(This article was first published in the New Vision on September 7, 2022)
By Cecilia Okoth
Makerere University will support its alumni from Rwanda to set up a university in Kigali, the institution’s vice chancellor, prof. Barnabas Nawangwe said.
The Makerere University Rwanda Alumni Association (MURWAA) asked the university’s leadership to help them set up a university during a recent dinner in Kigali organised as part of celebrations to mark the institution’s 100 years of existence.
At the dinner, which was attended by Nawangwe and 100 Rwandans, who graduated from Makerere since 1978, MURWAA said they want a university modelled on Makerere University.
“MURWAA intends to establish a university using the structures of Makerere University. They asked us to give them the necessary support and we pledged to do so,” Nawangwe told Mwalimu.
He added that Makerere could help its alumni in Kigali with setting up the institution, staffing as well as teaching.
Scores of Rwandans have received university education in Uganda. Makerere, which was part of the University of East Africa until 1970, is the Uganda’s first and largest public university.
Shukuru Bizimana, the MURWAA chairperson, said if the partnership between the association and their alma mater leads to the establishment of a university, Rwandans would have an opportunity to get their degrees within Rwanda.
Bizimana said over 1,000 Rwandans have graduated from Makerere since 1986, adding that their association plans to launch operations for setting up their university in 2024.
Faustine Mbundu, an entrepreneur, described his enrolment at Makerere in the 1980s as a special opportunity. He added that conditions during that period made it difficult for Rwandans to be enrolled at the university without Ugandan citizenship.
Mbundu said the firm foundation he received enabled him to contribute to the education sector in his country.
“Education is the first thing that makes a country thrive, especially now in the time of digital revolution. It is essential that people study and I am happy that our country values that,” he said.
Alice Mutesi, also a Makerere University alumnus, said the institution shaped her into who she is today.
Mutesi, who works for the United Nations in Somalia, said Makerere equipped her with skills to play a role in peace-building on the local and global scene.
Caleb Tumusiime, who works at the Rwanda Development Board, said Makerere skilled him to empower young graduates for the labour market.
Ranked among the best universities around the world, Makerere has produced several post-independence African leaders, including; Milton Obote (Uganda), Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa (Tanzania), Mwai Kibaki (Kenya) and Joseph Kabila (DR Congo).
