Makerere University (; Mak, also MUK) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of nine colleges and one school, offering programmes for about 36,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. These colleges include College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Engineering Art & Design (CEDAT), College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (CAES), College Of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), College of Humanities & Social Sciences (CHUSS), College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Bio-security (COVAB), College of Education and External Studies (CEES) and Makerere University Business School (MUBS). In addition, Makerere has another campus in Jinja City, Eastern Uganda.
Makerere University is the alma mater of many post-independence African leaders, including Ugandan president Milton Obote and Tanzanian presidents Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa. The former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, and former Kenyan president the late Mwai Kibaki are also Makerere alumni.
In the years immediately after Uganda's independence, Makerere University was a focal point for the literary activity that was central to African nationalist culture. Many prominent writers, including Nuruddin Farah, Ali Mazrui, David Rubadiri, Okello Oculi, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, John Ruganda, Paul Theroux, Nobel Prize laureate V. S. Naipaul, and Peter Nazareth, were at Makerere University at one point in their writing and academic careers.
Because of student unrest and faculty disenchantment, the university was closed three times between 2006 and 2016. After the third closing, it was reopened in January 2017. The main administrative block was gutted by fire in September 2020 and reconstructed.
Contents
History
Founding of the technical school
The trade school that became Makerere University began operating in 1921 with the first classes in carpentry, building construction and mechanics. In 1922, it was founded as the "Uganda Technical College" with additional courses in the arts, education, agriculture and medicine. That same year it was again renamed as Makerere College. In 1928, the vocational classes were separated from the college and renamed Kampala Technical School. In 1937 the college began offering post-secondary education certificate courses. These courses were as yet awarding diplomas, not full degrees.
University
The Asquith Commission - established by the British Government in 1943 and reporting in 1945 - considered the future of tertiary level education throughout the British Empire, and made recommendations for the development of new or upgraded institutions in a number of British colonial territories. Among these was Makerere. The Commission noted that there had been moves to upgrade the College starting in 1937, but that these had been delayed by the World War, and by 1943 the student roll was still modest, with 114 resident and 24 in associated schools.The Commission's final report strongly supported the raising of Makerere to full university level, while cautioning that granting the Empire's various new colleges full degree-giving powers before they were ready would be counter-productive, as the qualifications would not be respected elsewhere.
In 1943, the British protectorate government had proposed the university, which led to a controversial struggle. It was described as "a plot to steal African soil for European settlement," by the Bataka Party. In response to this campaign, there was rioting in the capital of Kampala.
In 1949, Makerere College was granted university status and its name became Makerere College, University of East Africa. In the same year, the Bataka Party had been banned by the British Protectorate government, because of acts of riot and arson committed after a Bataka protest gathering.
Wildlife field studies
Makere University has been cited as playing a "crucial" role in the development of primatology, particularly field studies. Researchers such as Niels Bolwing, Alexander John Haddow, Vernon Reynolds, Alison Jolly, and Thelma Rowell studied and conducted research through the university. Makerere helped bridge medical tropical research on human diseases such as Yellow Fever to field studies.
Unrest in the 2000s
The university was closed three times between 2006 and 2016.
Beginning on 1 August 2016, the non-teaching staff went on strike demanding back pay. The strike lasted three weeks and the government agreed to pay them by the end of October; however, the government failed to make the payment. This was but one more broken promise in a cycle of failed promises, strikes and more promises. That strike was followed by a strike of the lecturers over unpaid incentive pay, and that strike was joined by students in solidarity. This led to President Yoweri Museveni closing the university "indefinitely". Additional protests, including from parents whose children were left hanging in mid-semester, led to Museveni appointing a special commission to try to rectify the situation but with no promises of reopening. The commission's report was due in late February 2017. The University was actually closed for two months.
On 20 September 2020, the main building of Makerere University (the Ivory Tower) was severely damaged by fire, allegedly following a probe by the Ugandan parliament into financial mismanagement by university authorities.
100-year anniversary
In 2022, the university celebrated its centenary since its establishment as Makerere College in 1922. The institution was granted additional land for expansion into a university by Nsibirwa, a former prime minister of the Buganda Kingdom, in 1945. Despite facing numerous challenges in Uganda's political, social, and academic history, the institution has persevered for a century.
On October 7, 2022, a ceremony commemorating the centenary was held at Freedom Square, with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in attendance. A statue monument was unveiled at the entrance of the university's Freedom Square to mark this significant milestone in Uganda's educational sector.
Organization
The University Council is the supreme governing body of the university while the Senate is the chief academic organ of the university.
Subcommittees of the University Council
Appointments Board
Finance, Planning and Administration
Quality Assurance, Gender and ICT
Estates and Works
Staff Development, Welfare and Retirement Benefits
Students Affairs and Disciplinary
Honorary Awards
Audit
Notable former and current faculty administrators
Venansius Baryamureeba, computer scientist, former vice chancellor
Brian Semujju, Ugandan journalist, media theorist and senior lecturer in journalism and communication
William Bazeyo, former dean of Makerere University School of Public Health (2009–2017); deputy vice chancellor of Makerere University, responsible for finance and administration, since September 2017
Winnie Byanyima, aeronautical engineer, politician, activist
Hugh Dinwiddy, lecturer in literature, warden of Northcote Hall
George Kirya, microbiologist, diplomat, academic, former vice chancellor at Makerere and former chairman of Uganda Health Services Commission
Mahmood Mamdani, political scientist and historian
Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, former dean of students, Makerere University School of Medicine
Ali Mazrui, academic, historian and political scientist
Barnabas Nawangwe, architect, academic and current vice chancellor
Apolo Nsibambi, former prime minister of Uganda and former chancellor of Makerere University
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Bachelor of Arts in Economics, first president of the United Republic of Tanzania
Joe Oloka-Onyango, former dean of law and human rights expert
Other academics
Catherine Abbo, medical doctor and researcher
Paul D'Arbela, physician, cardiologist, academic; dean of the Mother Kevin Postgraduate Medical School, Nsambya
Rose Mbowa, theatre academic, playwright and actress; former head of Department of Music, Dance and Drama
Celestino Obua, physician, pharmacologist, academic; former vice chancellor of Mbarara University
Charles Olweny, physician, oncologist, medical researcher; former vice chancellor of Uganda Martyrs University; former chancellor of Mbarara University
Raphael Owor, medical doctor, former chancellor of Mbarara University, former professor of pathology at Makerere University School of Medicine
Hakim Sendagire, physician, biochemist and microbiologist; dean of Habib Medical School
Notable alumni
Political figures and government employees
Lucy Akello, Ugandan politician, elected member of parliament for the Amuru District Women's Constituency, in the 10th Parliament
Anita Annet Among, speaker of the 11th Parliament of Uganda (2021–2026); deputy speaker 2021–2022
Samuel Awich (1973), justice of the Supreme Court of Belize
Aisha Naluzze Batala, Ugandan lawyer and judge
Kizza Besigye, physician, retired colonel in the Uganda People's Defence Force; opposition politician; former leader of the Forum for Democratic Change party; presidential candidate in 2001, 2006, and 2011
Godfrey Binaisa, former president of Uganda
Gilbert Bukenya, former vice president of Uganda
Dora Byamukama, former member of parliament for Mwenge South, former member of the East African Legislative Assembly
Kanyama Chiume, Malawian who worked for the independence of Nyasaland (now Malawi)
Moses Ebuk, physician, neurophyiologist, former lecturer and tutor in the department of physiology at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences, diplomat; ambassador of Uganda to the Russian Federation
Daphrosa Gahakwa, Rwandan education minister
Aloisea Inyumba, Rwandan minister for gender and family promotion
Filemona F. Indire, former Kenyan ambassador, leading educator and member of parliament
Film, television and radio
Akite Agnes, Ugandan comedian and actress
Lanie Banks, Canadian-Ugandan rapper, songwriter and community activist
Hannington Bugingo, Ugandan comedian and actor
Anne Kansiime, Ugandan comedian and actress
Cleopatra Koheirwe, Ugandan actress, singer and media personality
Teacher Mpamire, aka Herbert Mendo Ssegujja, Ugandan comedian and actor
Morris Mugisha, actor, producer and director
Alex Muhangi, Ugandan comedian and actor
Housen Mushema, Ugandan actor and model
Edwin Musiime, television host
Leila Nakabira, actress and screenwriter
Rehema Nanfuka, Ugandan actress, director and producer
Crystal Newman, Ugandan media personality, MC and motivational speaker
Simon Kaggwa Njala, Ugandan journalist and media personality
Gladys Oyenbot, Ugandan actress and producer
Mowzey Radio, aka Moses Nakintije Ssekibogo, Ugandan singer
Sports people
Moses Muhangi, president of Uganda Boxing Federation
Henry Osinde, Ugandan born cricketer, currently Canadian fast bowler
Writers and journalists
Christopher Henry Muwanga Barlow
Jane Kaberuka, novelist
Daniel Kalinaki, journalist
Barbie Kyagulanyi, writer and activist
Micere Githae Mugo, Kenyan novelist, poet, activist
John Nagenda, writer, political commentator and adviser to the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni
Peter Nazareth, author, critic
Michael Nsimbi, "father of Ganda literature"
Okello Oculi, author, poet
Charles Onyango-Obbo, journalist and political commentator
Mark Ouma, athletics journalist and former philosophy lecturer at Makerere
David Rubadiri, poet, novelist, diplomat
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan novelist
Hilda Twongyeirwe, editor, poet, short story writer
Timothy Wangusa, author, poet, former minister of education
Elvania Namukwaya Zirimu, poet and dramatist
Scientists
Andrew Kambugu, physician, Sande-McKinnell executive director at the Uganda Infectious Disease Institute
Robert Kezaala, physician, senior health advisor at UNICEF
John William Kibukamusoke, medical academic and researcher, and one-time personal physician to Idi Amin
Matthew Lukwiya, physician in Gulu during the 2000 Ebola outbreak
Rose Nakasi, computer scientist
Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu, psychiatrist and epidemiologist
Christine Obbo, socio-cultural anthropologist
Joshua Sikhu Okonya, agronomist and entomologist.
Thereza Piloya, pediatrician and medical academic, specializing in pediatric endocrinology and HIV/AIDS
Jane Aceng, pediatrician during Covid-19
Annet Karabo, researcher at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Lynnette Tumwine Kyokunda, pathologist
Others
Iddah Asin, lawyer and Johnson & Johnson executive
Nkulanga Enock, children's rights activist
Busingye Kabumba, poet, lawyer and lecturer at law
Laeticia Kikonyogo, lawyer and judge
Betty Manyolo, artist
Patrick Mazimhaka, deputy chairperson of the African Union's African Commission
Yvonne Mpambara, lawyer and politician
Andrew Mwenda, managing director of the Independent newspaper in Uganda
Lilian Mary Nabulime, sculptor
Katherine Namuddu, educationist, academician, researcher, author and advisor on African higher education
Harry Nkumbula, leader during Zambia's struggle for independence
Aloikin Praise Opoloje, anti-corruption activist
Olara Otunnu, former United Nations under-secretary general and special representative for children and armed conflict
John Sentamu, Anglican archbishop of York, England, first black archbishop of the Church of England
Martin Ssempa, controversial Ugandan pastor and AIDS activist
Hannah Karema Tumukunde, miss Uganda 2023/24
Halls of residence
As of September 2015, the halls of residence at Makerere University included the following:
For men
Livingstone Hall
Lumumba Hall (defunct 2022)
Mitchell Hall
Nkrumah Hall
Nsibirwa Hall
University Hall
For women
Africa Hall
Mary Stuart Hall
Complex Hall
For students of medicine in their final years
Galloway House
Postgraduate Hall
Dag Hammarskjöld Hostel
Upcountry campuses
In January 2010, the university announced the opening of two new campuses, one in the city of Fort Portal, approximately 310 kilometres (190 mi), by road, west of Kampala, and another one in the city of Jinja, approximately 85 kilometres (53 mi), by road, east of Kampala. The following courses are offered at the upcountry campuses:
Eastern Campus, Jinja
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Bachelor of Information Technology
Bachelor of Development Studies
Bachelor of Tourism
Replacement of main building
In September 2020, a fire gutted the Main Building of Makerere University, destroying university records and the building structure. A subsequent investigation by an eleven-person team could not establish a definite cause of the fire, but pointed to an electric fault as a likely cause.
In August 2021, the Cabinet of Uganda resolved to break down what remained of the Main Building after the fire. A new building, which will be designed to look like the original structure, will be erected at the same location, at a budgeted cost of UGX:21 billion (approx. US$6 million).
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to Excel Construction Company Limited, a Ugandan company and a subsidiary of the Madhvani Group. The reconstruction process began in April 2022, starting with tearing down the structurally unsound original building, built in the 1930s and commissioned in 1941.