By Cecilia Okoth
Makerere University will support its alumni from Rwanda to set up a university in Kigali, according to the university’s vice chancellor, prof. Barnabas Nawangwe.
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 have graduated from Makerere since 1978, MURWAA said they want a university modeled 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 support them in their efforts,” Nawangwe said.
He added that the Makerere could help its alumni in Kigali with setting up the institution and 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 Uganda’s first and largest public university.
Shukuru Bizimana, the MURWAA chairman, said that 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, who said over 1000 Rwandans have graduated from Makerere since 1986, added 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 at Makerere 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 the 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 is she today”
Mutesi, who works for the United Nations in Somalia, said Makerere equipped her with the 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).
