Category Archives: UCU Alumni

‘UCU made me a full package doctor`

September 11, 2023Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of MedicinePatty Huston-Holm

Beatrice Birungi said she will be “a healer not only for the physical, but the spiritual as well” because of the UCU School of Medicine unique training.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Studying a course for five years is not for the faint hearted. The 23-year-old Beatrice Birungi is one of the 45 tenacious students that pioneered the grueling Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery training at Uganda Christian University (UCU), completing it this year.

Birungi was overjoyed as she graduated at the UCU Mukono campus on July 28.

Graduating as a doctor was a dream come true for Birungi. Since her childhood, she always thought doctors were “cool,” and now she is one of them.

However, being a doctor meant more to her as she grew up seeing her uncle save lives during the Ebola pandemic in Bundibugyo (2007-2008), western Uganda. She aspired to be like her uncle and work on the front line to save lives and make a difference.

When Birungi had just joined SoM in 2018, everything was new and complicated during that first year. She was encouraged to join discussion groups to help her discuss and process the concepts with her colleagues, which greatly helped her.

In 2020, Birungi lost a father and a close aunt, increasing difficulties.

“My father was the breadwinner. He catered for all my tuition and other fees, as well as upkeep. There were struggles along the way after he died,” she said. “It was hard getting over the loss of my father, but my classmates helped me to overcome it.”

Despite obstacles of finance and grieving, she remained focused on her studies. When she finally saw her name on the graduation list, she felt triumphant. She scooped a first-class degree, with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.64 of 5.0.

“I was more than excited when I saw my name on the graduation list. When I showed my mother, joy continued to flow as she also called other members of the family to inform them that I was graduating,” she said.

Birungi believes the School has made her “a full package doctor” who will give her patients “both physical and spiritual healing.”

“At UCU, I was given holistic education through some of the foundation studies such as Understanding World Views,” she said. “They literally made me a full package doctor – they not only gave me medical knowledge, but also knowledge about the real world and the spiritual aspect.”

She sees her profession as an opportunity to preach the gospel during her interactions with patients. She hopes to use the conversations to share the gospel as well.

Birungi, once shy, believes that by helping her patients know Christ, she will be having a bigger impact on them because once they believe in Jesus, they will understand that He can heal them.

“I want to make an impact by bringing the spiritual side of medicine to the world,” she said. “I want to help others see Christ in the way I treat, talk and work with patients.”

It is through chats that she learned that people can smile in the midst of medical healing.

She said she will be “a healer not only for the physical, but the spiritual as well.”

Birungi said the first thing she does when she receives a patient is talk to God.

“Usually when I receive a patient, I say God, I know I have a lot of knowledge in this brain, please help me organize it so that I can help this person,” she said. “I know it’s you who can actually heal them. Then I start attending to the patient.”

Her memorable moments at UCU SoM, which is based in Kampala, include participating in the sports gala and community worship away from the busy hours in class. She gives attribution to many.

“Above all I attribute special thanks to God, my family and my classmate Travor Wasswa, who always took time to discuss with me. This greatly boosted my academic performance,” Birungi said.

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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities, and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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Former UCU guild president returns to study theology

September 8, 2023Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

Philip Mugume Baitwa is a year-three student at UCU.

By Pauline Luba
Uganda Christian University (UCU) student, Philip Mugume Baitwa, attests to the fact that life is partly made by the caliber of friends we choose.

At 15 years of age, and while a student of Mbarara High School in western Uganda, Baitwa sought to befriend classmates who he thought would inspire him to social and academic heights. He succeeded in making friends, but did not succeed in gaining positively from the friendships.

Influenced by substance abuse, pornography addiction and juvenile delinquency, Baitwa says he was violent and a bully by senior four. He led many student strikes at school.

“I was lost,” said Baitwa, who was raised by a Christian grandfather, a canon in the Anglican Church in Uganda. While engaged in negative life choices, Baitwa said there were times he felt uncomfortable that he had separated himself from the religious teachings that his grandfather emphasized.

“Every time I was lost, there was a voice in my head telling me I was in the wrong, though I ignored it,” Baitwa said.

The 34-year-old eventually listened to the voice that was showing him the right path. He is now a year-three student pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at UCU.

He said his turning point came when he joined Valley College High School in western Uganda for A’level after many people spoke to him about changing his ways for the better.

In 2010, Baitwa joined UCU to pursue a Bachelor of Laws, a course he says was largely influenced by his father’s desire.

“My father did not study his dream course — law — unlike his brothers,” Baitwa said. “And that saddened him. Someone, however, told him that if he got a son one day, he could live his dream in his son.” Baitwa’s father, Enoch Tumusiime Baitwa, instead studied a certificate course in veterinary medicine.

Upon admission in 2010, Baitwa already had it in his mind to contest for the position of Guild President at UCU. He had been a student leader before. While in Kitwe Town Primary School in western Uganda, Baitwa was a time-keeper, health leader and eventually became the school’s top leader.

In 2013, he was successful in the guild elections. One memorable thing about Baitwa’s leadership was changing the semester for voting for student leaders at UCU from January-May to September-December. And to justify the change, the Baitwas reasoned that in the January-May semester, many of the students are either on holiday or in internships so they would not participate in the voting of their leaders. They, thus, preferred the September-December semester, that had every student at school.

After graduating from his law course in 2014, it did not take Baitwa long to realize that despite the law degree, his heart was elsewhere. “I didn’t like sitting behind a computer for long. I’m an outgoing person and I like to socialize,” Baitwa said.

In 2020, Baitwa said he experienced what many describe as the “call to Christ.” He began to have constant communication within himself, directing himself towards Christ and the service of God. Finally, in 2021, he returned to UCU to study divinity.

Many friends and family members, however, rebuked him for the decision, with some calling it “foolish.” Even some of his church leaders, he said, could not readily believe the decision he had taken.

“Theology is the queen of all subjects,” Baitwa said of the reason for the switch. “We see it in all other courses. The legal framework is from the Bible.”

Baitwa hopes to combine his knowledge of the law with that of divinity once he graduates, to be able to “fill the legal gaps in church.” The father of three children — three years, one year and a three-month old baby — says his ultimate life goal is to see people live for God’s purpose, regardless of what career they are pursuing.

To give his family a livelihood during the time he is in school, Baitwa trained his wife — Peace Mugume — on how to handle investments and how to run the family farm.

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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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Former UCU students establish alumni community in eastern Uganda

September 6, 2023Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

UCU alumni inspecting their land in Budaka

By Kefa Senoga
In a bold move that underlines a desire to further the comradeship created during student days at Uganda Christian University (UCU), the institution’s alumni have launched a project where they can buy land and settle in the same area.

The project, dubbed Alumni Villages, was introduced by a committee from the UCU Alumni Association’s Eastern Chapter to foster living in one community among former students of the institution.

The UCU alumni, led by Paulo Katto, the eastern representative on the Alumni Association Executive, started the mobilization and purchase of over three hectares (7.4 acres) of land located in Bukomolo village, Budaka district, eastern Uganda.

According to Eriah Lule, the official in charge of publicity of the project, for one to own a piece of land in the alumni village, they pay sh1.5million (about $406) for a 50 feet by 100 feet plot of land.

Lule, who also has purchased land in the village, noted that it is a viable investment at a low cost. “Land is costly today. As a young person trying to build myself, this was a good opportunity for me to also acquire a piece of land,” Lule says.

He added that so far 76 alumni have been able to acquire plots in the area, though their target is 100 people. There are plans to establish UCU alumni villages in other parts of Uganda.

Katto, the team leader of the project, said factors like accessibility and proximity were

The chairperson of Bukomolo village, Musa Kawiso, welcoming the alumni to the area

considered before they purchased the land. People who set up structures in the village will be able to access the national grids of electricity and water, according to Katto.

In purchasing the land, Katto said they followed due process by involving lawyers, surveyors and local leaders.

Tatiana Wandar, an alumna dealing in real estate, said that the alumni have a bigger vision of developing Bukomolo village into an estate, providing all the social services that the residents would need.

The chairperson of Bukomolo village, Musa Kawiso, expressed joy at the initiative, saying: “I believe the team of UCU alumni will develop the village.”

The family that provided the land for purchase by the UCU Alumni

Dorothy Amony, the UCU Mbale College secretary, said the alumni had left a mark in the development of the community and marketing of UCU as an institution.

“As the administration, we shall support you in all your ventures as the alumni association,” Amony noted.

The development comes after members of the Engineering Development Fund (EDF), an association of older students of UCU’s Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Design, in 2021 bought land in central Uganda. The land, purchased at sh42m (about $12,000) with each member contributing sh2m, was subdivided into 30 plots, with each of the 27 members taking a plot.

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Ugandan athletes in World University games in China

September 4, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of BusinessPatty Huston-Holm

Santos Okabo dressed in the Ugandan traditional wear of kanzu (tunic) and jacket at the opening ceremony of the games in China

By Kefa Senoga
When 33 student athletes from 10 Ugandan universities met in July to flag off participants to a global sports competition, one of the items on the agenda was to select the team captain. The athletes were heading to China’s Chengdu city to compete with students from more than 150 countries in the World University Games.

Santos Okabo, a Uganda Christian University (UCU) student in the School of Business, was chosen as team captain. Okabo, who had never been to a world competition, competed and guided others at the July 27-August 8 event in China.

Okabo (left) with UCU head of sports, Sam Rukaiire (middle), and another athlete

Okabo says his duties as captain included representing the team and country in meetings and other leadership engagements during the games. He also was expected to report to the organizers any challenges that Ugandan team members faced during the competition.

As expected, the second-year diploma student of business administration says one of the benefits he got as team captain was the opportunity to interact and share experiences with other team leaders, including sharing contacts with some of the leading athletes from other countries.

At the games, Okabo participated in three races – sprint race of 100 meters and two relay races of 4×100 meters. In the sprint race, where he emerged 6th out of 8, Okabo says he had hoped to perform better, but that two days before the race, he got sick, largely because he was not accustomed to the food being served in China.

He is, however, grateful that they were able to reach the finals in the 4×400 meter relay race, which he participated in with Chan-wengo Godfrey from Makerere University’s Business School, Akemkwene Peter from Ndejje University and Eyit Justine of Makerere University. In that race, the team broke the university national record for Uganda.

Okabo was not the only UCU student at the competition. Olipa Sharif competed in two races of 200 meters and the 4×100 meter relays. However, he and his relay teammates did not make it to the next round.

Okabo (back, left) during the relay race

The third UCU student at the competition was Nyamahunge Jacent, who got eliminated in the semifinals. In the preliminaries, Nyamahunge had emerged third in the 100 meter race for women. The athletes said UCU supported them by financing their requirements while in the camp, including paying for their air tickets.

According to Timothy Kabuye, the coach of the student athletes and one of 20 officials who went to China with the Ugandan athletes, the team could have performed better.

“Nyamahunge Jacent made it to the semifinals in her category even with a foot injury, Okabo ran a personal best while Olipa ran the second fastest best time in the 200 meters that he participated in,” Kabuye explained.

Next on the calendar of the UCU athletes is the Uganda inter-university competitions set for December.

Olipa Sharif and Santos Okabo after the race

At the Special Olympics World Games held in Abu Dhabi in 2019, Nyamahunge won Uganda its first gold medal in the 200 meters race, beating her closest challenger, Mayak Kimura of Japan, by more than four seconds in a lopsided race.

She is also a double gold medalist in the 200 meters and 100 meters at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games.

The other Ugandan institutions that had students at the event in China were Makerere University, YMCA, Bishop Stuart University, Gulu University, Ndejje University, Kyambogo University, ISBAT University, Makerere University Business School and Victoria University.

Okabo says he has been an athlete throughout school. While at Amuda Primary School in northern Uganda Okabo says he emerged the best runner in the Dokolo district, earning scholastic materials and a mattress as a gift.

“After my primary education, I joined Dr Obote College Boroboro in Lira district on bursary. Upon joining UCU, I was also given a bursary,” Okabo explained.

He says his parents — Otile Oscar and Apollo Milly — were good runners during their youthful years, and so are four of his seven siblings.

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New dental school grad describes bitter-sweet, career journey

August 25, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of DentistryPatty Huston-Holm

Andinda Jordan, new dental school graduate

By Kefa Senoga
“Seeing people with admirable smiles makes me smile,” said Andinda Jordan, a fresh graduate from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Dentistry. That means for Andinda to keep smiling, he has to ensure people retain and obtain straight, white teeth that are evenly spaced and proportionate to the rest of the face.

Some of the things that now await Andinda as a practitioner is teaching people about the importance of teeth and oral hygiene, and re-aligning people’s maligned teeth so that they can get the “admirable smiles.”

Andinda was among the nine students who graduated with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery at UCU’s 24th graduation ceremony held at the main campus in Mukono on July 28, 2023. A total of 1,006 students graduated with degrees, diplomas and certificates at the ceremony.

Andinda describes his journey through the UCU School of Dentistry (SoD) as bitter-sweet.

“The course has many units to cover in quite a short period of time,” he says, indicating the level of sacrifice that any student desirous of pursuing a course in dental surgery has to commit. Andinda and his eight colleague-fresh-graduates in dental surgery were the UCU pioneer class of Bachelor of Dental Surgery that enrolled in 2018.

Despite challenges of suspension of education in Uganda at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the students completed their course on schedule. The time during the Covid pandemic was primarily used to cover the theory and then post-covid, the practicality of the course commenced. Dentistry is a practical course which involves meeting people and touching them.

The nine graduates are now expected to join a workforce in Uganda where there are about 300 dental surgeons in active practice, covering only 21% of the country. One dentist in Uganda serves about 142,000 people, a ratio dangerously unbalanced, considering the World Health Organization requirement of dentist to patient ratio of 1:8,000.

Andinda said because of the low number of students for the course at UCU, they were able to get undivided attention from their lecturers and faculty mentors for the five-year duration of the course. It is for that reason, Andinda noted, that many students have been able to identify mentors among their lecturers. Also, at UCU, students have a well-equipped dental clinic, where they are able to practice under the supervision of a doctor.

Andinda (extreme left) and his colleagues from the UCU SoD during their student days

“My current mentor, Dr. Catherine Kabenge, is from the UCU dental school; she has shared her career journey and taught me some of the important principles to live by as a dentist,” says Andinda, the first born of six children of Uganda’s High Court Judge Justice Jesse Byaruhanga and Mrs. Betty Byaruhanga.

The other faculty members are seasoned dentists who students would like to emulate. For instance, some of the members of the faculty, such as the Dean of the SoD, Dr. James Magara, practice in the profession. They are, therefore, the most appropriate human resource to impart knowledge since they offer it in the context of the real world of work. Dr. Magara was part of Makerere University’s pioneer class of dental surgery students that graduated in 1988.

During an interview that Dr. Magara granted Uganda Partners in 2020, he said UCU is committed to ensuring that students have good exposure to modern dentistry.

“The UCU Faculty of Dentistry’s teaching hospital has a very long history of teaching medical practitioners in Uganda,” he said. “The university has a partnership with Mengo Hospital, which has a dental unit that has been running for over 40 years now; this unit has trained dentists with internships throughout Uganda,”

Dr. Magara added that the hospital location is “recognized as the premium place to go for hands-on dental studies,” and the main reason any student wishing to pursue the course should look no further than UCU.

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UCU awards law alumni who graduated as best lawyers

August 7, 2023COVID-19, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

(Left to Right) Peter Mutesasira, the Dean UCU Faculty of Law, and Jemimah Jehopio, Emmanuel Okia and Shamira Kitimbo celebrate. Jehopio scored a CGPA of 4.70 and captured the three awards at LDC - the Director’s Award, Agaba Muhairwe Prize and the Inspector General of Government accolade. — (Left to Right) Peter Mutesasira, the Dean UCU Faculty of Law, and Jemimah Jehopio, Emmanuel Okia and Shamira Kitimbo celebrate. Jehopio scored a CGPA of 4.70 and captured the three awards at LDC – the Director’s Award, Agaba Muhairwe Prize and the Inspector General of Government accolade.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Work, dedication and discipline paid off for the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Law class of 2020/2021 as these graduates topped the list at the 50th Law Development Center (LDC) graduation. Among the top 20 students who scored a first-class degree at the LDC graduation in June, 10 did their Bachelor’s Degree at UCU.

Emmanuel Okia, the overall best student receiving his award from the UCU Vice Chancellor.

Before anyone can practice law in Uganda, they must have a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (one academic year) from LDC on top of a degree from a recognized university. UCU is among a dozen Ugandan schools offering a law degree.

In appreciation of their achievement, UCU held a thanksgiving ceremony to honor these distinguished alumni. The recognition on July 11 at Nkoyoyo Hall followed the recently concluded LDC graduations at LDC campuses in Kampala, Lira and Mbarara districts.

Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, the UCU Vice Chancellor, commended the School of Law staff for their roles in graduates’ success and encouraged alumni to consider working at UCU.

Martha Uwizeye is presented with an award by the UCU Vice Chancellor. Uwizeye was among the UCU students whose studies were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic that saw institutions halt physical classes and completed the semester online.

“This has been possible because we have a God we serve, a mighty God, and so we shall be a mighty university,” Mushengyezi said.

In appreciation of the performance, UCU management approved the purchase of a new van for the faculty and renovation of their offices. Star students were given individual awards.

Rev. Assoc. Prof. John Mulindwa Kitayimbwa, the UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), who attended the graduation at Kampala campus, said he was “filled with extreme joy” that the top four students were from UCU.

We want to thank the Lord because it has not been by power nor might, but it has been by the Spirit of the living God,” Kitayimbwa said.

Dr. Peter Mutesasira, Dean of the UCU School of Law, said the recent accomplishment wasn’t an easy task but is a reflection of the rigor at UCU.

“Your great performance at LDC has proved that beyond the gates of UCU, our students continue to excel, and this has proved that we indeed produce the best,” he said. “We thank God we are here. I usually tell my students I am the film star of the School of Law, but for today these are our film stars.”

He urged other students pursuing Law at UCU to be firm and know that they are in the right place.

The alumni show off their awards in a photo with the Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi (front-row third left) and other university officials. UCU had 10 of the best 20 students who scored a first-class degree at the Law Development Centre graduation in June

“We hope you will be an inspiration to those who are coming after you,” Mutesasira said. “We believe that even those after you will hold our flag higher and this is not the end; this is the journey that is just starting for you.”

During the event, the Vice Chancellor awarded the distinguished graduands.

The stars included Emmanuel Okia, the best performer at LDC this year with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.90; Shamira Kitimbo, the best female student at LDC with 4.80; Reagan Ahumuza, the best at Kampala campus with 4.75. The others included Victor Stephen Bwambale with 4.60; Job Ernest Ayesiga (4.55); Samuel Odiye (4.50); Martha Uwizeye (4.40); and Namagembe Josephine Jojo (4.40).

Jemimah Jehopio, who scored a CGPA of 4.70, scooped the three awards at LDC – the Director’s Award, Agaba Muhairwe Prize (given to best student in corporate and commercial practice on the postgraduate bar course) and the Inspector General of Government accolade (for outstanding student in trial advocacy).

“These awards represent the fulfillment of my dreams,” Jehopio said. “These accolades acknowledge my dedication and are pivotal for my future career endeavors.”

“I am humbled by such a profound gesture,” said Samuel Odiye (4.50). “We thank God for UCU, a place where knowledge meets opportunity, where dreams are nurtured, and where lifelong friendships are forged.”.

The graduates were among the first group of UCU students that did a take home exam during the Covid-19 lockdown disruptions in 2020. They completed their semester online and had a virtual graduation. All that notwithstanding, they excelled, joined LDC and topped in the country.

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‘If God gave his only son, we can give this’

July 31, 2023News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Education, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

Some primary students being served by Teach for Uganda fellows in Mayuge District

Text by Patty Huston-Holm, visuals by Irene Best Napendi
Daphine Oitamong talks about Sophie who walked to school two kilometers (1.3 miles) barefooted with rat bites on her heels. Nannyanga Restetuta talks about Dora who went from “jolly and active” to being withdrawn after her parents left her in the care of a sexually abusive uncle. Nancy Ongom, who mentions the name Jafa, grapples to pick just one.

There are so many.

Daphine, Nancy and Restetuta, who prefers the name Resty, are Uganda primary school teachers with over 100 students per class. While they barely know each other and work in different schools, the young women share the distinction of being Teach for Uganda fellows, having Uganda Christian University (UCU) degrees and owning a passion to serve “the least of these,” as they know from Matthew 25:40.

UCU School of Education alum, Daphine Oitamong, with one of her students and the custodial grandmother

The three UCU alum are among 226 men and women engaged in two-year fellowships helping the poorest of the poor ages 4 to 10 in Uganda’s Kayunga, Mayuge, Namutumba, Mukono, Buikwe, Namayingo and Bugiri districts, according to Decimon Wandera, who serves as a coach for the fellows.

Charlotte Iraguha, co-founder and managing director for the seven-year-old Teach for Uganda NGO, says there are 40,000 students in 151 public schools where fellows are assigned. Uganda has nearly nine million elementary school children. Charlotte, a former teacher, explained that her organization’s model has government teachers working alongside fellows to build a “full child – not just focusing on grades.” Fellows with degrees in various programs teach children and, as time permits, engage with parents.

“When I first came here, I thought I had arrived in another country,” Daphine said of the primitive, rural Namutumba area of the Kamudooke Primary School where she teaches. “I grew up in Kampala and never traveled here.”

UCU Law alum, Nancy Ongom, teaching Kaluuba Primary students in Mayuge District

Namutumba is more than four hours from Uganda’s capital city as well as four hours from where Resty and Nancy teach in Mayuge district. The often-rugged roads leading to all three schools are lined with brick and mud-and-wattle homes, children carrying jerry cans of water from bore holes and fields of bananas, maize, cassava and sugarcane.

According to Decimon, 70 percent of the fellows stick it out despite that most didn’t grow up the way the schools’ students are.

Resty, 26, and Daphine, 29, who graduated with UCU Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees in 2021; and Nancy, 29, who got her UCU degree in law in 2017, are part of the retention group. For them, what started out as sh550,00 ($150) per month for a job vs. no job at all has become a mission for positive change and a reminder of the biblical lessons from UCU.

UCU School of Education alum, Nannyanga Restetuta, teaching English

Quoting Luke 6:38 “give and it shall be given unto you,” Nancy said she interprets that verse to include love, compassion and skill that could break the cycle of poverty she sees every day. She entered her teaching post at Kaluuba Primary School with no formalized pedagogical training but a drive to “go deep in humanitarian action,” to challenge herself and to learn what she could from trained government teachers.

Resty and Daphine applaud the teacher training that came with their undergraduate degrees, citing the value of psychology, discipline and teaching methods they gleaned from the classroom. At the same time, they point out practical experience gaps – especially when working with children in high-poverty, rural areas. These children come to school dirty and hungry or not at all as they are needed at home to plant and harvest food. One frequently absent student explained that her belly is full if she climbs a tree to eat mangos near her home but empty as she sits at a desk at school.

“The school provides porridge as the main food for children during lunch but only for those whose parents can afford to bring some maize so we still have a lot who go the whole day without a meal,” Nancy said. “It breaks my heart.”

Resty and other teachers at Kigandaalo Primary School, start each day with a 7:45 a.m. hair, teeth, body, clothing cleanliness check. Discovery of lice means the child goes home.

“Many days, it helps to remember the servanthood, diligence and Christ-centeredness that was part of our UCU character building because that is what we do,” Resty said. “At the same time, I see now that our university life was too soft. We weren’t prepared for work this hard.”

Hard means understanding a non-native language from children and parents with little to no knowledge of English in a country with as many as 70 different dialects. Resty and Daphine have Luganda mother tongue in schools with children speaking Lusoga and Ateso, respectively. Nancy, who speaks Acholi from her native Gulu, is surrounded daily by indigenous Lusoga speakers.

“Every child is capable of learning,” says Uganda Christian University (UCU) alum, Nancy Ongom. This video, shot on July 10, 2023, gives a snapshot of how UCU graduates are teaching Uganda’s most economically disadvantaged children through a program called Teach for Uganda. (https://www.teachforuganda.org)

Dr. James Taabu Busimba, Head of the Department of Literature and Languages, UCU School of Education, agreed with the value of academic application in real-world contexts. “Knowledge gained is as useless as pride if filed away and never applied,” he said, repeating a quote often attributed to several writers and politicians.

On one day in July, Resty was using phonics and memorization to teach English while Nancy was teaching numbers and how to add them together. Crammed at desks in the two school locations, children were sounding out the words “poison” and “chicken” for Resty and adding the numbers three and four to equal seven for Nancy.

For the three UCU teaching alum, the work doesn’t end with a school day among small children. Their afternoon hours may find them seated with a child’s custodial parent, helping the secondary girls make and understand how to re-use sanitary pads, preparing lessons for the next day and fundraising. Using their UCU alum network, they have raised money for food and clothing for their neediest schoolchildren.

“I learned the value of helping others through UCU’s Save the Buddy program,” Daphine said. “At UCU, we would be looking around, especially at exam time, to see if we had extra money to help classmates pay fees so they can sit for exams.”

According to Daphine, Nancy and Resty, living amongst latrines, filth and dust and the challenged home lives of the children seated before them contains many life lessons and reminders of how Jesus might have lived.

Like Jesus, Daphine feels she is going deep and “testing my strength.” Resty believes that the work in the schools, no matter how difficult, is preparing them for other opportunities. Most days, the three are exhausted but ready to give more.

“If God gave his only son, we can give this,” Nancy said.

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Engineering alum breaks gender, age barriers

July 28, 2023Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

UCU Engineering graduate, Linda Nanfuka, at her job in Uzbekistan

By Patty Huston-Holm
When Linda Nanfuka got an offer to work in Uzbekistan, she had to Google it.

“I couldn’t pronounce it, didn’t know where it was,” she said of the Central Asian nation located 5,499 kilometers (3,411 miles) from Uganda. For nine months in 2021, Nanfuka lived and worked as an engineer for what is now Uzbekistan’s first large-scale solar power plant. Most of what she did was civil works (construction supervision, reporting) for METKA EGN, a company that focuses on green-energy networks.

A Uganda Christian University (UCU) alum, Nanfuka got recruited to live and work in Uzbekistan based on her leadership in helping to launch a solar station on land leased from the Busoga Kingdom in Uganda’s Mayuge District. The Mayuge-area plant, also called Bufulubi because of its location in a village by that name, increases the power supply for the eastern region. It generates 10 MegaWatts (MW) compared to Uzbekistan’s 131 MW capacity.

Nanfuka knows that each MW is one million watts, that individual homes require a lot less than that and factories need more. As a 2018 UCU graduate in Civil and Environmental Engineering, she learned much of the technical aspects of what she applies in her work.

She also knows that she is employed in a career path traditionally dominated by men and people older than her almost-28 years. She has encountered skepticism and bullying as well as respect.

Linda Nanfuka at Uganda’s Mayuge solar plant

“In the African culture, we need to respect elders, and I do,” she said. “If someone 20 years older than you is wrong, you don’t disrespect but correct.”

At the same time, Nanfuka credits older peers and professionals at UCU for mentoring, including during one “rough period” of her academic studies. She said Rodgers Tayebwa, head of department, engineering and environment, was especially helpful, “introducing me to students in the year ahead” and enabling her to have “balance and get back on track.”

For Nanfuka, the journey before and since graduating from UCU has required changing course and dispelling age and gender perceptions. The oldest of four children with a single mom living in Mukono, Nanfuka was expected to go into accounting to support herself and help her siblings. She was told that engineering was too difficult and meant for men.

“One person close to me kept saying ‘no’ to engineering,” she said. “Today, I thank God for those who doubted me, who dared me not to succeed, because I’m really happy with what I chose.”

As for solar energy, it chose her. While leading a Just in Time subcontracting team of 30-40 men who put a fence around what would be rows of solar panels in the Mayuge District, Nanfuka began spending her spare time in 2018 to mid-2019 learning about this growing, clean energy option. From mid-2019, she transitioned into operational maintenance that she was part of until 2021.

“I monitored the civil works – concrete pole installation and chain-link fencing,” Nanfuka said of the work in Mayuge. “I went to the main contractor, expressed an interest in the larger project and was permitted on the site to learn from other contractors after my other work for the day was done.”

In 2020, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimated that 38 percent of the population used solar energy in some form from some 300 solar companies. The Soroti solar power plant is Uganda’s first grid-connected solar plant and the largest in East Africa. According to the Uganda Electricity Regulatory Authority, the Mayuge plant has the capacity to produce enough power for 30,000 households.

When the fence around the Mayuge plant was in place, Nanfuka was made a junior civil engineer for METKA EGN.

“God blesses us with sun,” she said. “We should use it and protect the environment. I’m happy that our country is having more of these projects that not only respect the earth but expand employment.”

In addition to applying her engineering technical and management skills, Nanfuka found enrichment in being embedded into the Uzbekistan culture from May to December in 2021. The project called 131 MW Tutly Solar PV Plant had non-English-speaking workers that presented an added challenge in communications to complete tasks. She learned safety requirements, the latter of which is stricter than in Uganda. She learned that people from different races, religions and ethnicities can work together. Uzbekistan, which is near the better-known Afghanistan and Iran countries, is largely Muslim with few black-skinned people.

“Many had never seen a black woman before,” she said. “The kids especially wanted to touch my hair.”

Speaking from Mukono in late July, Nanfuka shared that her next two aspirations are growing her own business while working on a master’s degree in construction management.

“I’ve realized that what people really need here is help with planning and scheduling – project management,” she said. “I am grateful for people who took a chance on me, and had faith in me. I did my best not to disappoint.”

Nanfuka’s new business Web site is https://www.lindasvirtualhub.com.

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UCU student dinners offer networking platforms

July 14, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

Cutting cake at last year’s dinner of the UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC) are (Right to left) UCU’s JMC Head of Undergraduate Studies John Semakula, Corporate Communications Manager at Umeme Peter Kaujju, veteran journalist and chief guest John Kakande, School of JMC Dean Monica Chibita, Managing Editor for Nation Media Group in Uganda Tabu Butagira and student leaders.

By Pauline Luba
“People are lonely because they build walls, instead of bridges.” That timeless quote, by Joseph Fort Newton, an American 20th Century priest and author, is relevant today and fitting to social and networking opportunities at universities.

For university students, including at Uganda Christian University (UCU), dinners among students, faculty and professionals are among the ways of building these bridges to support and not interfere with studies. Of the 11 faculties/schools, one third usually have such dinners.

The live band that performed at last year’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication dinner

In July last year, after a four-month preparation, the UCU community, majority from the School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC), alumni and invited guests descended on Silver Springs Hotel, Bugolobi in Kampala, for their annual media dinner.

Held under the theme “Media Ethics under Attack,” the dinner hosted students, UCU alumni, and media and public relations practitioners.

At the dinner, Ugandan veteran journalist, John Kakande, advised the students that to earn respect, journalists should be able to produce “believable, accurate and impactful stories.” It is such stories, Kakande argued, that will influence policy and bring the desired positive change in society.

From a meal and networking to live jazz music and speeches, most of which were by renowned media professionals who painted for the students a picture of the kind of journalist today’s job market needs, the evening’s activities gave the students value for their time and money – at just sh100,000 (about $27) that they paid for the dinner.

“We were blessed to have a very talented team,” one of the organizers, Elsie Tukahirwa, said when asked how they managed to pull off the event. “Many students offered services, such as photography and decorations, at a subsidized fee.”

A screengrab of Uganda’s Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka (left) presenting a plaque to a student at last year’s UCU Law Dinner. Right is Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi.

And several other faculties, too, hold annual dinners. The UCU School of Law, for example, also held its dinner last year, at an event where students used the opportunity to socialize. At the event, the student leaders of the UCU Law Society, an umbrella association of law students, were recognised. And this year is not any different. Students from both schools are again organizing their annual dinners.

Tukahirwa said it is the duty of the students to “push for their dinners to take place.” She adds that sometimes some students do not wish to have one, because of the level of commitment and engagement required to organize it.

This year, the UCU School of Business will host its dinner on July 22, at Silver Springs Hotel, Bugolobi. At the dinner, according to the organizers, there will be recognition of outgoing student leaders and introduction of new ones.

Elsie Tukahirwa at a dinner she helped organize last year.

Sidney Mugenyi, a third-year student pursuing Bachelors in Procurement and Logistics Management, and is one of the organizers of the July dinner, said they have faced challenges of funds and marketing of the event to the students.

“In spite of the challenges, this dinner is important because it will provide a platform for the students to get entrepreneurship advice from sector players,” Mugenyi explained.

John Semakula, the Head of the Undergraduate Department at the School of JMC, said the dinners are a platform for students to interact with colleagues in different years of study.

The students also invite special guests from the industry who give them tips on how to be a successful professional, Semakula explained.

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UCU Mbale Campus gets new principal

July 12, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of EducationPatty Huston-Holm

Erisa Kigenyi, the new principal of UCU Mbale University College.

By Pauline Luba
Dr. Erisa Kigenyi Mazaki, the new Principal of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mbale University College, was twice “acting” in the role over the past five years.

In August 2018, he joined the institution as a full-time staff member. Just four months later, the UCU Vice Chancellor at the time, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, shocked Kigenyi by appointing him the acting principal of the college. The position holder at the time had retired.

“I was shocked because I thought there were more capable people than I was,” Kigenyi, an ardent teacher, said. “I was wondering why I had been tasked with the responsibility.”

Kigenyi was the acting principal until March 2019, when Mrs. Mary Gichuki Manana joined the college as the substantive head. Again, last year, when the position fell vacant in November, Dr. Kigenyi was appointed in acting capacity.

In June 2023, the month when Kigenyi was celebrating 50 years of age, he received a notification that he had been appointed as the college’s substantive principal.

For now, his eyes will be focused on ventures to improve the state of the infrastructure of the college, located in Mbale city, eastern Uganda. With improved infrastructure, there is hope that the enrollment and welfare of students at the college will improve.

Last year, the college launched a fundraising drive to raise money for the expansion of the institution’s infrastructure. At the event, more than sh240million (over $64,000) was collected in cash and pledges. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who was represented at the function by Mbale Resident District Commissioner, Mr. Ahamada Washaki, pledged sh200million (about $53,000).

Should any challenges surface during Kigenyi’s tenure as principal, he feels assured of victory. He says his armor is Psalm 121:1-3 “I look up to the mountains, does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth. He will not let you stumble; the One who watches over you will not slumber.”

To deliver results in his new position, the father of three boys and one girl hopes to rely on his ever-present and supportive wife, Janet Kigenyi, in affairs of the home. Her management of family affairs enables him to have a peace of mind at work.

Born in 1973 to Mr. Nsangi Amunoni and Annet Nasiyo, Kigenyi had 10 siblings – three boys and seven girls. He attended North Road Primary School in Mbale city for his primary education and then Bukedi College Kachonga from Senior One to Senior Five. He was unable to return to the school for Senior Six because his father faced financial hardships and could not afford to pay the tuition. Kigenyi was then enrolled at Mbale Progressive School, where he completed Senior Six, emerging as one of the best candidates in the national exams.

The top performance earned Kigenyi a government sponsorship for a Bachelor of Arts with Education at Uganda’s Makerere University. In 1988, Kigenyi graduated as a teacher. Soon after, he teamed up with two colleagues and they started their own school, Mbale Comprehensive High School, where he is still a director. He says teaching and molding students into useful citizens is a satisfying experience.

“Students are the reason teachers like me exist,” he said.

In November 1998, he joined Mbale Secondary School, where he taught until 2012. Here, he was a classroom teacher before being promoted to the position of head of the history department. He was also appointed as the chair of the staff of the Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) and patron of student leaders in a school of over 4,000 students.

In 2005, Kigenyi joined UCU for post-graduate studies, graduating in 2007 with a Master of Science in Human Resource Management in Education. In 2010, he enrolled for a Post-graduate Diploma in Public Administration and Management at Uganda Management Institute, graduating with a first class in 2011. Two years later, Kigenyi went back to school, enrolling for a PhD in Management Science at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. He graduated in 2017.

Before joining UCU as a full-time staff member in 2018, Kigenyi served the university on a part-time basis for seven years, up to July 2018.

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UCU hosts cultural gala for international students

July 10, 2023News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

The Rwandan community in a traditional dance

By Pauline Luba
When one travels to new lands, they always leave a part of them at home. It is that part of them that has a tendency of evoking homesickness. In Yemi Alade’s song, Africa, the Nigerian singer could not have put this feeling of the allure of one’s home clearer than she did in the lyrics:

Anywhere you go
London, USA
Nowhere be like Africa
Nowhere be like home
Anywhere you go
New York, Chicago
Nowhere be like Africa
Nowhere be like home

Uganda Christian University (UCU) is aware of the impact of being away from one’s family members and friends, especially for students whose study means they spend a longer time in a foreign country. Every year, the university organizes the International Students Week to give students a chance to celebrate their culture and heritage.

This year’s celebration, held under the theme “Celebrating Diversity and Unity,” was held in the week leading up to June 25 with June 23 being the day a cultural gala was staged in the UCU Nkoyoyo Hall. The university is home to both national and international students from the region of East Africa and beyond.

In the culture week, organized by the student leaders, in collaboration with the Directorate of Student Affairs, activities such as community outreach, movie night and food exhibition were held. Students with the same heritage prepared their traditional cuisines, something that brought fun out of the activity, as well as to remind them of “home.”

On June 23, the day of the gala, the decorated Nkoyoyo Hall was filled to capacity by 8 p.m., the time the cultural gala started. The students, many of whom wore their cultural attires, cheered on their colleagues during the performances. After the national anthems of the participating countries, different speakers educated the audience about the unique attributes of their countries.

Guild President Timothy Ddumba with UCU students from the international community.

Justus Kashasira, a student from Tanzania, made use of a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate the beauty of his country, showcasing the Serengeti National Park, where one can see the “big five” animals – elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard and the lion – and the Kilimanjaro National Park, which has the highest mountain in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro.

A student from South Sudan bashed the stereotype of war and famine that others label on her country.

“I’m here to change that and show you what my country really is,” Emmanuella Morris said amidst cheers from the crowd, as she explained the beauty of the family bond that people in her country have, the “stunning food” and the hospitality of the South Sudanese.

The groups also showcased their traditional dances and stunning attire with the crowd cheering the Rwandan students as they gracefully performed the Kinyarwanda dance.

Speaking at the event, the acting Director of Students’ Affairs, Simon Tusubira, expressed the university’s commitment in serving the international students and ensuring that they handle their needs, such as acquisition of visas, accommodation and safety, in order to make their stay at the university a memorable one.

The student leaders in charge of international students at UCU – Precious Kasemire and Moise Kituka – said sh1.5million (about $400) was used to purchase the costumes that the students used for the gala, banners and the food that was cooked for the exhibition, and other expenses incurred in organizing the cultural week.

UCU Guild President Timothy Ddumba said the cultural gala is intended to help build cohesiveness and a stronger association for the international students.

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When Uganda Martyrs sowed the seed of Christian faith in the world

July 8, 2023Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

The altar during prayers at the Namugongo Anglican Martyrs Shrine on June 3.

By Pauline Luba
When King Mwanga, a former Ugandan traditional leader, ordered the killing of fresh Christian converts more than a century ago, he might not have known that his actions would lead to the sowing of the seed of Christianity in the country. Now, 137 years down the road, the death of the Uganda Martyrs is a reference point to the special grace that God bestowed on the 45 converts who chose death over renouncing the faith they had received.

The converts, who were pages in the palace of King Mwanga of Buganda, having learned about God, put their loyalty first before the Almighty and denounced the time’s unchristian practices such as polygamy. Mwanga was a polygamous man. However, the shift of allegiance from the king to God, the King of Kings, enraged Mwanga. He thus ordered the execution of those who did not renounce the new faith.

Every June 3 is a public holiday in Uganda, to allow a pilgrimage to Namugongo, near Kampala, to pray in remembrance of the martyrs who were killed for their faith.

Pilgrims traveled from far and wide to attend the celebrations. In the foreground is an artist’s depiction of how the converts were killed under the orders of Mwanga

At Uganda Christian University (UCU), the theme of the week preceding June 3 is most times centered around faith, endurance and grace, taking the example of the action of the Uganda Martyrs.

“The Martyrs help build our faith,” said the Rev. Capt. Esther Wabulo, the UCU Church Relations Officer. “And since UCU is a key center for the building of faith in our community and students, celebration of the day is important.”

She also emphasized that as a Christian university, propagating the Gospel is its main aim hence they derive inspiration from the courageous act of the Uganda Martyrs.

Many members of the UCU community often participate in the activities of the day at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine on June 3. For instance, for this year’s event, Wabulo, Bishop Joel Obetia, Dr. Isabirye Moses, the Rev. Richard Mulindwa and the entire Church Relations Department joined the organizers at Namugongo. Theology students at UCU served as ushers at the prayers.

The Anglican Church organized this year’s prayers under the theme “United for Service and Growth.” Dr. Foley Beach, the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, who was the day’s guest preacher, lauded the church for sticking to the word of God. “Do not allow the devil to tempt us and lose faith,” Beach told the pilgrims, urging church leaders to “prepare people to do ministry everywhere.”

The pilgrims such as these attendees were urged to stick to the word of God, and not to allow the devil to tempt them.

In UCU’s 25 years of existence, the Anglican church in Uganda has on two occasions bestowed the responsibility of organizing the Martyrs Day prayers on the institution – in 2004 and 2013 – an opportunity the university maximizes to advertise its programs to the world. In 2013, there was a double celebration for the institution as the Bishop Tucker Theological College was celebrating a century of existence.

The Rev. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro, the UCU Chaplain, said in the spirit of the faith whose seed the Uganda Martyrs sowed with their blood more than a century ago, students should follow Revelations 2:10: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.”

Ssembiro said faith is not a casual affair, and that, therefore, one must be willing to show resilience, no matter the test.

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Ubuntu Leadership Centre strengthens ties with UCU

June 30, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

The team from UYLC and UCU pose for a photo on the day they signed a MOU. Vice Chancellor of UCU, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi is in the center; Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, the chairperson of the board at UYLC, is at third right.

By Kefa Senoga
“Ubuntu: Humanity towards others: I am because we are” is emblazoned on the main Web page of one of Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) newest partners to help financially challenged students. Ubuntu Youth Leadership Centre (UYLC), a not-for-profit organization that supports needy students through contributing to tuition fees and mentorship, has joined the effort.

Namiiro Benita, a soon-to-graduate UCU Bachelor of Laws student, is among the UYLC first recipients.

After completing Senior Six, Namiiro did not think her family was able to afford university tuition. She felt that her mother had toiled enough to get money for her school fees and wanted to leave the opportunity for her younger siblings. But Namiiro’s mother encouraged her daughter to continue her education, reasoning that once she was accepted, finances would come.

UYLC board chairperson, Dr. Sabrina Kitaka

“My mother wanted me to serve as a good example to my siblings, and so she encouraged me to enroll for a university education,” Namiiro, who lost her father when a young child, stated on Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) The Standard website.

Namiiro’s journey was often filled with chance. For instance, during the first semester of her first year, Namiiro was unable to pay full tuition in time. Learning of her financial dilemma, Bulungu John, one of her lecturers, topped up the balance, so Namiiro could sit her end-of-semester exams.

From then on, her family struggled to get whatever money they could while Namiiro pursued different financial relief opportunities at UCU. She subscribed to the work and study, financial aid, saving a buddy and the guild fund, as well as moving around hostels to ask for financial contributions from student colleagues. She also is among the beneficiaries of UCU’s latest tuition relief project for needy students, the Just For 10K Campaign.

Namiiro and two other Bachelor of Law students – George Ojocheyi and Apili Peninah – are confident of meeting financial requirements to graduate after the UYLC intervention. The three are the first to get UYLC help since the center signed an MOU with UCU at the end of 2022.

Ubuntu Leadership Centre entered into a partnership after learning about the Just For 10K Campaign. Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, the chairperson of the board at UYLC, noted that they want to go beyond just contributing to school fees to supporting students through mentorship.

“We would like to see mindset change,” Kitaka said. “We would like to see these young people leaving the university and adding value to our country.”

She added that UCU’s holistic education in both academic and Christian values made the UYLC partnership a good fit.

“Working with UCU is just part of our moral fabric to promote Christian values and provide a holistic academic system,” Kitaka said when the team made a recent visit to UCU.

The head of partnerships and grants at UCU, Dr. Angella Napakol, said “UCU is keen on students’ mentorship and apprenticeship and fully welcomes the UYLC initiative.”

The Vice Chancellor of UCU, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, lauded UYLC for their “good vision of touching lives,” noting that the world needs more change agents and intellectuals, and that UYLC is doing a good job in promoting such a cause.

Mushengyezi invited the UYLC team to “feel free to come and organize any seminars at the university,” as well as come and talk to the students during the UCU community gatherings that take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Dorothy Tushemereirwe, the Fundraising Consultant who is coordinating the Just For 10k Campaign, noted in mid-June that UYLC has raised a total donation of sh15,299,060 (over $4,000) in student fees.

How to donate for the ‘For Just 10k’ campaign

For direct deposits: +256774530810 in the name of Dorothy Tushemereirwe or +13344240964 in the name of Mark Bartels (Reason for giving should be “For just 10k fundraiser”)

Online donations: Use GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/needy-university-students)

Direct cash deposits on Stanbic bank: Account name: Uganda Christian University. Account Number: 9030005916673.

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Story of 600: Mentoring students to launch

June 28, 2023News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

Margaret Noblin with some of her mentored students making brownies in the kitchen of the Kingdom View Ministry House, Mukono, Uganda

By Margaret Noblin
Like most Christ-centered, higher education entities, Uganda Christian University (UCU) exposes students to the Bible, God and Jesus along with rigorous curriculum in a choice of study and extracurricular opportunities.

But how do these things come together helping them to know themselves and launch successful careers? Being an accomplished student nearing graduation is a scary proposition. Being a star on campus does not translate to being a professional success.

Margaret helping students with the CV part of mentoring

A very bright student in social work came to me years ago. She had tremendous empathy along with strong fiscal skills but hadn’t considered a career in finance. After understanding her skills, she got her first job as a bank teller in a small city. There, she was promoted and finally ended up in a well-respected position at the main office in Kampala. She helped entrepreneurs get loans and was a creative problem-solver. When the bank restructured, they sent her to an international conference in Paris.

She transitioned to another finance job continuing to help small businesses. Along the way human resources asked her if she would like to mentor high school students on how to manage money and open bank accounts. The bottom line, she is using all her God-given skills, including social work and business.

This UCU graduate is one of about 600 students God placed in my path to mentor. Over 80% of the students that complete the process I designed get jobs they enjoy, and some even break the cycle of poverty in their families. These career professionals are becoming the middle-class of Uganda and changing the country one person at a time. They build houses for their moms, pay school fees for their siblings and become role models and impactful disciples.

Humbly, I didn’t choose this mentorship role for my life. God did. When a youthful undergraduate at the University of Missouri, I didn’t see this coming. My husband, Mark, and I got the calling to Uganda roughly two decades ago with a belief we were to be fishers of men to teach men and women to fish. The form that would take for me became a mentorship to university students. As we now reside in Dallas, Texas, it brings me great joy to see UCU students and alum practically empowered to be all God wants them to be.

Students need to know their God-given practical skills to gain the confidence to be successful.

Mentoring from a Biblical perspective is discipleship, and helps the mentee talk through the issues of life and how they fit the pieces together. There is fear of what is ahead. Most have high parental expectations that as they say “puts them on pressure.” What is ahead after university? Will I look foolish in new situations? What do I believe about the world around me? How do I live out my faith in Jesus with all the corruption and ungodly things around me? How do I handle carpet interviews (sex for jobs) or harassment? These are just a few things that have come out from years of listening to students.

As with listening to and talking to God, the same is true for those around us on earth. Most college students don’t have that as an integral part of their education.

As a follower of Jesus, my approach is holistic and Biblical. First, we need to understand our Biblical worldview to have a “true north” for God’s best for us. Then we need to comprehend how God wired our brains when we were created.

A process of writing short stories reflecting things the students loved doing, that were easy for them to do and eyewitnesses telling them “You are great at this,” lets me know the heart of the student. The revelation is fascinating to the students that complete the process. They are shown with evidence throughout their life of why they are secure, unique, significant and loved by God.

As their God-given practical skills are revealed and labeled, they begin to see the puzzle pieces fitting together.

The next step is developing their CVs(resumes), so it paints a picture of who they are on one page. It is like an interview on paper. They have shared, “I wasn’t scared in the interview. I was able to explain why I loved doing certain things.”

The best opportunities in Uganda are companies that do business internationally. They pay their employees on time, have international standards of behavior and generally pay better salaries and benefits.

Part of the process that God led me to create is viewing two presentations I take them through. One is about the basics of who you are and understanding your identity in Christ and the other deals with what industries in Uganda have lots of jobs. Most students are totally shocked when they see the industry presentation showing pictures of different large businesses. Comments range from, “I thought I had to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, doctor, nurse, or teacher. I had no idea…” to “This is really cool. No one ever told me this stuff.”

I love “aha” moments when I see the lightbulb of opportunity go on. But then fear sets in. It takes time to refine the CVs, even though the evidence is there. They see the proof of who they are as career professionals.

Another challenging issue involves their self-image. Many of the students on their first visit still think of themselves as high school students, not career professionals. At this point, I have to have what one of our employees called “the talk” pertaining to becoming a serious adult and professional. How you dress, present yourself and your expectation of who you are and who you want to be is key. It is a reality check so they can make the transition.

I explain to them that I will help them, but they have to be willing to do the work and put in the time. I have found if they don’t, they don’t get good jobs.

Discipleship is developing a holistic intentional relationship between the two people. When I first started in 2008, I mainly listened and tried to get to know the person. As a believer in Jesus, I explained to them my starting point and thanked them for opening up their minds to share our perspectives about life. As things have changed with how we communicate, WhatsApp, text and email have been valuable tools. WhatsApp has been my favorite for sharing pdf presentations, audio explanations and making video calls to have a more personal connection. Praying together, explaining challenging situations and inquiring of the Lord can be done online.

In the past, our organization had a scholarship program, built a clinic, and started four homes for orphans. Through it all, we came to realize that mentoring youth was the most important work.

We saw more positive change from the university students and how they changed the lives of others spiritually, emotionally and physically.

Each time another student gets a job they hoped for, I feel like jumping for joy. And the credit and glory go to God.

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Margaret Noblin was a missionary to Uganda from 2003-2022 and continues to disciple UCU students virtually from the United States. Along with her husband, Mark, they led The Rock Outreach non-profit that funded the establishment of Kingdom View Ministry House and Pavilion donated to UCU in late 2022. More about the Texas-based Outreach can be accessed at www.rockoutreach.org.

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UCU’s Kitayimbwa appointed chairperson of a not-for-profit organization

June 26, 2023News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

The Rev. Prof John Kitayimbwa is the second UCU administrator to head the RENU board

By Kefa Senoga
The Rev. Assoc. Prof. John Kitayimbwa, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs at Uganda Christian University (UCU), has been appointed the chairperson of a Ugandan not-for-profit organization that facilitates research and education networking. The appointment of Kitayimbwa to the apex position of the board of the Research and Education Network for Uganda (RENU) happened during a recent retreat for the board of directors of the organization.

At the same retreat, Prof. Janice Desire Busingye, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration at Kampala International University, was appointed to the position of Deputy Chairperson of the RENU board.

The member-based organization founded in 2006 was established to end the extreme isolation of Uganda’s researchers and higher education practitioners from their national, regional and global peers, through the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.

The organization, which now has over 500 campuses connected to its network, is Uganda’s National Research and Education Network, and supports the needs of the research and education communities. Among the member organizations of RENU are schools, tertiary institutions, universities and research organizations.

Kitayimbwa said connectivity through RENU has afforded the agency access to vast information and resources, facilitated communication and collaboration and enabled the use of online education and research tools. He also mentioned the opportunity to share education and research infrastructure across Ugandan institutions, and facilitating the easier dissemination of education materials and research findings as some of the other benefits the member organizations have realized.

Kitayimbwa, a computational biologist, replaces Ugandan technologist Eng. Dr. Dorothy Okello, who held the position from 2020 to 2023. During the same period, Kitayimbwa was Okello’s deputy on the RENU board. Okello is the Dean of Makerere University’s School of Engineering.

Kitayimbwa, a highly qualified professional in education and research, now becomes the second administrator from UCU to hold the position at RENU. Former Vice Chancellor, the Rev. Prof. Stephen Noll, was RENU chairperson from 2008 to 2011. Other past RENU board chairpersons are Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba (2011-2014) and Prof. Michel Lejeune (2014-2020).

According to Kitayimbwa, who is a priest in the Anglican church in Uganda, when Vice Chancellors of universities and Chief Executive Officers of research institutions formed RENU in 2006, the initial but very important challenge that they sought to address was the provision of reliable and affordable connectivity to research and education institutions in Uganda.

And it seems some progress has been made. “In addition to the reliable connectivity, RENU has also ensured that the bandwidth unit price drops and becomes more affordable. From a bandwidth unit cost of approximately $630 ($/Mbps/Month) in 2013, RENU has ensured a steady drop in pricing as more members have joined the network,” Kitayimbwa wrote in his message to member organizations following his appointment.

He explained further: “Today, the bandwidth unit cost is only 6% of what it was in 2013. This means that if an institution spends exactly the same amount of money that they were spending in 2013 on connectivity and bandwidth, it is able to enjoy a service that is 16 times better than what it was in 2013 for the same cost.”

Kitayimbwa holds a PhD in Computational Biology, an MPhil in Computational Biology, a Master’s in Mathematical Sciences and a BSc in Science with Education. For the more than 17 years that Kitayimbwa has worked as a university lecturer and administrator, he says he has developed passion for the development of science, technology and innovation.

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Janitor plays role in UCU alum’s academic success

June 19, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Social Sciences, USPPatty Huston-Holm

The University of Pretoria has offered Jonathan Tumwebaze a placement for post-doctoral research

By Pauline Luba
Janitorial work increased the chances of a university getting at least one student. That’s part of the story of Dr. Jonathan Tumwebaze, who shared the role of a building custodian in his enrollment at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

Tumwebaze’s father, Kaganda Bbala, was looking for a university where his son could pursue undergraduate studies, and UCU was among those on the list. During the university tour with his father in 2011, Tumwebaze said that as his dad walked into the bathrooms in the Mukono campus Nsibambi Hall, he remarked that if custodians could do their job so diligently without close supervision, then there was something special about UCU.

The university journey that Tumwebaze started 12 years ago has seen him recently earning a PhD in a record two-and-a-half years. The course usually takes up to five years. The 31-year-old received his doctorate in public policy from the University of Pretoria in South Africa on March 21, 2023.

Titled “A Framework for Child Participation in Child-focused Policy Design in Uganda,” Tumwebaze’s research focused on inclusion of children’s voices in child-focused, policy decision-making processes. He describes a developing paradigm of thought in Uganda’s child-focused research literature.

Tumwebaze with Patty Huston-Holm, Uganda Partners communications director, when they worked together to conduct post-graduate writing and research clinics.

Tumwebaze has a unique passion for cross-disciplinary learning and knowledge systems, and has a breadth of experience working with students. Serving as the Interim Global Health Coordinator for Uganda Studies Program and Christian University Partnerships Manager, Tumwebaze’s doctorate meant he was the first student to graduate under the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research. The partnership is a collaborative venture in public policy and is currently offered in three universities in Africa – the University of Pretoria, University of Nairobi in Kenya and the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. In 2015, Tumwebaze worked as an intern for a new UCU postgraduate thesis-assistance program.

Tumwebaze and four others enrolled for the program as full-time PhD resident fellows in February 2020 at the University of Pretoria. Even though Covid-19 affected many education systems, Tumwebaze’s PhD journey was never interrupted, which is something he attributed to the robust nature of the University of Pretoria’s academic programs. He benefited from the financial support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the University of Pretoria Doctoral Research Scholarship. The university has offered Tumwebaze a placement for post-doctoral research, an academic mentorship journey he will be embarking on soon.

Initially, he did not want to pursue a B.A. in Development Studies at UCU. He also had been accepted for the Bachelor of Laws degree, which is where his heart was. However, upon the advice of his father that the tuition fee for the law course was too expensive, Tumwebaze switched to Development Studies.

“The first month at university was hard,” Tumwebaze recalled. “I saw myself as a lawyer and kept wondering what I was doing in another class.”

Agatha Ninsiima, a friend and an honors student, noticed Tumwebaze’s lack of ambition and encouraged him to avoid wasting three undergraduate years – to put zeal and energy into his development study. And Tumwebaze did just that.

Soon, his attitude shifted to positive and, since then, he topped his class until he completed the course. He was not just a member, but also the chairperson of the UCU Honors College, which is an interdisciplinary Christian leadership and mentorship program that empowers highly motivated and talented students to think critically and creatively about how their Christian faith influences their academic and professional goals.

Tumwebaze is the third born of Bbala and Adyeeri Kaganda. He attended St. Jude Primary School Kyegobe in Fort Portal, western Uganda and Mengo Senior Secondary in central Uganda for his secondary school education. While at Mengo, Tumwebaze got an opportunity to spend some time in Norway as part of an exchange student program.

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UCU alum continues academic marks at Japan university

June 14, 2023Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

UCU alum Joyce Nakayenga earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering on March 23, 2023, at Japan’s Hiroshima University, where she has been retained as a postdoctoral researcher.

By Pauline Luba
“A name is so important. A surname connects you to your past, to your family.” This quote is attributed to Canadian author Kelley Armstrong.

The life of Joyce Nakayenga, a new recipient of a PhD in engineering, is aligned with the writer’s assertion. Named after her paternal grandmother, Nakayenga grew up knowing that she had to uphold that matriarch’s legacy of hard work and overcoming challenges. Nakayenga’s grandmother struggled to educate her children despite having so little.

When Nakayenga was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering – Civil and Environmental Engineering from Hiroshima University in Japan on March 23, 2023, and as other members of her family as well as friends looked on, her grandmother’s spirit was ever present. With the degree, the 31-year-old also won three prestigious university awards. Her research earned her the Best Presentation Researcher, Academic Encouragement Award and the 2022 Hiroshima Excellent Student Award.

For many who know Nakayenga’s academic ability, the latest attainment likely isn’t surprising. In 2015, she was not only a recipient of a First-Class degree in Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Uganda Christian University (UCU), but also had the best marks in her class. For that feat, she earned an academic excellence award at UCU. Consequently, UCU’s Department of Engineering and Environment hired Nakayenga as a tutorial assistant for one year.

“I have always wanted to be an engineer,” Nakayenga told Uganda Partners. “I wanted a profession that showed where I could visibly see the fruits of my work thereafter.”

UCU’s location within her home district – Mukono – and its deep roots in Christianity were a good fit for Nakayenga’s higher education choice.

Nakayenga notes that the UCU community, including its lecturers, were instrumental in ensuring concentration in books, overall performance and continued learning. For instance, a former lecturer at UCU brought her attention to the existence of the Mext scholarship to study at Hiroshima. Nakayenga enrolled for a master’s at the university in 2017 and the scholarship was extended to doctorate studies because she had passed the first post-graduate hurdle with flying colors.

Nakayenga describes herself as someone “keen on promoting sustainable societal development, especially for developing countries, through innovative engineering solutions.” Her PhD research, under the topic “The re-use of stone quarry waste (i.e granite and limestone powder) to improve the properties of weak clay soils,” gives her the competence to be able to develop “sturdy infrastructure that will stand the test of time and natural disasters.” The research focused on how to make naturally weak clay soil strong, by using stone powder.

Nakayenga is the fifth born of six children of Dr. Wilson Mubiru and Specioza Nabatanzi Mubiru. Nakayenga’s family had to use resources sparingly, having at one time been an extended family of up to 18 members living under one roof. Her parents, now retired, were public servants. Wilson was the officer in charge of health in central Uganda’s Mubende district while Specioza served as an education officer in the same district.

Nakayenga attended Mubende Parents School for her primary education and Nabisunsa Girls School for her secondary education before joining UCU. Nakayenga balanced academics and student leadership roles at every school she attended. At Mubende Parents School, she was the assistant head prefect. At UCU she represented her faculty in the UCU students’ parliament. At Hiroshima University, from 2017 to 2018, Nakayenga was the university’s Study Abroad Ambassador, where she sensitized students on the benefits of studying in the Hiroshima Prefecture (municipality).

For now, she will remain in Hiroshima, where the university has employed her as a postdoctoral researcher in the geotechnical laboratory of Hiroshima University.

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UCU Save the Mothers conference calls for prioritizing of safe motherhood

June 7, 2023Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

Dr. Jessica Nsungwa (left), the health ministry’s commissioner maternal and child health, with Dr. Miriam Mutabazi, dean of the UCU Faculty of Public Health, Nursing & Midwifery, during the Save the Mothers annual conference at UCU on May 5, 2023.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
While strides have been made in reduction of infant mortality, prevalence of obstetric fistulas due to inadequate health care continues to be problematic, especially for developing countries and with the diminished number of health care workers since the Covid-19 pandemic. Obstetric fistula, in which there is a hole between the birth canal and bladder or rectum, is an ongoing problem in Uganda because of gaps in timely, high-quality medical care.

Prioritizing treatment for safe motherhood is critical, according to Dr. Jean Chamberlain, a Canadian obstetrician/gynecologist, who made the plea during the annual conference hosted by Save The Mothers (STM) Organisation, which Chamberlain co-founded. Under the theme, “Re-imagining Safe Motherhood Post-Pandemic,” she spoke at Uganda Christian University (UCU) on May 5.

Dr. Jean Chamberlain, founder of STM, speaks at the annual conference where she called for hiring of more health workers to support safe motherhood after suffering exits due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chamberlain argued that among all the world’s issues, safe motherhood should come to the top, especially in light of workforce loss and fatigue as a result of the pandemic.

“In the clinic where I work in Canada, we had around nine nurses at the beginning of the pandemic, but by the end of the pandemic, there was literally no nurse because all of the nurses left during the pandemic,” she said. “The challenge we are facing now is how to build the workforce again, looking for people who are really dedicated, who understand what they are doing and are qualified.”

Chamberlain emphasized the dire need to prioritize safe motherhood aligned with the STM vision: No mother or child should die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

In support of the vision, STM started a Master of Public Health Leadership (MPHL) at UCU in 2005 with the aim of training multi-disciplinary professionals and improving maternal and child health in developing countries. Over 600 East African leaders have graduated to work towards overcoming preventable maternal and child death.

Chamberlain urged safe motherhood professionals to be pillar-people by being present, committed, reliable, steady and go the distance for the mothers so that when people look at them, they see people they can lean on.

“Two million people worldwide suffer from fistula, but no one hears about them because the power actors have been silent to date,” she said. “This is why as Save the Mothers, we need to be a voice for these mothers.”

Dr. Jessica Nsungwa Sabiiti, the commissioner for maternal and child health at the ministry of health, reported that most deaths registered are due to patient delays at healthcare facilities.

“Most mothers bleed a lot which is as a result of delaying to be attended to at these facilities,” Nsungwa said. “We have been pushing for four visits for antenatal care, but we want eight visits to help identify those with risks.”

According to Nsungwa, a lot of what they do depends on the number of “champions” such as those trained through STM who can translate the information and be in the society to ensure that there is cohesion. Shesaid maternal mortality in the country has reduced from 18 to between 10 and 14 mothers a day since 2010.

Robie Kakonge, the Ambassador of Uganda to the USA and an alumnus of MPHL, appreciated her fellow alumni for the steady effort displayed towards positive change in safe motherhood.

“At the embassy each week I get not less than two requests related to public health” with many wanting to know how they can help, Kakonge said.

The executive director of Save the Mothers East Africa, Edward Mukooza, said their “Mother Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative” is now effective in 13 health facilities in Uganda. Under the initiative, STM graduates work with hospital administrators and staff in improving maternal and newborn services.

“We also have high dependence units currently in five hospitals to help manage complications to reduce maternity morbidity and mortality. Through such programs, we provide emergency medical funds to vulnerable mothers,” he said.

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UCU alum wins scholarship for Certified Public Accountants course

May 26, 2023News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

Carroline Kihumuro is one of the successful candidates for the ICPAU Student Scholarship program

By Kefa Senoga
Mid last year, Carroline Nyange Kihumuro stumbled on an advertisement by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), calling for applications from graduates who wished to pursue a course in professional accountancy as scholars.

“When I applied for the scholarship in June last year, I was required to write an essay, stating why I needed the scholarship; I was also required to provide my grades,” says Kihumuro, an alumna of Uganda Christian University (UCU) and one of the three female students of the 10 who got a scholarship for the two-and-a-half-year Certified Public Accountants Course.

Unveiling the winners of the ICPAU student scholarship program. Standing are the scholarship recipients while seated are members of the senior management at ICPAU.

The beneficiaries of the scholarship are expected to have scored a First-Class Degree or Second-Class Upper Division. Every year, ICPAU admits students to its programs. In every cohort, the institute sponsors 10 students from either public or privately-owned universities. Kihumuro is in the fourth cohort of the Student Scholarship Program.

According to ICPAU, becoming a Chartered Professional Accountant offers opportunities, such as international recognition and affiliation with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), access to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs, opportunities to represent the accountancy profession on the ICPAU Council, access to accountancy information and updates through ICPAU portals and platforms, as well as enhanced credibility with the CPA professional designation, among others.

Kihumuro says enrolling for the course is a big milestone towards achieving her dream career. She has long had a strong passion for working in finance-related fields. And it is this desire that influenced her to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration. “When I joined UCU, I didn’t have second thoughts on pursuing business studies,” states Kihumuro, who will write her first CPA exams in August.

ICPAU is mandated with regulating and maintaining the standard of accountancy in Uganda, as well as prescribing and regulating the conduct of accountants and practicing accountants in Uganda.

Kihumuro joined UCU in 2018 and graduated on October 2, 2021, with a First-Class degree. However, had it not been for the outreach by the UCU career and guidance department to the western-Uganda school of Kyebambe Girls School, where Kihumuro studied A’level, perhaps she would have ended up at another institution of higher learning.

“I got the chance to meet Madam Connie Musisi, the then careers officer at UCU who encouraged me to join the university and pursue my dream career in business and finance,” Kihumuro says, noting that she wanted a university that would also groom her spiritually.

She says the schools she attended gave her the opportunity to hone her leadership skills, something she believes gave her lots of exposure.

While at UCU, Kihumuro served as a student leader in different capacities. She was the guild representative for the School of Business and a residential assistant in the Sabiti Girls Hall of residence. She was also a student leader at the UCU Honors College, which is designed for exceptionally motivated and high-achieving students. At Kyebambe Girls School, she was the deputy head prefect in her O’level and the head prefect during her A’level.

Kihumuro attributes the successes she has attained over the years to God and her single mother, Martha Tusiime, who she says was quite supportive and paid all her tuition fees.

Besides her mother, her fiancé, Patrick Shikobo, has played key roles in her life. “When I thought of changing my career due to some disappointments that emerged, Patrick encouraged me to push on.”

Kihumuro is currently employed as a banking officer with Bank of Africa, a commercial bank in Uganda, where she has been for over a year.

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Digital platform that demystifies law earns award for alum

May 24, 2023News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

By Kefa Senoga
For an example of a life of twists and turns, look no farther than that of Isaac Christopher Lubogo. Lubogo is a lawyer whose father wanted him to pursue a science career. He is an academic, but initially chose to be a pastor.

During his early days, Lubogo lost his mother, but instead of pulling him down, her demise catapulted his desire to succeed in life. He says he used the depression that the death of Margaret Mugeni caused to create the energy to carry on with life. His father, Patrick Kunya, a minister in the Uganda government in the early 1980s, also had passed on.

“I do not remember lacking anything in life when my mother was alive,” Lubogo says, casting doubt on if he could have achieved whatever he has done now because he “lacked any ambition” before his mother died.

Because Lubogo knew that with the demise of Mugeni, he was all alone against the world, he had to make use of the resurgence in his energy and spirits. And that is partly responsible for an achievement that the law lecturer registered. He recently won the Legal Tech Innovation Award, Africa, for a digital platform that he uses to demystify the law. Lubogo, an alum and former lecturer of Uganda Christian University (UCU), said the judges at the annual awards were impressed with the Suigeneris Law App that he created because they believed that “it changed people’s mindset.”

Lubogo with the writer, Kefa, and some of his over 35 books

Through the application, Lubogo teaches the knowledge of the law to people from certificate to doctorate level through the academic resources and materials. On the platform and without charge, one is able to access previous judgments, a legal dictionary, inspirational material, audios and books. Lubogo also has written more than 35 law books, many of which he shares on the platform through an e-book.

“I got confirmation from one university which is using one of my books in their syllabus,” Lubogo said. “Another book, Obuntu Bulamu and the Law, is also taught in some law schools in the country under jurisprudence.”

Had Lubogo not made a turning point at Busoga College Mwiri, a school in eastern Uganda, where he studied A’level, possibly the world would have missed his resourcefulness in as far as sharing law literature is concerned. He first studied science subjects – Physics, Chemistry and Biology – with the hope of pursuing a course in human medicine at university. However, the grades he got could not grant him the opportunity to study the course on government sponsorship at university. He thus chose to repeat A’level at Kira College Butiki in eastern Uganda, where he abandoned science subjects, opting for arts.

Despite passing his final examinations in A’level, Lubogo had second thoughts about joining the university.

“I studied a course in theology at Alpha-Omega Seminary in Jinja, but did not complete it,” Lubogo says, adding: “My desire to do theology was because of my strong Christian foundation.” He even started a church, Wairaka Miracle Centre, in Jinja. The church exists to date.

After four years of ministry, Lubogo joined UCU to pursue a Bachelor of Laws. By then, he already had a daughter, Zion, who is now at Makerere University, pursuing a Bachelor of Law degree.

Since he did not have money for tuition, Lubogo sold the only piece of land that his mother gave him to get money for the university fees. In his second year, he was lucky to get a scholarship that catered for his tuition needs until he completed his four-year course. After university, Lubogo pursued a Diploma in Legal Practice at Uganda’s Law Development Center, Masters in Law and is now pursuing a doctorate in law and a doctorate in psychology.

The legal scholar says after acquiring his Master of Laws degree at Makerere, he settled for a career in academia. He is currently teaching law at the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) and Nkumba University. He was previously the Principal of UCU’s Institute of Petroleum Studies.

Lubogo notes that as an academic, he has interacted with students who have helped him come up with ideas. He says as a lecturer at UCU, one of his students, Muchwa Christopher, introduced to him the idea of creating an application from where legal literature can be shared. It is this app that won Lubogo international acclaim through the Legal Tech Innovation Award, Africa.

Lubogo recently wrote the Future Lawyer, which is meant to give upcoming lawyers information on how to deal with artificial intelligence. He is currently writing another book about oral examinations, aptitude tests and sitting interviews for law students at undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels.

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