have been so pleasant to some members. I wish to sincerely apologise for the discomfort my work in the capacity of Dean may have caused to you. I wish to thank all those who actively supported me all the way through”, He said.
Prof. State reported that, there have been major changes in the university such as the consolidation of the collegiate system, composition of college committees and the introduction of blended learning under the COVID-19 pandemic where, as Dean he was actively involved.
In his 22-page handover report, State highlighted a number of achievements during his eight-year term. These included changes in staffing levels and promotions, the establishment of the Schools Ethics Research Committee which increased the visibility of the school, revival of the Mawazo journal, restoration of the school generator and increased number of linkages.
Other achievements reported included repairs and maintenance of the school infrastructure, beautification of the school offices and corridor, improved water storage capacity and lighting system, securing funds for the installation of a video conferencing facility for the school and the Uganda Military Academy Kabamba, revamping grounded vehicles and a significant movement from individual-based research projects to collaborative research teamwork among others.
He highlighted a number of challenges including the general lack of space for staff offices and teaching graduate programmes, low completion rates, lack of facilitation for graduate programmes, and the inability to pay part timers.
Prof. State also presented a list of pending issues for follow up by the incoming Dean such as processing and submitting final examinations results for 2021-2022, payments for local graduate supervision and examination, the renewed participation of students in examination malpractices and the review of the collegiate system to grant the independent status of the school.
“Since I am leaving, the office, I hope you will continue promoting the school’s position in as far as the collegiate system is concerned without fear or intimidation” He stated.
New Dean accepts to serve, softens restrictions on wearing masks, calls for peace and social cohesion in the School.
The incoming Dean Dr. Justus Twesigye congratulated the outgoing dean for the service rendered to the School. Twesigye also appreciated staff for working and supporting the outgoing Dean. He also commended Prof. State for withstanding the office pressure with aggressiveness.
“You have done a good job, served diligently and experienced challenges. Congratulations. To be able to serve in a public office for eight years without an investigation or checking in the coolers, is commendable”, Dr. Twesigye appreciated.
“It is heavy to work as an insulator to get the directives from above that must be digested and communicated to colleagues. You have made your presence felt in the school and university. State has been firm in coordination issues of teaching, research and implementation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPS) for CoVID prevention. I think he saved some of us who did not care about ourselves”. Dr. Twesigye stated.
Prof. Andrew Ellias State was credited for the implementing the Ministry of Health SOPs that required handwashing and wearing of masks to prevent and control the spread of COVID 19. State, firmly implemented the SOPs without fear or favour irrespective of one’s age, social, political and economic class, making the building and all premises of the School of Social Sciences a no-go zone for non-compliant citizens.
Prof. State’s health stance on wearing masks to access the school could have saved many from contracting the deadly Corona virus.
Unlike his predecessor, Dr. Justus Twesigye relaxed on the measures basing on the Ministry of Health recent pronouncement.
“On the issue of masks, the outgoing Dean has told you that he no longer has the powers. The Ministry of Health has indicated that people can use masks at their individual discretion. If you feel you need to have a booster dose, do that, but, I think from now we can allow people make their choices including students. If they can, or cannot afford, let people make choices so that we have a bit of peace. It had began raising so much stress. I am going to see how to handle but of course we have Ebola, it is still with us , maintain handwashing”, Dr. Twesigye explained
Dr. Twesigye recognised his undergraduate teachers for nurturing him and thanked staff for voting him and entrusting him with the duty to serve as Dean.
“I would like to accept taking over this responsibility as Dean basically to serve. It is my humble prayer that God grants me Grace to serve. You are part of this service. I will constantly coordinate and persuade but where applicable add a bit of controlled aggression for the good of all”, He pledged.
Dr. Twesigye highlighted a number of issues facing the school he would like to start working on including reorganisation of the teaching space to provide room for Masters students, expediting the process of examining and processing the graduation lists, internet connectivity in the school, following up on the recruitment of a custodian for the school and how to ease access for students with disabilities to the school premises.
As a social worker, Dr. Twesigye said he takes pride in having the School of Social Sciences operate as a family on grounds that staff spend most of their time at the school.
“We spend most of our time here even on weekends, with people coming on Saturdays. Registrars have been here in the nights meaning that they spend very little time with their families.
We would like to make this place our family, just bond, let us create a kind of connection. Let us feel free with each other. Symbolically, I made sure my daughter (Blessing) is here. I did not bring her here to brag but I want you to know that our children, your children, my children can find this place their home.
Once you have an opportunity bring your children, let us know them, this is the network they are going to have. There is no other network we are going to have other than the one we have here. Our grandchildren should come and enjoy this place.” The Dean-elect asserted.
Speaking on behalf of the Principal College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dr. Eric Awich expressed happiness to be a witness of the peaceful transfer of responsibilities from Prof. State to Dr. Twesigye.
Dr. Awich pledged the commitment for the Principal’s Office to support the new Dean in the execution of his duties.
Awich also implored the incoming Dean to work on the pending issues as highlighted by the outgoing Dean and to ensure that staff expedite the process of examining, nominating examiners and processing the graduation lists to avoid unnecessary delays.
On the morning of Friday, February 27, when the academic procession winds its way across Makerere University’s Freedom Square for the last day of the 76th Graduation Ceremony, Whitney Najjuka will walk into history with a number beside her name: 4.46.
At Makerere, that number means First Class Honours. It means the Vice Chancellor’s List. It means she graduates as the only First-Class student in Journalism and Communication this year. But numbers, as Whitney has learned, rarely tell the full story.
Born on March 27, 2002, in Nabbingo, Kyengera Town Council, to Margaret Kusemererwa and Fred Kasirye, dreamt she would do Law, one of the disciplines, prestigious, almost inevitable next steps for a student who had excelled in secondary school. She had done everything correctly. Studied hard. Scored well. Followed the script.
But Makerere University had other plans. She missed the pre-entry mark, but found her name under Journalism and Communication, another prestigious course offered by the Journalism and Communication Department at Makerere University.
Najjuka began her academic journey at Muto Primary School in Buwama, earning 8 aggregates in the Primary Leaving Examination, a performance that positioned her strongly for secondary school.
She would later join St. Lucia Hill School, Namagoma, where she earned 20 aggregates at O-Level and 17 points in History, Luganda, and Divinity at A-Level.
Missing her dream course, Law, felt at first, like a detour. But Whitney was encouraged by Sanyu Christopher, her uncle, and she settled for a government-sponsored slot in the Bachelor of Journalism and Communication at Makerere, which she had applied for before.
She entered uncertain. But she graduates transformed.
The Pivot That Became a Purpose
Whitney speaks of her early university days with candor. She did not arrive at the Department of Journalism and Communication with a burning childhood ambition to be a journalist, but because another door had closed.
Then, Social and Behavior Change Communication happened. Applied Strategic Communication happened. She began to see media not as headlines and microphones, but as architecture, shaping how societies think, argue, and act.
The turning point came in her third year. The Female Journalist Foundation published her story on Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and its emotional toll on survivors. What startled her was not its publication but the reaction. Comments flooded in. Debates ignited, especially about the role of men in combating GBV.
“I realized media doesn’t just report,” she says. “It frames how society views a crisis.”
Her voice, once tentative, had entered a national conversation.
The Discipline Behind 4.46
At Makerere University, a First Class CGPA is not built on brilliance alone but on ritual.
Whitney’s ritual began with showing up, on time, every time. She treated lectures as appointments with her future self. She refused to confine her learning to the syllabus. While attending workshops at the Aga Khan Graduate School of Media and Communication and obtaining external certifications, she sought and was open to mentorship through the Public Relations Association of Uganda (PRAU).
She wanted theory anchored in practice. And then there was the commute.
From Nabbingo, a hill in Wakiso District, some 18.6 km to Kampala, where the Makerere Main campus is situated, and back, nearly 20 hours a week dissolved into Kampala traffic. Two-hour journeys before 8:00 a.m. lectures. Dust. Noise. Headaches. She learned to manage energy the way others manage time. Fatigue became a tutor in resilience.
“I had to be intentional with every remaining hour,” she says. “Excuses were not an option.”
Learning to Practice Communication
If classrooms taught her analysis, presentations taught her courage. Pitching projects, defending research, and standing before peers quick to critique forced her to think on her feet. She was no longer simply studying communication; she was practicing it.
In 2024, the AGMES Fellowship at the Aga Khan Graduate School of Media and Communication pushed her further. She received funding to produce a capstone project on the mental impact of gender-based violence on survivors. She identified sources, conducted interviews, handled trauma with care, and worked with professional editors.
The Communication, she learned, is logistics and ethics as much as eloquence.
The Future She Sees
Whitney is optimistic about Uganda’s media landscape. The digital shift, she believes, has democratized influence. Young communicators are no longer confined to legacy newsrooms or offices.
Yet she sees a gap in the absence of structured research on sustainable, ethical, profitable independent media ventures in Uganda. Her ambition is not only to practice communication, but to study it. To produce data-backed frameworks that help young Ugandans transition from graduates to media entrepreneurs.
She wants to make the impact scalable.
What Remains
As the only First-Class graduate in her cohort, she is careful not to mythologize herself. “Success isn’t brilliance alone,” she says. “It’s a daily commitment when nobody is watching.”
Even before graduation, Whitney had stepped into the industry through a mentorship internship at Capital One Group (COG EA Ltd), a strategic marketing communications agency operating across East Africa.
At Capital One Group, we spoke to Paul Mwirigi Muriungi, the Managing Director and Head of Strategy, who spoke of Najjuka as a progressive and intentional young professional who approaches her work with curiosity, maturity, and responsibility.
“Her attitude is exemplary. She is teachable, receptive to feedback, and eager to grow. While technical skills can be taught, character, work ethic, and mindset determine long-term success, qualities that Whitney consistently demonstrates. Given her academic excellence and professional application, we believe she has a bright future both at Capital One Group and within the wider communications industry. She represents the kind of talent the profession needs: thoughtful, adaptable, and committed to excellence.
“We look forward to seeing her next chapter unfold,” says Mwirigi.
Najjuka’s gaze extends beyond her own trajectory. She speaks of what the Department could become. Furnished and equipped with industry-standard equipment, newsroom simulations, and deeper investment in data journalism as prayers. Her excellence is not self-congratulatory, but it is forward-looking.
“The University should support the Department to procure industry-standard equipment. Access to high-quality cameras, sound booths, and updated editing software like Adobe Creative Suite is critical to our learning environment,” she says.
Adding that, “We need a newsroom simulation, a physical or digital space where students work under real-time deadlines to produce content for the public. That would prepare us for industry and even strengthen the University’s own media platforms.”
In an era defined by metrics, algorithms, and digital traceability, data journalism is no longer a niche skill but a sine qua non of credible reporting. “There should also be more focus on data journalism and search engine optimization. These are no longer optional skills. Students would benefit immensely from stronger training in these areas.”
Dr. Aisha Nakiwala, the Head, Department of Journalism and Communication, says the faculty are very proud that she is graduating with a First Class—the only one in this year’s cohort.
“This achievement reflects not only exceptional intellectual ability but also discipline, resilience, and sustained dedication to the highest standards over four years. Graduating with first-class honors is no small feat; it requires consistent outstanding performance.
“Her accomplishment sets a powerful example for continuing students and reaffirms our department’s commitment to nurturing excellence. We are confident she will make meaningful contributions to the communication profession and society at large,” says Dr. Nakiwala.
On graduation day, applause will crest and recede. The gowns will fold back into wardrobes. The transcripts will be filed away in cabinets. But something quieter will endure; a young woman from Nabbingo who once missed her Law mark, who spent 20 hours a week on the road, who discovered that storytelling is power, and who now walks into Freedom Square not by accident, but by intention.
Life, as she has come to understand it, lives on.
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