Humanities & Social Sciences
Makerere Screens Tuko Pamoja, Scholars Call for Creative Arts to Be Recognized as Research Output
Kampala, Uganda – May 13, 2025
Makerere University on Tuesday screened Tuko Pamoja, a documentary by Dr. Cindy Magara, as part of a wider push by humanities scholars to have creative works recognized as valid academic research output.
The screening, held at the University Main Hall, drew senior university officials, faculty, students, and representatives from national education bodies. The event highlighted growing calls to integrate creative arts into the university’s research and promotion frameworks.
Speaking on behalf of the Dean of the School of Languages, Literature and Communication, Dr. Levis Mugumya emphasized that creative works such as documentaries should be formally considered during academic staff promotions.
“Creative art should be considered as input that contributes to staff promotion,” Mugumya said. “We need to rethink what counts as academic output.”
Tuko Pamoja—Swahili for We Are One—is a docuseries exploring Uganda’s ethnic diversity and shared historical experiences prior to colonial nation-state formation. Dr. Magara, a literature scholar and filmmaker, was praised for creating a culturally significant work that transcends traditional academic formats.
“This is a great tool for promoting patriotism. It contributes to national development and deepens our understanding of ethnicity and nationhood in Uganda,” Mugumya added.
The event was officiated by Professor Mukadasi Buyinza, who represented Vice Chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe. In his speech, Buyinza reiterated Makerere’s commitment to supporting research in the creative arts.
“We cannot promote research only in the STEM disciplines. Resilient communities need a sense of humanity—and creative arts are central to that,” said Buyinza. “Film-making and research are expensive, and we must find partners to support such initiatives.”
He also called for greater collaboration among faculty and students to promote and disseminate creative research outputs like Tuko Pamoja.
Associate Professor Helen Nkabala, Principal of CHUSS, stressed the importance of storytelling in shaping national consciousness and academic relevance.
“At the College of Humanities, we are telling you that we need to unite to tell our story if we are to make meaning to our communities,” she said. “This film shows how humanities research can be innovative, relevant, and impactful.”
Dr. Magara, a former student in the department, was commended by senior colleagues for bridging academic and artistic expression. The event follows a recent management dialogue on the role of humanities in nation-building.
“We need events like this to remind us who we are,” Buyinza concluded. “Unity is not given—it is built through conscious effort and shared history.”
Dr. Cindy Magara Traces Journey from Classroom to Cinema with Launch of Tuko Pamoja Docuseries
Dr. Cindy Evelyn Magara, a literature scholar and pioneering filmmaker recounted her two-decade journey into film-making at Makerere University during the screening of her latest documentary project, Tuko Pamoja. The event was part of a broader discussion on the role of creative arts in academia.
Dr. Magara shared her evolution from a student in Uganda’s first film studies class in 2005 to becoming one of the country’s most recognized female filmmakers. She credited her start to Professor Sister Dominic Dipio, who introduced artesian cinema at Makerere University.
“If it wasn’t for Sister Dipio, possibly I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be a filmmaker,” Magara said. “From the time I made my first film, I knew that was going to be my career path.”
After graduating in 2006, Magara founded Nyati Motion Pictures, a production company named after her clan totem—Mbogo (buffalo). Her first film, Fate, became a historic milestone as the first Ugandan film screened at Cineplex Cinemas and aired on Africa Magic.
She went on to direct Fair Play, an EU-funded project, and Windows of Hope, before pausing her film career to pursue advanced academic studies. “I had to juggle marriage, motherhood, and a master’s degree,” she explained. With mentorship from Professors Susan Kiguli and Dipio, she transitioned into academia and later earned a PhD.
After completing her studies, Magara returned to filmmaking with Tuko Pamoja (Swahili for We Are One), a 13-part documentary series exploring Uganda’s pre-colonial ethnic unity and shared cultural heritage. The project blends various documentary techniques—observation, exposition, interaction, and reflection.
“The documentary seeks to foster cohesion by examining our interconnected past,” she said. “If we were relating together, then we were one.”
Magara revealed that the idea for the series was inspired by the political intrigue of Game of Thrones, likening Uganda’s 19th-century power dynamics—particularly involving historical figures like Kabalega and Mwanga—to an epic African saga.
Originally intended as a single short film to attract funding for a full-length feature, the project evolved into a full series following extensive community research. Magara interviewed historians, cultural leaders, and opinion makers across Uganda. “This became my classroom,” she noted. “I learned so much—I think the Department of History should give me an honorary PhD.”
Tuko Pamoja was premiered in the very communities where the research was conducted, receiving support from local media houses and sponsors. Magara credited UBC, NBS, and Vision Group for providing extensive free media coverage. “UBC told me, ‘We are sorry you’re doing what we should have done long ago,’” she recalled.
The series, currently accessible via nyatimotionpictures.com and the upcoming Nyatiflix app, has also generated academic interest, prompting calls to recognize such creative works as legitimate research outputs.
“We must think of film not only as an art but as research and business,” Magara emphasized. “Film is the evening class. If we fail to tell our stories, someone else will do it for us.”
Magara expressed gratitude to her mentors, students, sponsors, and family—including her husband, who helped finance the production. Plans are underway for wider distribution on local television stations and digital platforms.
As the event concluded, Magara left a message for aspiring creatives: “Film is powerful. It’s how we entertain, educate, and decolonize the screen.”
“Lighting the Screen: A Story of Art, Identity, and Nation”
“We need to cultivate an audience. We need to teach our people that consuming art is not luxury—it is culture. It is growth.” Prof. Sr. Dipio Dominica
It was a warm afternoon, and the hall was alive with quiet anticipation. At the front sat three figures who had long walked the corridors of Uganda’s most prestigious institution—each one a torchbearer in the creative arts. Professor Abasi Kiyimba, long known for his eloquence and firm grasp of literature, stood to open the conversation. His voice, familiar and thoughtful, welcomed the audience into a dialogue not just about film, but about the soul of a nation.
“In the Department of Literature,” he began, “we’ve always believed in crossing boundaries. We have mothered other departments—film, drama, music. And now, here we are, watching Uganda retell herself through the lens of the camera.”
He turned to Professor Dominica Dipio, a former student of his who had become a pioneer in Ugandan film. With a soft smile, he asked, “At what point did you realize that film had to be added to the menu of your literary journey?”
Professor Dipio’s response was part memory, part reflection. She traced her path back to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where she had gone to study literature. But to her surprise, there was no African literature course. Instead, she was nudged by wise Jesuit professors toward film—a medium they described as an art form closely tied to literature.
“It made sense,” she said. “Storytelling is at the heart of both. Writing with a camera—this is what film allows us to do. It was as though I had been prepared for this all along.”
When she returned to Uganda, she found a generation of students hungry for a new kind of expression. They weren’t waiting to be told what to do. They were already calling themselves filmmakers.
“I had taught them just the basics,” she chuckled, “and they were already making films and introducing themselves as directors. I thought, ‘Please, let’s be humble.’ But inside, I was proud. They had vision.”
From there, Makerere’s halls began to echo not only with poetry and novels but with the buzz of editing software, the click of cameras, and scripts written in digital ink. Film festivals like Maisha, Amakula, and Zanzibar became essential spaces of collaboration. The National Theatre turned into a second campus.
And sitting beside Dipio was another creative soul with his own journey—Dr. Milton Wabyona, a man who had nearly disappeared from the education system.
“I’m a school dropout,” he confessed quietly. “Few people know that. I was studying physics, economics, and math. But I couldn’t pay fees.”
It was music—specifically a dance troupe—that pulled him back. A woman named Dr. Jessica Kawa recognized his talent and gave him a chance.
“I told her, ‘I don’t care what I study. I just want to go back to school.’ That’s how I entered the creative arts.”
Music, he argued, is more than melody. It teaches collaboration, humanity, and interdependence.
“No matter how gifted I am, I can’t sing harmony alone,” he said. “I need others.”
He quoted Plato, reminding the room that the arts were once central to shaping good citizens and preserving culture. The arts, he said, are not just subjects—they are the soul of education.
As the discussion deepened, Prof. Kiyimba asked a profound question: What is this film we just watched? Is it literature? History? Art?
Professor Dipio leaned back and explained that film, as the “seventh art,” gathers all other forms—literature, painting, music, theatre, sculpture—and weaves them into one cohesive experience. She invoked Aristotle to explain how literature and history are both rooted in reality, but art reshapes that reality, making us see it anew.
“Film is a representation,” she said. “It tells history not by simply stating facts, but by shaping them, giving them voice and character.”
Characters like Queen, Mwanga, Kabelega, and others in the film weren’t just historical names—they had become people with motivations, fears, and contradictions. That was the power of art.
Then Dr. Wabyona took the floor once more.
“Music speaks in ways plain words never can,” he said. “You don’t need to understand Lingala to dance to Congolese music. That’s how powerful rhythm and pitch are.”
But behind the excitement lay a persistent concern—money. Could Ugandan cinema be self-sustaining?
Dipio paused before answering. She didn’t sugarcoat it.
“We are not yet consuming enough art,” she said. “We don’t have the culture of going to the cinema like in Burkina Faso, where the whole country stops for the FESPACO film festival.”
Comedy, she admitted, was one area where Ugandans paid. But serious artistic films struggled.
“We need to cultivate an audience. We need to teach our people that consuming art is not luxury—it is culture. It is growth.”
Wabyona agreed. He shared how many Ugandan productions, like Ndere Troupe, offer free shows, yet the audiences are overwhelmingly foreign.
“When your own people don’t show up,” he said, “you begin to understand the kind of crisis we’re in.”
Then, quietly, the conversation turned to the political dangers of art.
“Have you ever censored yourself?” Kiyimba asked Dipio.
She smiled.
“So far, my films have been harmless. But make no mistake—art is political. Even saying it’s not political is a political act.”
She quoted a colleague: “Art disturbs.” And that’s what makes it powerful—and dangerous.
“Where the state seeks to unify, art challenges. It asks hard questions. It stirs the water.”
And yet, art also carries hope.
As the discussion ended, the audience was left with a simple but profound idea: A society can be judged by the art it consumes. In that sense, the future of Uganda’s creative arts isn’t just about budgets, scripts, or shows—it’s about whether its people choose to see themselves on the screen, in the music, in the dance, in the story.
And that choice, perhaps, is the most powerful act of all.
Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer, CHUSS
Humanities & Social Sciences
Prof. Walakira takes over as CHUSS Deputy Principal, pledges research-driven leadership
New Deputy Principal Prof. Eddy Joshua Walakira has pledged to build on the existing foundations at Makerere University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), with a focus on strengthening research, innovation, partnerships and the college’s income-generating capacity.
Prof. Walakira made the pledge on Monday, September 14, 2026, after officially taking over as Deputy Principal of CHUSS from Associate Prof. Eric Awich Ochen, who completed his four-year tenure after assuming office in April 2022.
The handover ceremony, held at the CHUSS Smart Room, brought together the College Principal, Associate Prof. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala, deans, heads of departments, academic, administrative and support staff, as well as representatives from the Directorate of Internal Audit.
Walakira said he was taking over at a time when CHUSS had established a strong foundation and pledged to work with the Principal and staff to take the college to greater heights.
“I’m coming in with a lot of hope, a lot of courage and a lot of optimism because the foundations are already in place and the structures are already in place,” Walakira said.
He said his immediate priority would be to understand the needs of the different schools and departments and develop practical interventions, particularly in research, innovation and partnerships.
The incoming Deputy Principal said he intends to undertake a tour of CHUSS schools and departments to assess their research, innovation and partnership needs. said the exercise would help management identify existing capacities, gaps and opportunities that could be developed into practical plans for the college.
“My thinking is that we are going to form the best team ever that has led CHUSS,” he said, stressing that the college has the human and institutional capacity to become a leading unit within the University.
Walakira said CHUSS should make greater use of the networks and partnerships already established by its academic units, arguing that these could provide opportunities for research collaboration, innovation and resource mobilisation.
He also challenged departments that have faced long-standing equipment shortages to explore sustainable solutions rather than relying entirely on external funding.
“If the Department of Journalism for the last 20 years is still crying about equipment, I don’t think that is a good song. There must be a way out from within,” Walakira said. He pledged to work closely with Principal Nambalirwa Nkabala and other college leaders to identify opportunities for strengthening research capacity, publication and partnerships.
Walakira pledges loyal and collaborative leadership
Walakira pledged to work closely with the Principal, deans, heads of departments and staff while respecting University policies and structures. He said his leadership approach would be based on humility, consultation and practical problem-solving.
“My pledge, first of all, is to be loyal and humble to my boss and, above all, to serve in the fear of the Most High and to respect the rules, the principles and the structures of the University,” he said.
Walakira said he would seek to strengthen existing research groups and explore opportunities for the college to generate more resources internally. He urged staff to embrace a collective vision and work together to address challenges facing the college.
He expressed confidence that CHUSS could become a leading college within Makerere University if its existing human resource and institutional capacity were effectively harnessed.
“We have people who can work in leadership, but we have to develop a collective vision. We have to respect and accept the capabilities that we have, and also accept to work together to address the challenges that confront us,” he said.
Assoc. Prof. Ochen highlights four years of academic and research gains
In his handover report, outgoing Deputy Principal Prof. Eric Awich Ochen highlighted progress made during his four-year tenure, including improvements in teaching and learning, academic programme development, research, internationalisation, staff capacity building and digitalisation.
Ochen said he assumed office in April 2022, in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and worked under two College Principals—Prof. Josephine Ahikire and Associate Prof. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala.
He attributed the achievements recorded during his tenure to collective efforts by the Principal, deans, heads of departments and staff.
“Whatever I did in the office of the Deputy Principal for the last four years has been in the best interest of the students. I tried to act in good faith,” Ochen said.
He acknowledged that leadership involves mistakes and said one of his major lessons had been the importance of consultation before making decisions.
Ochen advised his successor to maintain close consultation with the Principal, particularly when dealing with issues requiring clarification.
Ochen reported that the college had developed and revised several academic programmes during his tenure, including postgraduate programmes in French language studies, African languages and anthropology.
He said several existing programmes had also undergone accreditation and urged deans and heads of departments to begin preparations early for programmes due for re-accreditation.
He warned that delays in accreditation could disrupt student admissions and programme delivery, citing previous cases where some programmes were temporarily affected.
The outgoing Deputy Principal also highlighted efforts to revive and establish scholarly journals within CHUSS, including journals in history, peace, humanities, literature and communication.
He called for greater regularity in journal publication and continued digitisation to improve the visibility and accessibility of the college’s scholarly output.
Ochen said CHUSS had also made progress in modernising teaching and learning through the adoption of digital academic management systems.
He noted that staff had transitioned from the Academic Information Management System to ACMIS for the management and uploading of students’ results.
Timetable coordinators had also been trained to upload teaching timetables and workloads electronically.
The college also installed smart interactive screens in several lecture rooms, which Ochen said had improved the teaching environment and supported blended learning.
He urged the incoming leadership to continue investing in digital infrastructure, particularly for smaller postgraduate teaching spaces.
Ochen reported that CHUSS had significantly expanded its research and grants portfolio, with the college managing grants estimated at about US$12 million.
He attributed the growth partly to the development of research groups across departments and encouraged the new leadership to strengthen these groups to increase grant applications and scholarly publications.
“I believe in the last four years we have grown as a college. I think we have quite a higher portfolio of grants,” Ochen said.
He also cited numerous conferences, public lectures and international academic events as having contributed to CHUSS’s visibility nationally and internationally.
These included philosophy events, social work conferences, peace-related events, language celebrations, history and climate-migration conferences and other scholarly engagements.
Ochen said CHUSS had expanded its international collaborations through mobility programmes, academic partnerships and international conferences.
He pointed to Erasmus+ programmes and other collaborations involving universities in Europe, Africa and other parts of the world.
He also highlighted the Rotary Peace Centre and its growing international student community as important contributors to the college and University’s internationalisation agenda.
Despite the progress, Ochen identified inadequate equipment, particularly in journalism and multimedia production, as one of the challenges requiring attention.
He also cited concerns around support for staff supervising students, marking dissertations and other academic work, as well as the need to better recognise academic work conducted outside normal university hours.
He urged the incoming leadership to continue engaging staff and seeking practical solutions to these challenges.
Leadership transition will not disrupt CHUSS
Principal Associate Prof. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala thanked Ochen for his service and said the transition would not destabilise the college.
She described Ochen as a committed colleague whose passion, energy and humility had contributed to the college’s progress.
Nambalirwa said the college was entering a new phase under Walakira, whose appointment comes as CHUSS implements its strategic priorities.
She said the college’s newly developed strategic plan provides a framework for advancing research, social protection, innovation, partnerships and other institutional priorities.
“We are very ambitious. We are hoping that we shall get a lot of wealth. For this college to move further, we are moving with stability,” Nambalirwa said.
The Principal also urged staff to continue supporting the new Deputy Principal as they had supported Ochen.
“Please, support that you have given Professor Ochen should be extended to Professor Walakira, because service is only fun when you have all your hands,” she said.
Staff commend Ochen, welcome Walakira
Staff members who spoke during the ceremony commended Ochen for his leadership and commitment to students while welcoming Walakira to the new role.
Mr. Gidange Moses from the Directorate of Internal Audit praised the Principal for nurturing staff and creating opportunities for them to take up leadership responsibilities.
He commended Ochen for completing his tenure and urged Walakira to embrace the responsibility of leading the college alongside the Principal.
Dr. Charlotte Mafumbo, Head of the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies, described Ochen as a passionate leader and thanked him for his contribution to the college.
She pledged the department’s support to the incoming Deputy Principal.
Dr. Denis Muhangi, Head of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, representing the Dean of the School of Social Sciences, praised Ochen for his resilience in following up decisions and his commitment to student welfare.
He assured Walakira of the school’s support as he takes on his new responsibilities.
Maria Gyezaho, from the Principal’s office, also thanked Ochen for his guidance and leadership, saying the skills he had imparted to staff would continue to benefit them.
The handover formally marked the end of Ochen’s tenure as Deputy Principal and the beginning of Walakira’s term, with the college leadership calling on staff to maintain the momentum achieved over the previous four years while pursuing new opportunities for growth.
For details about Prof. Eddy Joshua Walakira, please click on the link below:
https://chuss.mak.ac.ug/en/personnel/eddy-joshua-walakira/
Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer CHUSS
Humanities & Social Sciences
Makerere Probes Climate Change–Migration Links: Calls for Protective Policies for Vulnerable Communities
A three-day workshop examining the historical relationship between climate change and migration in Uganda has opened at Makerere University, bringing together academics, government officials, refugee-community representatives and postgraduate students to examine how environmental and climate factors have shaped population movements across the country’s history.
The workshop, running from September 8 to 10, 2026, is hosted by the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies in the School of Liberal and Performing Arts under the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS).
The event is being held under a joint project between Makerere University and the University of Cambridge on the Histories of Climate and Migration in Uganda.
The project is funded by the Mastercard Foundation’s Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund in partnership with the Cambridge Africa Programme at the University of Cambridge. It has received a grant of £49,800 and seeks to expand knowledge on how environmental and climate factors have influenced Uganda’s long history of migration, both in recent times and in the deeper historical past.
The workshop has attracted officials from government ministries and agencies, principal and co-principal investigators, heads of departments from CHUSS and other colleges, senior academics and professors, organisations working with refugees, refugee-community members serving as change agents and CHUSS graduate students.
Over the three days, participants are expected to consider 32 research papers and three keynote addresses, alongside roundtable discussions and a field visit to the Uganda National Archives.
Keynote speaker Anthony Mugeere calls for climate-migration policies that protect vulnerable communities
Uganda needs to rethink its policies on migration by recognising climate change as a growing factor influencing where, when and why people move, Dr. Anthony Mugeere, a sociologist and climate policy researcher, has said.
Mugeere made the call while delivering a keynote address on Climate and Migration in Uganda .
Mugeere argued that migration should not automatically be interpreted as a crisis or solely as a consequence of climate change because movement has historically been one of the ways communities respond and adapt to changing environmental and economic circumstances.
He challenged researchers to examine whether people who leave their homes because of failed rains, floods, disappearing crops or scarcity of pasture are necessarily being displaced, or whether their movement can also constitute an adaptation strategy.
“Migration is not simply a consequence of climate change,” Mugeere said, arguing that mobility can also be a way through which households respond to climate stress.
Mugeere said climate has always influenced where and how communities live and move, although the environmental dimension was not always explicitly recognised in earlier explanations of migration.
He said traditional explanations of historical migration often focused on wars, tribal conflicts, the search for land, cattle, women, slaves and other social or political factors, without adequately considering environmental pressures.
According to Mugeere, a historical examination of migration reveals that movement was often connected to access to water, pasture, fertile land and other environmental resources.
He cited pastoral communities that moved in search of water and pasture and agricultural communities that moved in response to land and environmental conditions.
Fishing communities, he added, have historically developed around lakes, while trade routes and settlements have also been influenced by patterns of human mobility.
He said factors such as epidemics, famine, environmental changes and the availability of resources have long contributed to population movements.
Mugeere argued that contemporary research therefore needs to connect historical migration patterns with the changing climate rather than treating climate-induced migration as an entirely new phenomenon.
Mugeere cited landslides and flooding in Bududa as examples of how climate and environmental conditions are altering the circumstances under which people move.
He also pointed to rising water levels in Lake Victoria and other water bodies as factors that have displaced communities and changed settlement patterns.
Drought, livestock losses, flooding, landslides and rising water levels, he said, are among the environmental pressures that can force people to leave places they have traditionally occupied.
He warned that some forms of movement may easily be overlooked because they do not fit conventional definitions of migration.
These include temporary movement, rural-to-urban migration and movement by communities seeking alternative livelihoods when agricultural production becomes increasingly difficult.
Mugeere said the increasing movement of Ugandans to cities and abroad, including to the Gulf region, should also be examined against a broader range of economic, social and environmental factors.
The sociologist said migration can provide important benefits to households affected by climate stress.
People who move can diversify household income, reduce exposure to climate-related risks, access employment and send remittances back to their families.
Migration can also help households recover from shocks and strengthen their resilience, particularly when migrants find employment and are able to support relatives who remain behind.
However, Mugeere cautioned that migration can also create serious social and economic challenges.
He identified social disruption, vulnerability, difficulties with integration, exploitation, overcrowding and pressure on host communities among the potential consequences of climate-induced movement.
He particularly highlighted the pressure placed on resources in areas hosting refugees, noting that receiving communities can experience additional demands on land, firewood and other natural resources.
This, he said, creates a need for better planning to ensure that both displaced populations and host communities can access essential services and resources.
Mugeere called for climate change, mitigation and adaptation to be incorporated into government programmes and policies dealing with livelihoods and migration.
He said programmes such as the Parish Development Model would struggle to achieve their intended objectives if they do not take climate-related risks into account.
He also urged policymakers to consider migration as part of Uganda’s adaptation strategies rather than treating every movement as a failure or emergency.
The researcher said Uganda must prepare both people who move and communities that receive them.
He noted that Uganda has a strong record of hosting refugees from neighbouring countries but questioned whether the country is sufficiently prepared to provide services and support to growing populations in receiving communities.
He also called for policies that protect people who may be unable to migrate, including persons with disabilities, women and young people.
According to Mugeere, these groups must be incorporated into planning for climate-related migration because not everyone has the ability or resources to move when environmental conditions deteriorate.
Mugeere further called for comprehensive planning when communities are relocated from areas exposed to disasters.
He cited communities affected by landslides and flooding, arguing that relocation should not simply involve moving people from dangerous locations to safer areas without planning for their long-term livelihoods and social needs.
He said policymakers should consider rehabilitation, awareness, settlement, access to services and livelihood opportunities as part of relocation programmes.
Mugeere argued that the contribution of social scientists extends beyond academic research because disciplines such as sociology, history and social work can provide evidence to guide policy and programme management.
In his concluding message, Mugeere said climate change should be understood as a force that is transforming the geography of opportunity, risk and human mobility.
“Climate change does not simply change Uganda’s climate. It changes the geography of opportunity, risk, and human mobility,” he said.
He urged researchers to adopt a human-centred approach that considers how individuals and communities perceive climate risks and how those perceptions influence decisions to remain, move or adapt.
He also stressed that Uganda’s history demonstrates that mobility is not new and has long been part of how communities respond to livelihood opportunities and changing circumstances.
However, he warned that climate change is intensifying these pressures and will increasingly affect poverty, land, infrastructure, urbanisation and governance.
Mugeere said Uganda’s preparedness for climate-related disasters must therefore be questioned despite the existence of government ministries, budgets, teams and equipment.
He observed that the country often discovers gaps in preparedness only when disasters occur, underscoring the need for proactive planning before climate-related displacement reaches crisis levels.
Historians must trace the roots of climate-related migration
Dr. Charlotte Mafumbo, Head of the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies, said the workshop provides an opportunity for historians and other scholars to critically examine two interconnected global challenges—climate change and migration—and understand how they have evolved over time.
Mafumbo said the scale of displacement globally makes historical research on migration increasingly important, noting that people have been forced to move for different reasons, including war, ethnicity, political and international complications and environmental pressures.
She referred to estimates that about 250 million people were displaced during and around the period of the Second World War, with some forced into settlements, deported, imprisoned or driven from their homes because of their ethnicity or other circumstances.
She said the world is now witnessing another major displacement challenge associated with climate change, with an estimated 112 million displaced people affected by climate-related pressures.
Mafumbo argued that the current situation requires historians to go back into the past and establish when and how climate-related migration emerged, how it has manifested itself and whether there are similarities or differences between historical and contemporary patterns.
“There is no better time than now for us to reflect on these issues,” Mafumbo said.
She said the workshop should go beyond presentations and academic debate by encouraging participants to establish partnerships that can continue after the event.
Mafumbo encouraged participants to exchange contacts and develop collaborations, particularly because the three-day programme may not provide enough time to exhaust the issues under discussion.
She also said the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies is committed to ensuring that the research and discussions produce practical outcomes for government and other stakeholders.
According to Mafumbo, the department hopes the workshop will generate key talking points that can be shared with relevant ministries and contribute to the development of policy briefs.
“We do hope that out of the workshop, we shall have some talking points we shall be sharing with the relevant ministries after here,” she said.
She welcomed keynote speakers, officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment and the Office of the Prime Minister, as well as other participants, to the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies, the School of Liberal and Performing Arts and CHUSS.
Research project links academics with refugee communities
Dr. Pamela Khanakwa, Dean of the School of Liberal and Performing Arts and a Principal Investigator on the project, said the initiative was made possible through the support of Makerere University and Cambridge, with the project housed in the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies.
She thanked the department and CHUSS leadership, as well as the university’s Directorate of Legal Affairs and the Office of the Vice Chancellor, for their support in making the project possible.
Khanakwa also used her remarks to recognise Professor Asiimwe Godfrey, whom she described as an important figure in her intellectual development dating back to her undergraduate years.
She recounted her longstanding academic relationship with Dr. Samuel Meyerson, the project’s Cambridge-based Principal Investigator, explaining that she first encountered him as one of the students she supervised at Makerere.
She said their relationship subsequently developed from a student-supervisor relationship into an academic collaboration, eventually leading to the current project.
Khanakwa recalled assisting Meyerson with applications for PhD study in the United States, including submitting one recommendation letter at the last minute while travelling through Atlanta.
She said Meyerson later continued his research on Karamoja, including through his master’s research, which she described as an extensive study.
Their collaboration continued when Meyerson participated in a 2022 Humanities International Conference at Makerere University, where he presented research in the same room in which the current workshop is being held.
Khanakwa said Meyerson eventually returned with the idea of developing a collaborative project, choosing to approach Makerere’s Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies to develop the proposal.
“It started like a small conversation, small ideas, but we put our efforts together and we are able to be where we are today,” Khanakwa said.
She credited co-principal investigators Dr. Charlotte Mafumbo and Dr. Edgar Taylor for their contribution to shaping the project, while also praising administrative staff Duncan Muhanguzi and Esther Namitala for handling budgeting, communication and logistical preparations.
Khanakwa said the project is designed to bring together researchers from different disciplines and members of refugee communities in Uganda.
She explained that its focus is not limited to recent climate-related migration but also examines the deeper historical relationship between environmental conditions and migration.
The project is expected to run through March or April next year and contains several components, including the three-day workshop and a seed-funding programme.
Under the seed-funding component, five graduate students have each received £2,000 to conduct empirical research with a historical orientation. Three additional grants have been awarded to researchers from refugee communities.
Khanakwa said the seed funding was intended to expand the range of voices and evidence informing research on climate and migration, while also giving graduate students and refugee researchers an opportunity to contribute directly to knowledge production.
She noted that securing research funding is highly competitive and said the £49,800 grant was an achievement that should be recognised, while clarifying that the entire amount would not be spent on the workshop.
Khanakwa said discussions during the workshop should contribute to intellectual debates while also producing ideas that could have practical value and inform policy.
“We hope that we can be able to come up with very meaningful discussions that can inform not only intellectual debates, but also ideas that can be of great value in practical terms and perhaps also in ways that they can inform policy,” she said.
She urged participants to make full use of the workshop to exchange ideas and develop collaborations that can continue beyond the three-day event.
Refugee voices central to understanding migration history
Dr. Samuel Meyerson, a Research Fellow in History at the University of Cambridge and Principal Investigator of the project, said the objectives of the initiative had already been clearly outlined by the other speakers, allowing him to focus on welcoming participants and acknowledging those who made the workshop possible.
Meyerson, who is a former student of Makerere University’s Department of History, said he was particularly pleased to return to the institution as a researcher and project leader.
He extended a special welcome to participants from Nakivale Refugee Settlement, saying their involvement was important because the project seeks to incorporate perspectives from refugee communities into discussions about migration.
“We very much appreciate you coming all this way to contribute your perspectives to the workshop,” Meyerson said.
Meyerson acknowledged the support of the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund, managed jointly by the Mastercard Foundation and the University of Cambridge, which is financing the project.
He thanked his fellow Principal Investigator, Dr. Pamela Khanakwa, as well as co-principal investigators Dr. Charlotte Mafumbo and Dr. Edgar Taylor, for helping transform the initial idea for a collaborative project into the workshop.
According to Meyerson, the idea began as a relatively undeveloped concept that he brought to his Makerere colleagues in October last year before the partners worked together to develop it into the current research project.
He also praised the administrative team of Duncan Muhanguzi and Esther Namitala for their work in handling the numerous logistical details required to organise the workshop.
Meyerson further recognised administrative personnel at both Cambridge and Makerere universities whose time and expertise contributed to bringing the event together.
He also highlighted the role of the refugee researchers and Makerere postgraduate students who successfully applied for the project’s seed-funding grants.
Meyerson said members of the selection committee were impressed by the quality of the applications and expected the supported research to generate new evidence and perspectives on climate and migration.
“We, as the members of the selection committee, were deeply impressed by these applications and we all greatly look forward to the insights that your projects will yield,” he said.
The workshop is expected to provide a platform for sustained discussion between academics, policymakers, researchers and communities affected by migration.
Through presentations, keynote addresses, roundtable discussions, seed-funded research and engagement with archival materials at the Uganda National Archives, the organisers hope to deepen understanding of the historical forces behind migration and the role environmental and climate factors have played in shaping population movements in Uganda.
Climate-migration research strengthens Makerere’s global academic partnerships
CHUSS welcomed a new research project examining the historical links between climate change and migration, describing the initiative as an opportunity to strengthen interdisciplinary scholarship and connect academic research with the experiences of refugee communities.
Speaking on behalf of the CHUSS Principal, Associate Professor Eric Awich Ochen said climate change is an issue that increasingly affects everyday life and requires sustained research and collaboration.
Ochen said the Principal was unable to attend the workshop because of other commitments and had sent him to represent her and convey her greetings to participants.
He described CHUSS as the largest college at Makerere University, with more than 225 full-time academic staff and close to 300 staff when support personnel are included.
He said the college makes a significant contribution to the university through its humanities, liberal arts, social sciences, performing arts and other academic programmes.
Ochen defended the importance of the humanities and social sciences in understanding complex social challenges, saying the disciplines are essential to understanding how human beings respond to changes in their environment and society.
He highlighted the College’s Department of Performing Arts and Film and the School of Liberal and Performing Arts, where history and other disciplines contribute to academic and cultural development.
He said Makerere-trained artists and scholars have contributed to Uganda and beyond, demonstrating the wider contribution of humanities and social sciences to society.
“The liberal arts, the humanities and social sciences are very important for us human beings,” Ochen said.
He praised the keynote speaker, Dr. Anthony Mugeere, describing him as a scholar with a distinctive sense of humour and resilience, while also welcoming participants to the workshop.
Ochen said the research project is important because it examines environmental and climate factors that have influenced Uganda’s long history of migration, both in recent times and in the deeper historical past.
He thanked Dr. Pamela Khanakwa and Dr. Samuel Meyerson for developing the project and noted that although the current project is relatively short, the researchers are already exploring ways of expanding it to create further learning around climate and migration.
The project brings together scholars from multiple disciplines as well as members of refugee communities in Uganda.Ochen said the inclusion of refugee communities was particularly significant because it allows research to incorporate experiences and perspectives from people directly affected by migration.
He also welcomed the project’s collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation’s Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund and the Cambridge Africa Programme at the University of Cambridge.
Ochen outlined the longstanding relationship between Makerere University and the Mastercard Foundation, noting that the Foundation has supported several major initiatives at the university.He said one of the major programmes has provided scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and has increasingly extended opportunities to graduate students.
He noted that members of refugee communities have also benefited from the opportunities created through the partnership.
Ochen also highlighted the African Climate Collaborative, another Mastercard Foundation-supported initiative focused on climate change and advanced academic training.
He said the programme is expected to support the training of up to 200 PhD researchers over a 10-year period through the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
He encouraged possible collaboration between the Histories of Climate and Migration project and other climate-focused initiatives supported by the Foundation.
Ochen said Mastercard Foundation had continued to demonstrate its commitment to supporting African universities and research.
Ochen also traced the long-standing relationship between Makerere University and the University of Cambridge, saying the partnership has involved both institutional cooperation and individual research collaborations.
He cited his own experience at Cambridge, where he spent time at the Centre of African Studies under the Cambridge Africa Programme. He said the experience enabled him and other Makerere academics to establish relationships with researchers at Cambridge and other institutions.
Ochen also mentioned his continued research collaboration with Professor Adam Branch, an academic at Cambridge who has an affiliation with Makerere University.He said the existing relationships provide a foundation for further cooperation between Makerere, Cambridge and other African universities.
Ochen said the climate and migration project demonstrates Makerere University’s position as a leader in interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences. He said the research has the potential to generate knowledge that will be useful not only in Uganda but also to scholars and policymakers across East Africa and internationally.
The project, he noted, brings together Makerere University, the University of Cambridge and the Mastercard Foundation in a collaboration that links academic research with community experiences. He said the project’s focus on climate, migration and history was particularly relevant because environmental change is increasingly affecting communities and patterns of human mobility.
Ochen applauded the project’s seed-funding component, which provides research grants to Makerere postgraduate students and members of refugee communities. Under the programme, five postgraduate students and three members of refugee communities are expected to receive funding to undertake independent, historically oriented research.
He said the initiative would help empower emerging researchers while ensuring that refugee communities participate in knowledge production rather than simply being subjects of research.
“By empowering both Makerere postgraduate students and refugees to conduct independent research and share their ideas, this project bridges the gaps between academic knowledge production and grassroots concerns,” Ochen said.
The funded researchers are expected to conduct their studies between the workshop and February 2027. Ochen said the findings are expected to contribute to a special issue of the Makerere Historical Journal, which he described as an increasingly vibrant platform for historical scholarship. He said publication of the research would provide an opportunity to preserve and share new knowledge emerging from the project while extending the impact of the workshop beyond its three-day programme.
Ochen concluded by thanking the organisers and encouraging continued collaboration among Makerere University, Cambridge, the Mastercard Foundation, researchers and refugee communities. He said partnerships of this nature are important for generating research that is academically rigorous while remaining relevant to communities and policymakers.
By Jane Anyango, Peninah Nalubega and Joseph Buwule
Humanities & Social Sciences
Dr. Olive Lomokol Receives Honorable Mention for the Lynne Rienner Award for Best Dissertation in African Politics, 2026
The Director of Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) is delighted to announce that MISR Postdoctoral Fellow, Olive Lomokol, has received an Honorable Mention for the prestigious Lynne Rienner Award for Best Dissertation in African Politics, 2026.
Awarded by the African Politics Conference Group (APCG) at the American Political Science Association (APSA), the Lynne Rienner Award is one of the leading international prizes that recognizes outstanding scholarship in African politics. The award carries a prize and honors work that makes a significant contribution to the field. Olive was recognized for her dissertation titled, “Shifting Perspectives on ‘Pastoral’ Violence: The Persistence of the ‘Karamoja Problem’ in Uganda” completed at the Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University, 2026.
Her study offers a critical re-examination of the long-standing construction of the ‘Karamoja Problem’ in Uganda, interrogating how narratives of ‘pastoral’ violence have been produced, sustained, and deployed within colonial and post-colonial statecraft. By shifting perspective from a predominantly security lens to a historical and political one, the dissertation contributes to broader scholarly debates on the state, violence, and marginality in contemporary Africa.
Congratulations to Dr. Lomokol on this remarkable academic achievement and recognition.
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