Category Archives: UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication

UCU graduate applies learning for Partners organization

December 17, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Jimmy Siyasa, pictured with his mom, was among the graduates at UCU’s 22nd graduation ceremony.

By Nickie Karitas
Recent Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate Jimmy Siyasa didn’t wait to have a degree in hand before applying what he learned in his journalism program. And it has paid off – in experience and money to support his next level of master’s degree studies.

On October 22, 2021, Jimmy Siyasa was among the more than 3,000 students who graduated at UCU’s 22nd graduation ceremony. He bagged a Second-Class Upper Division, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.38 out of 5.0. A First Class starts at 4.40.

In December 2021, he is enrolled in a UCU post-graduate degree path in Strategic Communication (MA). At the same time, he has been helping the UCU Partners NGO by producing videos and print stories for several months and is a writer in the UCU Office of Communications and Public Relations. He gets stipends for each.

Before all this, here’s his story.

Siyasa attended Mbuya Church of Uganda for primary education and St. Kizito SS Bugolobi for O’level. For his A’level, Siyasa attended Bishop Cypriano Kihangire Secondary School. All three schools are in Kampala.

UCU and Partners e-lab communications team member, Jimmy Siyasa, playing guitar in UCU’s Nykoyoyo Hall in 2017.

Jimmy Siyasa never dreamed of studying at UCU. In fact, he knew little about the institution as he thought about studies after high school. In Senior Six, while making choices for courses to study at a university, he opted for the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Bachelor of Arts in Education, in that order, at Makerere University.

In 2017, Makerere admitted him for his second choice, the Bachelor of Arts in Education, specializing in English and Literature in English. Siyasa’s father, Robert Waiga, insisted that his son live on campus for added security that an outside hostel wouldn’t provide. Siyasa was admitted to Mitchell Hall where, because of high demand for slots, students were asked to pay accommodation fees for the first semester in advance.

The lodging payment was the first of the many hurdles for the second born of the three children of Waiga and Celine Ayikoru. The family did not have the money to secure the slot. This setback caused Siyasa to ask himself whether he really should pursue a course in education, where he did not have much passion anyway.

One of the members of the church band that Siyasa was in suggested he consider applying at UCU. Siyasa did and was offered studies toward the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication.

“I heard of UCU from my friends at church,” the 24-year-old Siyasa said. “I also discovered that friends from my former school were already there. . . but I feared the expenses associated with private universities in Uganda.”

University fees in private institutions in Uganda tend to be higher than public institutions, largely because of no funding support from the government.

Now, Siyasa’s younger sister, Peace Asara, is the one trying to ensure that she graduates in the course her brother did not pursue at Makerere University. Asara, who wants to become a teacher of English and Literature in English at an institution of higher learning, is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Education degree at Kyambogo University in Uganda.

As Siyasa was getting ready for his second semester in first year at UCU, Waiga’s contract at his workplace ended, and it was not renewed. That meant one thing – Siyasa had no tuition to continue with his studies. His father advised him to take a “dead semester” as he tried to find more solid financial footing.

When Siyasa shared his challenges with some friends he had made at UCU, they were against the dead semester. They mobilized funds and paid his tuition. For the second-year first semester, Siyasa’s friend, Rick Kagoro, and his father, Ivan Lumala, met the tuition requirements. The two are based in Washington State, USA. Rick, whose family is acquainted with former UCU Vice-Chancellor, John Senyonyi, had come to Uganda for a visit. He resided at UCU for a while, and at some point visited Jimmy’s class as a Teaching Assistant for a foundational course unit- Elements of Math.

By the next semester, Waiga (Jimmy’s father) had found financial stability, having been recalled to his former workplace, the U.S Embassy in Iraq.

Fast forward to December 2021.

“Siyasa is a brilliant, and dependable young man,” Frank Obonyo, UCU’s communications manager, said. “He is a valuable addition to our great team as we can already see his contribution.’’

The platform that offered Siyasa the opportunity to cut his professional teeth months ago is the USA-based UCU Partners.

This happened because his lecturer, John Semakula, now head of UCU’s journalism department, asked if he could write an article about dental challenges that students face at UCU. He says that story ushered him into writing for the non-profit’s Web site, an opportunity that helped him turn classroom knowledge into real-life practice.

Stephanie Gloria, who studied with Siyasa, says he has worked his way to the top.

“His hard work and integrity cannot go unnoticed,” Gloria says of Siyasa, adding: “His greatest happiness is not in having everything he wants in life, but in appreciating the little or whatever that is available.”

In the next five years, Siyasa hopes to have his master’s degree as well as a Ph.D. in a media-related field. At the same time, he is engaged in music. He has some original songs, including this one he has recorded here: (https://soundcloud.com/siyasa-jimmy/workingfromhome)

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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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UCU grad’s childhood mockery drives passion for human rights

December 15, 2021COVID-19, News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Johnson Mayamba, UCU alum and human rights activist

By Patty Huston-Holm
Be careful little eyes what you see…ears what you hear…tongue what you say…hands what you do…

This children’s song based on Mark 4:24-25, popular in America today and written in 1956, likely wasn’t known in Uganda when Johnson Mayamba was growing up. Nevertheless, the words ring true for the now 33-year-old who was abandoned by a father who had eight children by four women, was chased away by relatives unwilling to help a single mom feed a hungry boy and was mocked for his ignorance by teachers and classmates in school.

The most stinging memory was planted by a science teacher at a primary school in Abaita Ababiri village near Entebbe. She publicly shamed Mayamba. When he didn’t have the correct answer to a question, she mocked him with words and laughter and allowed students to do the same. After one exam he failed with a 50%, the teacher brought out a cane to issue 50 strikes to the 12-year-old’s buttocks and thighs – one for each missed point. The teacher stopped somewhere after 40 because the boy was flattened out and unable to take more.

“I wasn’t stupid,” Mayamba said. “I was simply in a new environment, having been transferred from a poorly facilitated village school to the one in the city.”

Unbeknownst at the time, Mayamba’s “little” eyes, ears, and body encounter that the teacher used that day to remind him he wasn’t good enough were molding his future as an advocate against mistreatment. Today, he understands it, researches it, writes about it and teaches it.

Mayamba volunteering at St. Mary’s Food Bank in Arizona

With a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Uganda Christian University (UCU) and experience as a journalist, he moved on to get a Master of Philosophy in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He’s affiliated with the Canadian-based Journalists for Human Rights organization with a role of helping 20 Ugandan members of the press to be voices for unrepresented people. These include print and broadcast human rights stories related to the economically poor, the mentally and physically handicapped and others.

While mentoring Ugandan journalists, Mayamba continues his own learning as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication,

Arizona State University, USA. He was among just over 200 who applied for the fellowship from Uganda and was the only Ugandan chosen for the 10-month journalism-focused program that ends in June 2022.

“I never thought I would come to the United States,” he said, speaking from his dormitory room in Phoenix, Ariz. “All the glory goes to God.”

Mayamba had a strong upbringing in the Catholic church, but says his relationship with God strengthened while he studied at UCU. In his studies, as well as engagement in the UCU chapel choir and as a guild and public debate leader, he realized that with God, obstacles and accomplishments have meaning.

“When you give 100% to God and trust Him, you can overcome,” he said.

Human rights advocacy and Christianity blend together well, especially guided by the Matthew 7:12 “do unto others” scripture, according to Mayamba. As a working journalist, he often prayed with and for those he interviewed for stories. For the journalists he mentors now, he suggests the same along with the urging to be sensitive when writing about people subjected to discrimination. He also cautions reporters about their own safety when covering topics that have opposition from government officials, high-profile opinion leaders and even media houses themselves.

“Have the facts,” he said. “That’s the best protection to mitigate risk.”

At 9,000 miles away from his home in Uganda and on the day of this interview in December 2021, Mayamba is in the state of Arizona, closely watching another timely human rights issue – the coronavirus pandemic. He recently published a paper entitled “Low Supply and Public Mistrust Hinder Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout in Africa.” He writes that in November 2021, only 4% of the world’s vaccinated people live in developing countries like Uganda.

“Developed countries that aren’t sharing enough of the vaccine are partially to blame,” Mayamba said. “Misinformation or lack of information breeding distrust by media in all countries bears the rest of the responsibility.”

Social media and traditional media are accountable for honest story telling, Mayamba says. His master’s research focused on media freedom, specifically in Uganda. Reporters Without Borders ranks Uganda among the lowest in the world when it comes to press freedom. While Uganda’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression with “on paper” protection of human rights, there are radio, TV and print limitations and restrictions related to reporting on certain topics and persons, according to Mayamba’s experience and research.

While the United States press is freer and human rights more respected than in Uganda, “it’s not as rosy here as I thought,” he said. “In this land of the free, there needs to be more and louder voices for homeless people, immigrants. . . and on racial injustice and gun violence.”

From his dorm room window in Phoenix, Mayamba daily observes nearly two dozen homeless people living on a square of land. During a visit to New York City and looking past the amazing buildings, he saw men and women living in parks and on the streets. In his brief time in Washington, D.C., he observed first-hand the massive police response and multiple phone video recordings of the arrest of a black man accused of stealing a small item from a store. He watches, hears and reads the news about arrests, trials and confusion about wrongful deaths on American soil and about Mexican families camped at the USA border in hopes of obtaining asylum from terrorism in their country.

“Telling these stories honestly and fairly is the role of a journalist,” he said. “Human rights stories are lacking everywhere.”

One such story he hopes to learn more about is that of a middle-aged white man living under the stars outside his residence in Arizona. In the midst of book studies, computer research, and service projects, such as preparing food in boxes for people like this man, he wants to “learn his story and tell him mine.” So far, the man appears educated but without a home because he lost his job.

Looking ahead to his life a decade from now, Mayamba doesn’t see himself reporting the news in a country such as his, where the pay is too low to support a family. But he does see himself continuing to train others to “amplify the voices” of those less represented and understood in his native Uganda. In three years, he hopes to embark on his PhD studies and be teaching journalism with an emphasis of human rights reporting.

For now, he’s navigating the American culture that includes daily converting temperatures in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius and distances in miles vs. kilometers. He appreciates a winter in the warmth of Arizona instead of living in a state with cold and snow. He soaks up knowledge in a school named after Walter Cronkite, a late veteran broadcaster that he never knew. He learns alongside 13 other journalists from 13 countries, including South Korea, Russia, Hungary, and Palestine.

He thinks about his mother who died of cervical cancer in September 2014, leaving behind her two sons – Johnson Mayamba and the younger Titus Bulega – as a legacy. He also thinks about that childhood teacher who meted that early punishment that was illegal then, but exists still and about the mocking classmates.

“At the end of the day, I moved ahead of them,” he said. “And I learned to stand up for myself and for others.”

(The author of this article, Patty Huston-Holm, who is the Uganda Partners communications director, first met Johnson Mayamba when he was an intern at the UCU Standard newspaper in 2013. Among stories they worked on together at that time were the suicide of a student and conditions at a women’s prison in Jinja, Uganda.)

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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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

UCU Partners celebrates graduating journalists

December 8, 2021UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

UCU journalism students and recent graduates, joined by Partners Executive Director Mark Bartels (fifth-right), cut cake to celebrate the October graduation of some writers for the NGO’s e-lab that was launched in January 2021.

By Ivan Tsebeni
A newsroom at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono campus has been hosting some of the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communications students as they put into practice their classroom knowledge.

That newsroom was a convergence point for recent graduates in October 2020 to celebrate the completion of their Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication. The students graduated on October 22. To crown the get-together, the students cut cake that was offered by Mark Bartels, the Executive Director of the UCU Partners, an organization that raises public awareness about UCU in the United States.

In a meeting chaired by John Semakula, the UCU Partners e-lab Communications Coordinator head of the UCU journalism and media studies department, expressed gratitude to the UCU Partners for offering them a platform to hone their skills in journalism.

“I never imagined becoming a writer,” Eria Lule, one of the graduating writers, said. “I picked the inspiration from Mr. Semakula who always kept urging me to try it out.”

“I have acquired a lot of knowledge from the trainings I have undergone in the e-lab program. I will live to remember the project,” he added.

The e-lab project, rolled out in January 2021, was designed to offer an opportunity for UCU journalism students to get real-world experience. Sixteen students under the programme were part of the more than 3,000 who graduated at UCU on October 22.

Patty Huston-Holm, Partners communications director, designed the UCU/Uganda Partners e-lab model that is aligned with the university’s mission to prepare students for both continued learning and the world of work.

For the one year that the program has been running, emphasis has been put on writing and still photography, as well as video and audio products.

Nicolette Nampijja, one of the students who has been producing podcasts, said the training had greatly sharpened her skills in creating podcasts.

“I had always wanted to produce podcasts, but I didn’t know how to go about it,” she said. “This is an opportunity for me to start out as a podcaster.”

Posing at the Partners e-lab, end-of-year celebration with students and recent graduates are Mark Bartels (fifth-left); Partners e-lab coordinator, John Semakula (seventh-left); UCU communications manager, Frank Obonyo (on Semakula’s left); and podcast mentor and UCU academic, Geoffrey Ssenoga (fourth from right, front row).

As of late November, UCU student-generated podcast episodes had aired on the topics of mainstream media, racial discrimination, fake pastors, sickle cell anemia, the life of Simon Peter and hate speech.

Jimmy Siyasa, one of the students and recent graduates, urged his colleagues to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge available under the e-lab project to hone writing skills. Siyasa, who got himself a job at the university’s communications department ahead of his graduation, noted that without the skills he learned from the e-lab, he would not have been considered for the job.

Siyasa’s colleagues in the e-lab program – Nickie Karitas and Dalton Mujuni – have been hired by New Vision, Uganda’s leading daily newspaper, for a further mentorship program as they hone their journalism skills.

Bartels congratulated the students upon reaching their convocation, saying it positions them for great job opportunities.

“It feels good to hear that you are graduating, but it feels much better to hear that you have learned and we have contributed to the same,” he said.

“As you prepare to join your career world, ours is to pray that God will open doors for you,” Bartels added. “We look forward to continuing with this project and we will feel happy to see it grow.”

Semakula said that the idea to organize a cake-cutting party for the graduands came from Bartels, based in Pennsylvania, and Huston-Holm, who resides in the state of Ohio USA.

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UCU first: Students conduct podcast interviews

October 20, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

A photo collage of the seven students of journalism at UCU FJMC and the two Ugandan mentors (bottom right) - Geoffrey Ssenoga, podcast team audio/visual consultant, and John Semakula, the UCU Partners communications coordinator. — A photo collage of the seven students of journalism at UCU FJMC and the two Ugandan mentors (bottom right) – Geoffrey Ssenoga, podcast team audio/visual consultant, and John Semakula, the UCU Partners communications coordinator.

By Jimmy Siyasa, Enock Wanderema and Andrew Bugembe
A group of seven students at Uganda Christian University (UCU) has embarked on a podcasting mentoring project. The Hope Talks hands-on experience is a collaborative with David’s United Church of Christ in Ohio, and under the umbrella of the Uganda Partners NGO in Pennsylvania.

Two UCU podcast team members, top, and an African American woman, Noelle Anderson, in a podcast focused on Black Lives Matter.

Within the project, students enrolled in the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC) apply classroom learning to script podcast material, conduct interviews and edit audio. Twice a month, their work is uploaded on the David’s United Church of Christ Web site and is made accessible on various podcast sites. As of mid-October, UCU student-generated episodes have aired on the topics of mainstream media, racial discrimination, fake pastors and hate speech. Future topics, to date, include sickle cell anemia and the depiction of the life of Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples.

The plan is for students to generate up to 10 podcasts in the mentorship before launching an independent podcast at UCU in early 2022. The podcast initiative is part of the UCU/Uganda Partners e-lab model initiated in January 2021 and is aligned with the university’s mission to prepare students for both continued learning and the world of work.

“The quality of work coming from the e-Lab, including from the podcast team is really good,” Mark Bartels, the Executive Director at Uganda Partners, remarked when he visited Uganda recently.

The number of people listening to podcasts globally has exploded from the time of inception in 2004. At least two million known shows and 48 million episodes had been published by April 2021, according to a research study conducted by Podcast Insight. The source reports that half of all USA homes have podcast listeners, and that “75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting.”

The UCU team is supervised by Geoffrey Ssenoga, a seasoned broadcast journalist in Uganda who is also a lecturer in the JMC faculty, and Patty Huston-Holm, Communications Director for Uganda Partners.

“I’ve been impressed by the student professionalism and honored to work alongside these aspiring journalists,” Huston-Holm said. “In today’s world of journalism and communications, it’s important to have skills in print, photography, audio and video. We are reinforcing all four through the e-lab at UCU.”

The podcast team students speak highly of the mentorship program, saying its perks are plenty. With the knowledge they have so far gained, the students already feel it is giving them an edge over their classmates who are not involved. The students believe the podcasting work presents to them an opportunity to spot challenges in their communities and use solutions journalism to address them by delving in in-depth topical discussions with experts on the issues. Plus, they are remunerated for the work.

Nicolette Nampijja, one of the members of the podcasting team, says the work is the start of the achievement of something she knew she longed for, but did not know how to start.

“I had always wanted to produce podcasts on my own, but I didn’t know how to go about it,” she said. “This is an opportunity for me to start out as a podcaster.”

One of the podcasts titled Hate Speech delves into how social media has awakened all manner of segregation and spawned hate speech globally. Dr. Sara Namusoga of Makerere University’s Department of Journalism and Communication provides her perspective about balancing self-expression with human respective and how hate speech might be apocalyptic.

“I was especially impressed with the segment that engaged two UCU students with two African Americans discussing racial discrimination,” Huston-Holm said. “We had listeners from 10 countries on that one. A special treat was an impromptu rendition of an Aretha Franklin song (Think) at the end.”

This is the first time a group of journalism students at UCU is being deliberately trained in broadcast journalism within a hands-on podcast context. John Semakula, head of UCU’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies, is the e-lab coordinator with oversight for the podcast.

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UCU hosts East African communications conference with pandemic perspective

October 11, 2021COVID-19, News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

FROM THE PAST: Some delegates of the 6th EACA Conference, organized by both Uganda Christian and Makerere universities in 2016, included Professor Monica Chibita (second from left), Dean of the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication; and Professor Aaron Mushengyezi (far right), UCU Vice Chancellor, then a dean at Makerere. Courtesy Photo

By Jimmy Siyasa and John Semakula
How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted East Africa’s media industry and training institutions? The pandemic and its necessary and mandated safety protocols have yielded constant dialogue to discuss solutions for a new-normal of problems that have daunted the media and communication landscape, in Africa and all the world, since March 2020. Information has been shared and strategies applied by scholars, researchers and policy makers.

Enriching the discussion and response, the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication (FJMC) will host the 10th Annual East African Communication Association (EACA) Conference, October 14-16, 2021. The theme of the virtual conference is “Re-imagining Media and Communication in a Pandemic Context.”

The 2021 event seeks to “explore how media and communication actors can re-imagine and redefine the future of journalism and communication through critical conversation on media and communication industry in a context variously impacted by the Covid-19.” Media and communication experts, researchers, academics, policy makers, regulators and media practitioners from East Africa and beyond will speak.

The keynote presenters and their topics are:

Professor Guy Berger George, Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO, addressing “Freedom of Information in Light of Covid-19 Media Dynamics;”
Professor George Morara Nyabuga, scholar from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, addressing “Law and Political Landscape of the Media;” and
Joel Kibazo, formerly Director of Communication and External Relations at African Development Bank, discussing insights and foresights on the future of the media and communication.

According to Dr. Emily Maractho, the Director of UCU Africa Policy Center, who also is Convener of the Conference, as many as 40 other presenters will share perspectives and replicable models before an audience of roughly 100 professionals working in the fields of journalism and communications and academics as well as students, among others. The conference will generate research papers and presentations for publication in such scholarly journals such as the African Journal of Communication.

PREVIOUSLY: At the 2016 EACA Conference, Professor Aaron Mushengyezi (right), UCU Vice Chancellor, then the Dean School of Languages, Literature and Communication at Makerere University, shakes hands with Frank Tumwebaze, former Cabinet minister of Information and Communications Technology. Courtesy Photo

Patty Huston-Holm and John Semakula, director and coordinator, respectively, for the Uganda Partners communications e-lab, are among the presenters. They will explain how this virtual university-NGO collaborative works with tips for how the model can be replicated by other non-profits and higher education institutions.

Reinforcing the value of student engagement, Dr. Maractho said, “Young people need to be involved in such Conferences so that they can learn how the experts they encounter during the conference succeeded in the field of Media and Communication.”

She says the organizing committee has discussed an exclusively subsidized registration fee for students, especially for those in journalism and communication, both at UCU and around Africa.

“Hosting the conference is a sign of trust from communication academics in the region,” said Professor Monica Chibita, the Dean of FJMC at the university. “It gives us great opportunities to consider collaborative and comparative research across the region.”

That the 10th annual conference is happening virtually for the first time and UCU is hosting it is an indicator of confidence in the University’s E-service delivery capacity and infrastructure that has strengthened during the pandemic.

“Opportunities to host such a huge conference elevates our branding, in that we are exposed to big, diverse networks of academics and institutions with whom we can create meaningful partnerships, because they now will know about UCU,” says Frank Obonyo, the Communication and Public Relations Manager at UCU.

More specifically, the conference also will attract regional publicity for UCU JMC not only as a giant at training world-class journalism and communication students, but also as an institution that continuously “re-engineers” themselves to meet the demands of the dynamic media industry.

EACA was established in 2011 to serve as a platform for media and communications experts, researchers, academics, policy makers, regulators and media practitioners in Eastern Africa and beyond. Since its inception in 2011, EACA conferences have happened in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

UCU FJMC hosted this conference in 2016 in collaboration with the Makerere University Department of Journalism and Communication. However, it is the first time UCU is hosting the EACA Conference as a Faculty as it previously was a Department of Mass Communication under the Education and the Arts Faculty.

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Semakula named new head of UCU’s journalism department

September 20, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

John Semakula (center) after receiving the file for his new office from Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) outgoing head of journalism, Dr. Emilly Maractho (left). At right is the Dean of the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita.

By Joseph Lagen
Veteran journalist John Semakula has been appointed the new head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

Semakula takes on the role within the university’s Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication from Dr. Emily Maractho who is now the Director of the university’s Africa Policy Centre (APC). The APC grooms policy researchers and political thinkers and provides a platform for learning and discussion of modern-day issues.

Semakula, an award-winning journalist, said of his new appointment: “This new position is a great opportunity for me to use the skills and experience I have built over the last 13 years in journalism practice to serve my alma mater.”

He noted that he is well aware of the huge responsibility of the new office. One of Semakula’s objectives is to double the number of students within the Department. Currently, 150 new students are admitted to the course every year.

The second more important objective is about competence and quality. Having quality, competent journalism graduates from UCU, Semakula believes, will help to safeguard the journalism profession.

Semakula’s first relationship with UCU was in 2003, when he joined the institution as a student of Bachelor of Mass Communication. When he completed his course, the university retained him, to work as part of the inaugural team for a community newspaper, The Standard, that the university had established. He served as a writer at the newspaper from 2007 to 2009.

While at UCU both as a student and staff of The Standard, Semakula often contributed articles to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper because he saw the platform as one which could offer him the opportunity to cut his professional teeth.

In 2010, Semakula joined Uganda’s leading daily newspaper, the New Vision, to practice journalism at a more competitive level.

John Semakula (center) and his former colleagues at New Vision - Charles Wendo (left) and Esther Namugoji (right) on the Uganda Christian University main campus in Mukono. Both Wendo and Namugojin are former editors at the newspaper. — John Semakula (center) and his former colleagues at New Vision – Charles Wendo (left) and Esther Namugoji (right) on the Uganda Christian University main campus in Mukono. Both Wendo and Namugoji are former editors at the newspaper.

“At the New Vision, I quickly grew through the ranks, becoming a Senior Writer only two years later,” he said. “This kind of promotion usually takes journalists over 20 years.”

In 2016, Semakula enrolled at UCU to pursue a Master of Journalism and Media Studies.

“I studied the MA program and graduated within the stipulated period of two years,” Semakula recalls. Alongside his graduate studies, Semakula still kept his job at New Vision, and, by this time, he had also started teaching at UCU on a part-time basis.

Semakula was introduced to teaching by the present dean of the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita, whom he met at an awards ceremony in 2014. A month after the ceremony, Semakula reached out to her through a phone call, expressing his desire to teach at UCU.

“Prof. Chibita is good at identifying talent,” Semakula said. “I guess she noticed my ability at the awards ceremony.”

Upon passing the interview, Semakula started out as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Mass Communication. He handled course units related to writing news and feature stories.

“The New Vision had a busy newsroom, but I would always find time on Saturdays and Mondays when I was off duty, to teach at UCU,” Semakula says. He had eight teaching hours every week at UCU, which he would execute in the two days he was off duty.

“I often planned my teaching materials and marked course works and exams at night.” Semakula says.

The extra work served to energize Semakula who maintained his productivity and increased his accolades at New Vision. In 2017, he was winner of the Uganda WASH Media Awards in the Print Investigative Category – an honor he won alongside Ronald Mugabe, another New Vision acclaimed print journalist. In the same year, Semakula was a finalist for the Africa Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) Awards in the Justice, Law and Order category.

A year earlier, Semakula’s New Vision data investigative piece, Hot districts that will determine winner of the 2016 presidential elections won him the ACME Data National Journalism Award.

In bestowing the accolade, the judges said of his article: “It (the article) went beyond the numbers to investigate how population distribution could be used to predict the winner of the 2016 presidential election and to trace voting patterns. It was only one of a handful of news reports in 2014 that analysed the census data to understand Uganda’s current political climate and future voting trends.”

In the same year, he was a co-writer for the winning stories in the Business, Finance and Economy and the National News – Print categories for the same awards.

By the time he put down his pen in preference for the chalk as a full-time occupation, Semakula had won more than seven journalism awards.

Despite his career achievements, Semakula thinks he still has a mountain to climb.

“At a personal level, I want to get a PhD in media and communication in the next four years,” he says. For the faculty, he envisions the revival of The Standard newspaper, which was a victim of cost-cutting measures in the university as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Presently, the faculty is creating the university’s epaper, The Standard Digital, a multi-media platform that is a direct response to the changing patterns of consumption of information.

“At UCU, we equip students with the skills that the market wants. So, through The Standard Digital and UCU’s social media platforms, I will make sure that our graduates get the digital skills needed for the times,” Semakula remarked.

Alongside his teaching career, Semakula also contributes articles to two foreign news-sites – Religion Unplugged in the US and the Sight in Australia. Semakula also is the Communications Coordinator at Uganda Partners – a U.S.-based organisation that raises awareness about UCU.

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Mixing work with studies: Muwanguzi scales music heights

August 2, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Muwanguzi during an exclusive interview on Spirit TV

(NOTE: This story contains hyperlinks to original music, including one dedicated to God, from a UCU student.)

By Nickie Karitas
Uganda Christian University (UCU) student Enock Muwanguzi is no Henry David Thoreau. In fact, Muwanguzi may not even be aware that Thoreau, an American poet, essayist and philosopher, ever lived.

However, the way the Ugandan gospel singer has lived his life in the recent past brings to mind Thoreau’s famous quote about music: “When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest of times, and to the latest.”

Indeed, at one point, Muwanguzi feared no danger because he had heard music. One afternoon, he precariously chose the option of making time to grant a TV interview to a media house in Uganda, instead of sitting a test at UCU.

“I knew the consequences of my actions, but this was an opportunity to promote myself on a big media house,” the third-year student of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication says.

He said he chose the media interview over the class test because in class, there was the option of a retake the next time the course was offered. With the media interview, he was not sure he would ever get another opportunity.

He felt safe with the decision he had made. Muwanguzi thought he was invulnerable. However, he soon learned his lessons the hard way, after realizing that his actions could throw his grades off balance.

“The retake got me back in line, and I had to prioritize my degree,” the 23-year-old says. From then on, when it came to the business of studies, Muwanguzi had to mean that business.

With the pile of course work, projects and examinations, Muwanguzi says he sometimes had sleepless nights, trying to make a decision on whether it was worth it to load himself with studies, as well as a music career.

Handling the two concurrently seemed to take a heavy toll on him. But he quickly found an answer.

“Trust in God.” He believed that God could not give him a load too heavy for him to carry.

“It was at this point that I recorded my song, titled Trust,” he narrates.

Muwanguzi during one of his stage performances.

As Thoreau says, Muwanguzi seemed to see no foe when he heard music. During his Senior Six holidays, as he awaited admission into university, Muwanguzi often accompanied gospel artist friends to the studios to record their songs.

“Each time I was in the studio, I felt I had made it to the stage,” he recalls.

On one of his journeys to the studio to accompany his friends, he befriended a producer, Sam Ssemwogerere, who eventually gave Muwanguzi a chance to record his first song. He could not believe the opportunity that he had just landed. As a result, Muwanguzi composed a song Nze Ani? which means Who am I? He dedicated that song to God, for giving him an opportunity to record his maiden song.

Now that he had recorded songs, Muwanguzi had to promote them. “I had used up all the money for upkeep to solve some financial challenges I had,” Muwanguzi says, noting that, as a result, he could not finance the promotion of his songs.

However, Ssemwogerere was, once again, to the rescue. He says because Ssemwogerere had seen talent in him, he helped to share his music with people who had platforms to play it, so that Muwanguzi could get recognition. All this, Muwanguzi says, Ssemwogerere did for free. The goodwill that Ssemwogerere exhibited inspired Muwanguzi’s song, Onyambanga, (help me always) beseeching God to always help him.

Muwanguzi has been featured on several media platforms to grant interviews about his career and how he balances books and music.

Muwanguzi’s friend and classmate, Brian Kintu, attests to his conscientiousness: “The fact that Spid has managed to balance his course and music proves his hard work and passion.” Muwanguzi’s stage name, Spid, is derived from his amusement by the ‘speed’ at which God attends to his needs. His latest songs – Mukono Gwo and Enjegerre – are slowly gaining popularity in Uganda.

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UCU’s new Director for Africa Policy Center narrates journey

July 27, 2021Faculty, News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Emilly Comfort Maractho, new Africa Policy Center Director

By Yasiri J Kasango
In 2012, two key things happened in the life of Emilly Comfort Maractho.

One, she realised she was not going to benefit much from a master’s course she had enrolled into. Her sixth sense told her to change courses. She obliged.

The second thing to happen was that Maractho received communication from someone she had never met. Prof. Monica Chibita of Uganda Christian University (UCU) was convincing her to take up a PhD scholarship opportunity after completing a master’s course she was pursuing in Kenya. This communication was followed by Chibita’s physical visit to Maractho.

When she met Chibita in Kenya, Maractho had only one option – to give the greenlight. Her positive response on both occasions have a bearing on who Maractho is today. The holder of a PhD in Journalism and Communication from South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal is UCU’s newly appointed Director for the Africa Policy Center (APC). The APC, initiated by American Lawrence Adams, is the university’s center that grooms policy researchers and political thinkers and provides a platform for learning and discussion of modern-day issues.

Maractho’s switch from MA in development communication to MA in development journalism at Kenya’s Daystar University in 2012 was premised on the belief that she was not learning anything new in the communication course. This was her second master’s degree course. Five years before, she had attained Master of Arts in Development Studies at the Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi.

After bagging her second master’s at Daystar University, Maractho headed to the University of KwaZulu-Natal for her doctorate, sponsored by UCU, under a capacity building scheme for staff.

No sooner had she graduated with a PhD than she was, in 2018, named the head of UCU’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies, replacing Chibita, who had been promoted to the position of Dean in the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, which had just been created.

For 13 years, Dr. Maractho has lectured at UCU, starting out with teaching development studies before switching to journalism. And she says she is not about to call it quits.

Maractho is not a sleeping scholar. The result of her efforts was the introduction of new course units in the department, such as Journalism and Political Communication, Economics and Business Journalism, Media, Gender and Social Justice. The new curriculum that Maractho masterminded was a direct response to the requirement by government regulator, the National Council for Higher Education, that institutions review their curriculum after every three years.

She also often participates in debate and writes on public and social issues afflicting society. One such platform is the Daily Monitor newspaper, where she currently has a weekly column. In one of her recent articles, Maractho made a case for a national policy on public-private partnerships in the health sector, so as to ensure they complement public service.

Maractho hopes that the Africa Policy Centre will grow into a center that public policy actors will look to for alternative policy positions and still serve the university community. “My plan is to expand the centre’s reach and increase its relevance in research and policy engagement,” she notes.

Family background
Maractho was raised in Nebbi district in northern Uganda. She says in her community, education is not highly valued. Therefore, she did not have many people to look up to for inspiration.

Maractho studied at Muni Girls Secondary School and Mvara Secondary School, both in north-western Uganda. At Mvara, where she had her A’level, the headteacher had tried to convince Maractho to study science subjects but she was not one you could easily dissuade from her goal – she wanted to be a communicator, so the natural choice were arts subjects.

Maractho overlooked many challenges on her way to academic achievement, including financial constraints in the family and being raised by a single mother – Philemona Kapacho who was a civil servant.

Maractho had intended to pursue either a Bachelor’s of Law or Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, but the funds to meet the tuition requirements were not available. As such, she settled for Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies at Makerere University.

She would later become the first woman in her family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, to the joy of Kapacho.

“My degree was disheartening because I was the first girl to graduate from my community, yet there are families where everyone has graduated with a doctorate,” she says.

After her university education, Maractho worked briefly with The West Niler, a local newspaper based in north-western Uganda. She was later employed by the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) as a billing officer while still keeping her job at the West Niler.

In 2004, when she was persuaded to teach at Makerere University, Maractho dropped the West Niler job, but maintained the one at UEDCL. In 2007, she resigned from UEDCL to fully concentrate on sharing knowledge at Makerere University, before later switching to UCU.

We wait to see how Maractho’s innovative mind will lead the university’s Africa Policy Centre.

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Mother, wife and student: It’s never too late to learn

July 12, 2021COVID-19, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Nabayego walking down the aisle with her husband on their wedding day at Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala (Courtesy photo)

By Enock Wanderema and Jimmy Siyasa
It’s never too late to pursue what you want.

That’s the message from Sylvia Nabayego, a married mother of two and the oldest in her undergraduate class pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU). It’s a career path she wanted more than a decade ago, but one that did not have the quality reputation it holds at UCU today.

Sixteen years ago, she studied human resource management at UCU. She got her degree in that field in 2008 and shortly thereafter married Peter Kauma.

In 2019 and with her uncle, Dr. John Senyonyi, serving as Vice Chancellor, she returned to what was still her passion – journalism and communications. She surprised herself and those around her with a first semester Grade Point Average of 4.7 of 5.0.

“Being out of school after all these years, then I get back and I’m able to get the grades I did, especially in semester one!” said Nabayego who juggled her studies with being a wife, a mother to children, ages 10 and 7, and an off-campus student living 15 miles away.

“I had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. every day, bathe the children, make them breakfast and then get them ready for school,” she said. “Their dad would drop them at school on his way to work. After that, I would then prepare to leave for school.”

Nabayego has many lessons to impart, including that mothers and fathers can and should return to school.

“I never start what I can’t complete,” she said, grinning widely. “Besides, what have I to lose? It is only a three-year course…when you’re intentional, you find a way to make it work.”

Her lean physique and amicable personality bely her seniority in class. Her experience in many aspects of life over many of her classmates gives her the courage to joke that she is old enough to be a mother of some of her classmates.

“Be confident about your decision,” Nabayego continues. “If you have decided to go for it, then carry on. If you have a support system, lean on it. Get all the help you can from your lecturers and classmates.”

Coming to UCU with a perception that the institution is too restrictive on students, especially on their dress code, Nabayego reminds us that the core values and policies set up are to guide a student into being a better citizen. Attired in formal pants and blazer, she shares her enthusiasm for sports, music and movies, admitting these topics might have helped her better blend into the circles of many of her classmates, many of who speak highly of her.

“She is kind and generous,” says Dalton Mujuni, a student of journalism and a friend of Nabayego. “In fact, she helped pay tuition balance for a colleague, in order to be able to write exams.”

For Nabayego, the most difficult part of her student role is being away from her children after being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years.

“The hardest bit was not being present in their lives as much I used to be and having to worry about how the children would adjust,” she said in a quasi-British accent. Nabayego once lived with her mother in the UK.

Unlike younger and single students, the onset of the Covid-19 was, for Nabayego, a blessing as the virtual learning allowed her more time with her family. The children, too, were home during two lockdowns to control the spread of the coronavirus.

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From Massachusetts to Mukono: Kamanzi sings against the tide

July 7, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Kamanzi performing at a music festival in Kampala. Courtesy photo

By Jimmy Siyasa
Crossing through the United State’s Porter Square in Cambridge, to Harvard University, then Central Square on Massachusetts Avenue, to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and then to the Berklee College of Music was fun for Ruth Rwego Kamanzi.

These are names of places she had only read about. Here she was, not just in those places, but also meeting world-renowned musicians, such as five-time Grammy winner and bassist Victor Wooten.

The year was 2018. Kamanzi had travelled over 6,900 miles from Uganda to Massachusetts, to attend a five-week study program in voice and guitar. That is what her $10,000 scholarship could afford her at Berklee.

While a student at the Word of Life International School, in Entebbe, central Uganda, Kamanzi presented a song to visiting students from the Berklee College of Music. Her performance wowed the students, who encouraged her teachers to support her to apply for a scholarship for a course at Berklee. Everything went according to plan and she found herself admitted to the U.S. school.

Kamanzi had the option of living within Berklee, but she opted to commute from a home of her Ugandan relative who lives in Boston. Commuting to college was the only way she would adventure, she reasoned.

Not even an attempted abduction on one of the days she headed to college could dampen her spirits. Kamanzi nearly got kidnapped by an American man on her way to Berklee. She said she was rescued by the Police.

Her earlier desire was to undertake a bachelor’s degree in song-writing, production and film scoring. Such a course had a price tag of $210,000, which neither her family nor the scholarship could meet.

Upon her return in 2019, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication at the Uganda Christian University UCU.

“UCU offers a beautiful space for you to get to know God better,” she said. “It also offers an opportunity to discover yourself more and appreciate life and what you have more.”

At UCU, she actively participates in her faculty fellowship’s music activities and has performed a couple of times with her red and silver Resonator Bluegrass guitar. Such performances have, over time, won her some fans at the university.

The professionally trained violinist hopes to be a career musician and to inspire young girls to be what they want to be.

Kamanzi is renowned among Ugandan urban youth for skillfully playing the guitar and singing, usually alongside her sisters – Nduhukire and Royal Kaitesi. The trio has a band called Firm Foundation. Kamanzi and Nduhukire are currently acting in separate local television series; Prestige and Sanyu, respectively. The latter also features a UCU alumna – Tracy Kababiito.

“She loves music and expresses her vocal agility each time she is singing,” says Rachael Nduhukire, of her elder sister.

Kamanzi’s YouTube channel, which started in 2018, as a prerequisite for her application to Berklee College of Music, now boasts nearly 1,000 subscribers.

A family picture of the Rwegos. Kamanzi, at left, is with her parents and two sisters

“That girl is incredibly talented,” says Frank Ogwang, a UCU Law School alumnus and former Guild Vice President. “I love her music and, especially, her guitar skills.”

Kamanzi, a daughter of Leonard and Ida Rwego, attended Word of Life International School from pre-school through grade 12. At the school, she was a lead vocalist and guitarist for a band. She is currently a contributing writer to two contemporary Christian music albums for Watoto, a Pentecostal church in Uganda.

During the lockdown that was instituted in Uganda in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kamanzi posted a short video clip, where she was performing a song dedicated to all people who had lost loved ones to the virus. That post attracted more than 16,000 views.

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UCU classroom and real-life experience propel student into media job

July 5, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Ereu during his show Crazy Town on Next Radio

By Fiona Nabugwere and Joseph Lagen
Lucky Reuben Ereu had a long-time dream to work at a media house. This dream led Ereu, then a first-year student of Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication, to 106.1FM Next Radio, to pitch a proposal for a radio programme.

The year was 2018. Ereu had high hopes in his proposal because Next Radio had just been launched, so he knew there were slots in the radio’s programming.

Ereu, age 23, did not just impress at the proposal pitching. He also was asked to present for a radio show called Crazy Town. The show is a fun, weekly show that features young inspirational personalities to show youths ways of creating sources of income while still in school. It airs every Sunday, at midday. He also is one of the content creators at the radio station.

“My confidence levels have improved because of my work at the radio station and the presentations we always have in class,” he said.

Courtesy photo of The Crazy Town presenters (left-right) Mark Munanura, Simran Merali and Lucky Reuben Ereu

Ereu is excited about the practical projects they undertake at school because they offer him opportunities to improve what he is already practicing at Next Radio.

“The UCU focus project that we did last semester opened my eyes about how news is produced, especially using mobile phones,” he said. “Before, I thought producing a news bulletin was so complex, but now I know that I can do it.”

Because of such projects, Ereu’s performance at Next Radio improved tremendously to the point that he and his teammates were rewarded with performance bonuses at the end of 2020.

“I use my monthly allowances for upkeep at the university and the performance bonus we received at the end of last year was what I used to pay my hostel fees,” said Ereu, whose first appearance on air was as a presenter on a TV teens show for NTV Uganda, said. His stint at NTV Uganda, which was in 2018, lasted three months.

He said former students of UCU, who are employees of Next Media Services, are always willing to guide and mentor him.

One of the projects that Ereu is proud of having participated in is the 77 Percent campaign, a DW magazine for Africa’s youth. DW is a German public state-owned international broadcaster. The 77 Percent magazine focuses on reports, personal stories and debates on big issues that matter most to the African youth.

Ereu, now a final-year student at UCU, says the three years he has spent at Next Radio have enabled him gain skills in operating radio and television equipment. Additionally, he says the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication has all the necessary equipment to enable students to practice what they learn in class. The skills Ereu has acquired, he says, have enabled him to get assignments for projects at the university. He says he videographed the university graduation in 2018 and that he currently does photography work for the E-learning team of UCU.

Passion for videos, photographs
Ereu shot his first film in 2012, while in Senior Two, using a friend’s mobile phone. He continued to shoot videos and take photographs using borrowed phones until he acquired his own smartphone a year later. Having noticed the passion he had for shooting videos and taking photographs, Ereu’s grandfather gifted him his first camera in 2017. That was the same year he began shooting videos for commercial purposes, during his Senior Six holidays.

Ereu charges between sh200,000 (about $57) and sh400,000 (about $114) for birthdays and personal photoshoots. He also creates social media video clips for clients at sh80,000 (about $22). He usually posts some of his works on his social media pages: @simplyluckie on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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UCU student lights future with candles

June 30, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Maria Aloyo poses with one of her products.

Story and Photos by Eriah Lule
Sometimes, ideas that end up transforming communities are borne out of ordinary incidents. Take the example of Maria Aloyo. Who would have thought a burning candle during a Catholic Mass would send business ideas into anyone’s mind? It did to Aloyo, in 2019.

She was at Mass. She sat on the pew near the altar. When she smelled the scent from one of the burning candles at the altar, she thought of an opportunity – making candles.

One of Maria Aloyo’s customers poses with her purchase.

Two years down the road, the 23-year-old has not just created a job for herself, but also for Martin Asiimwe, a motorcycle rider, who distributes Aloyo’s products to her customers. Having hired a distributor gives Aloyo the opportunity to concentrate on making candles and attending to class work. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication course in her third year at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

Aloyo makes scented, artistically decorated candles that, she says, leave her customers no choice but to dip their hands into their pockets. In addition to candles, she makes car fragrances, reed diffusers, mosquito repellents, oil perfumes, heat diffusers and several others.

She said she started making candles during the 2020 lockdown that was instituted in Uganda to reduce the rate of the spread of the coronavirus. During the lockdown, schools were closed for more than seven months. The initial opening, in October 2020, was only for the benefit of final-year learners. Since then, many more classes have been allowed to resume school, with the opening done in a staggered manner.

Born to Annet and Akwello Muto of Entebbe in Wakiso district, central Uganda, Aloyo worked at her mother’s store during school vacations. It is from there that she raised her first capital of about sh1million (about $277).

“I used my savings to stock what I needed to start the business,” she said.

When one of her aunts, Lydia Aluka, was travelling abroad, Aloyo gave her the money to buy for her what she needed for making the scented candles.

Enrolling for an undergraduate degree at UCU has been a blessing for Aloyo, whose web of clients and support base is largely people from the university. However, over time she says she has made inroads in other communities outside the university.

“I hope to give back to UCU by teaching other students what I do, so they are able to earn a living,” she says.

Making candles is not the first business enterprise that Aloyo has engaged in.

In 2017, as a 19-year-old, Aloyo saved sh500,000 (about $138) and used it as capital to stock belts, wallets, jewelry and African print cloth, which she would sell. However, she says the business was not fulfilling for her, since she was trading in finished products. She yearned to make signature items, which she hoped people would know her for.

Aloyo is organizing an event, Magic fingers – Color Series, intended to provide a platform for creative youth to not only showcase their works of art, but also to network once the second covid-related lockdown ends. She hopes to hold the event in August 2021.

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UCU student furthers his family’s philanthropic dream to help less fortunate

June 29, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Joshua Rukundo (wearing glasses) with the children benefiting from their charity. Photo by Michael Kisekka

By Michael Kisekka and Jimmy Siyasa
Compassion, generosity and humanity are among the many words defining philanthropy. Innocent Kanobana, who has a particular passion for helping the less privileged, embodies such a definition. In 2015, he formed an underprivileged child charity organization, the Rukicare Foundation.

Two years down the road, when Kanobana wanted someone to run the charity as its chief executive officer, Kanobana did not look further than his teenage grandchild, Joshua Rukundo, a Uganda Christian University (UCU) student. Rukundo was 18 years.

Joshua Rukundo (left) with a colleague (white shirt) and some of the children benefiting from their charity.

Fast forward to 2021. Twenty-three-year-old Rukundo is a UCU final-year student of the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication. It is not only Rukundo who has changed, but his organization, too, has since grown. Rukicare Foundation that started with a handful of boys and girls now caters to over 50 children. Rukundo says the bedrock of the foundation has been his family’s deep-rooted culture of giving to those less fortunate.

On March 6, 2021, Rukicare joined hands with another charity, Noah’s Ark Special Needs Children Facility in Entebbe, Uganda.

Noah’s Ark had earlier sent a call to the public to donate scholastic materials to their child-beneficiaries, who had to return to school. The children had been out of school since the Covid-19-related nationwide lockdown on education institutions in March 2020. A year later, schools were allowed to reopen but then closed again with a 42-day lockdown starting June 7.

Rukicare Foundation donated not only scholastic materials such books, pencils and pens that they had asked for, but also offered food, clothes and packs of medicines.

“Since the government has opened schools, we decided to come in and provide the children with the necessary scholastic materials, to enable them to continue with their studies unhindered,” Rukundo explained before the second lockdown.

While most charities focus directly on the beneficiaries in their custody, the mandate of Rukicare Foundation is a little different. Where possible, they also take care of the needs of the beneficiaries under the care of other organizations.

“Sometimes, these children become too heavy a responsibility for their own parents, who end up dumping them, because they are unable to provide even the most basic of needs,” Rukundo, who believes abject poverty and negligence by many parents in Uganda is one of the reasons behind children ending up under the care of such organizations, said.

Among the charities Rukundo’s organization supports are Kitgum Home of Children in northern Uganda, Mercy Hands Uganda in Mpigi district, central Uganda and Kireka home for people with a hearing impairment, located in Kireka, near Kampala.

John Safari, the Chief Executive Officer of the Noah’s Ark Special Needs Children Facility, was delighted with the support received from Rukundo’s foundation. Hoping for more such donations, Safari said they intend to establish a medical center for the facility.

“We are in the last stages of acquiring land to build a hospital for the special needs children,” Safari said.

Despite being able to look out for other charities, it does not mean Rukicare Foundation is insulated from obstacles. Rukundo said even with being registered, and having a valid operation permit and a requisite certificate of incorporation from the Uganda National Board of NGOs, the NGO pays tax on humanitarian imports, such as medicines, which he says should not be the case for a registered company like theirs.

“In January 2021, we imported humanitarian medicines from India, but we feel we were unfairly taxed,” Rukundo said.

Such challenges can intimidate an organization without a major funder, but mainly dependent on 20% of the salaries of each of the members of the Rukundo family. And because of financial challenges, Rukundo has occasionally reached out to fellow students at UCU and other universities, to mobilize resources so that his organization is able to realize the philanthropy dream of the Rukundo family.

As he looks to his UCU graduation this year, Rukundo is grateful for his university education.

“UCU enabled me get more connections to people that are already running charity organizations. Then, it also deepened our connections to certain partners,” said Rukundo about his UCU experience. “My Bachelor’s has bettered my communication to potential partners and sponsors. It has also equipped me with skills to start and run the organization’s social media pages.”

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UCU, Next Media Services move closer to formalize partnership

June 22, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

David Mugawe, UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration (in a blue shirt), leads NBS staff on a guided tour around the Mukono campus on May 20. Photo by Ivor Sempa

By Michael Kisekka and Yasiri J. Kasango
Next Media Services and Uganda Christian University (UCU) are mooting a formal partnership where the two parties will support each other in developing journalism and communications in the country. Skilling students, conducting joint research on communication-related issues and content development are some of the areas where the media house and the university will channel their energies.

As part of the activities towards the formalisation of the partnership, the Next Media Services team, led by their Chief Executive Officer, Kin Kariisa, visited the UCU main campus on May 20 and held a formal engagement with Vice-Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi and other top university officials. Next Media Services is the parent company of NBS TV, Next Radio, the Nile Post news website, Sanyuka TV and Salam TV.

The May 20 meeting follows an earlier one in March, where Mushengyezi and his team visited the Next Media Services offices in Kampala. In the March meeting, Next Media Services committed to opening its doors to some UCU students to conduct internships at the media house.

John Semakula, a journalism lecturer at UCU and coordinator of the UCU Partners e-lab, and Mildred Tuhaise, a journalist at NBS, chat during the May 2021 visit.

Frank Obonyo, the UCU Communication and Marketing Manager and one of the March attendees, explained that the potential partnership included student training as well as assistance with “publicising UCU programs and success stories, plus offering staff of Next Media Services the opportunity of guest lecturing.”

During the May visit, the Next Media services team engaged in activities such as meeting student leaders, attending the university’s bi-weekly community worship and giving inspirational talks to students. Both Kariisa and Mushengyezi addressed the UCU community during community worship at Nkoyoyo Hall. The two parties later engaged in a soccer game, which ended 3-0 in favour of UCU.

“We are looking forward to having some of our staff and students coming to Next Media Services to have hands-on training; we are certain this will benefit them a lot,” Mushengyezi said.

Kariisa noted that the partnership “we are putting together is exciting, bringing practicality to theories while exposing Next Media Services to great potential in talent.” Kariisa also talked about the depth in quality of the UCU journalism graduates on the market, noting that Next Media Services has found it worth employing them. The media house employs more than 40 alumni of UCU, according to Kariisa.

“Many times, we employ young people, but after giving them jobs, they get bored; they don’t even last three months,” Kariisa said. “They complain, they don’t have interest and are not groomed to work in those solid organizations. We need to work together to turn this around.”

The UCU Alumni Association chairperson, Emmanuel Wabwire, is optimistic the partnership between UCU and Next Media Services will “help us establish the association’s relevance, presence and vibrancy among the UCU fraternity as well as outside the university.”

Obonyo said the next step to move the partnership forward is a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). He said the signatures on the MOU should be in place by August.

“We already have a draft copy, which we shall send Next Media Services soon,” Obonyo said, adding that this collaborative further enables UCU to offer its students a holistic and productive education.

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UCU Partners’ Bartels inspires e-lab program participants

June 21, 2021COVID-19, News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, UCU School of MedicinePatty Huston-Holm

Mark Bartels and Ashton Davey of UCU Partners pose with E-lab writers at the University in Mukono, Uganda, on May 18. Photo by Ivor Sempa

By Eriah Lule and Jimmy Siyasa
Donning a baby blue shirt, khaki pants and quasi-safari shoes, Mark Bartels arrived at The Standard community newspaper office just in time for the 10 a.m. visit. Not even a downpour would stand in the way of the May 18 meeting. Bartels, the executive director of Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners, was scheduled to meet UCU students engaged in the Partners e-lab program that was launched on the UCU Mukono campus in January.

John Semakula, the Partners e-lab communications coordinator, who had arrived with Bartels, ushered him to a round table in the middle of The Standard newsroom. At the table, Semakula and Bartels joined Constantine Odongo, editor of the Partners e-lab pilot and also with New Vision, and Ashton Davey, a Partners fundraising coordinator.

The meeting, which was part of Bartel’s activities during his one-week visit to Uganda in May, started with some of the students sharing their experiences working for the e-lab program.

Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, in Standard newsroom in May 2021.

“I have learned to tell success stories while observing journalistic integrity and ethics,” Jimmy Siyasa, one of the students, said. “While I was taught to do this in my undergraduate studies, I did not practice as much as I’m doing now, ever since I started contributing content for the UCU Partners e-lab blog.” Siyasa has completed his bachelor’s program with the graduation twice canceled due to covid lockdowns.

Grace Bisoke, an international student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, thanked the UCU Partners for being inclusive in its mentorship program.

“I am grateful for the opportunity that you have afforded us, as students, and more so, someone from another country,” she said. “Being part of this mentorship program has enabled me to have the nose for news and also be able to write a story.”

Ivor Sempa asked for logistical support, especially 300mm camera lenses, so that the team is able to produce high quality photos, which will enrich the content on the blog.

Semakula observed that the students on the programme have benefited in terms of skills acquisition and financially.

“Thank you very much for the stipend,” he said. “They afford us our daily bread and enable the students to meet some basic needs, so as to continue working for UCU Partners,” he said. He referred to the stipend that Partners pays to students for their contributions in terms of articles published on the Partners blog and for Internet.

Semakula beseeched Bartels to engage the university top management in order to facilitate the speedy revival of The Standard newspaper. Operations of the university newspaper were halted in March 2020, when the Ugandan government closed education institutions to reduce the rate of the spread of the coronavirus. The institutions were allowed to resume physical classes in March this year, only to be shut again on June 7, 2021 as Uganda imposed new restrictions following a second wave of Covid-19. Recently, the newspaper launched a digital platform. However, the print platform is still in limbo.

“We’ve learnt that you’ve been meeting the Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor,” Semakula said. “Please highlight our plight as a newsroom. We need funding so that we can begin to fully operate.”

Bartels commended the team for performing beyond the organization’s expectations. “You have proved our experiment right. I am grateful for your services,” he said.

“The quality of work coming from the e-lab and the podcast team is really good and I appreciate the thoughtfulness, time and resources that the students are investing,” Bartels continued, reminding the students that telling a story is just as important as the story itself.

Bartels said his meeting with UCU Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, was to get to know him (Vice-Chancellor) and understand his priorities. He also later met with Prof. Monica Chibita, the Dean of the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, among other top university officials.

He later visited the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo, Kampala, where he interacted with the Dean of the School, Dr. Gerald Tumusiime.

“Currently, we are working on equipping the School of Medicine to match the standard requirements, in order for it to produce quality graduates,” Bartels said.

Early this year, UCU shared with three hospitals in Uganda a donation of the sh520m (about $141,500) medical equipment that it received from the US. The beneficiary hospitals – Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital, Mukono General Hospital and Mengo Hospital in Kampala – are UCU’s training partners for its medical and dental students.

Partners also has over time given scholarships and tuition top-ups to UCU students.

“We are now planning to support faculties to do community outreaches so as to impact the society,” Bartels added.

Uganda Partners, a nonprofit, based in Pennsylvania USA and in existence for more than two decades, started the e-lab this year to give a resume-building platform to UCU’s journalism and communication students through hands-on experience to supplement their in-class learning. The products benefit Partners by providing information to current and potential contributors to the NGO.

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Post Covid-19 Lockdown: UCU relaxes fees for needy students

May 26, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Students walk on campus during the Easter Semester

By Israel Kisakye and Joseph Lagen
The parents of Eriya Lule, a final-year student of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU), are just emerging from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

Lule’s father is a real estate broker, while his mother is a beautician. The two spent much of their time last year at home, due to the lockdown that was instituted by the Ugandan government to reduce the rate of spread of the coronavirus. Operations of salons, where Lule’s mother earns her daily bread, were suspended from March to August 2020.

When the Ugandan government allowed final-year university students to resume studies on October 15, 2020, Lule was among those who breathed a sigh of relief, returning to school after a seven-month lull.

However, the sigh of relief did not extend to Lule’s parents. Where would they get the money to pay the full tuition for their son to complete his studies? That question lingered in their minds.

The normal UCU policy requires that students pay either half of the tuition at the start and the balance before sitting for examinations or pay the full tuition at the start.

“The university only has two registration stamps to indicate half and full payment,” said Joselyn Mukisa, a final-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration. “Without the full payment stamp, it is near impossible to sit for exams, which worried most of us.”

Parents of Mukisa lost their jobs during the lockdown, something which made the 21-year-old contemplate registering for a dead year at UCU. Tuition fees per semester for many of the undergraduate courses at UCU are a little over $800.

Lule and Mukisa were not the only ones going through financial challenges. As a result, the university adjusted the policy for the two and many others with similar economic challenges. Unlike before, where one sat for examinations only after paying full tuition, this time round, the university, through the Financial Aid office, temporarily relaxed its fees policy, granting permission to over 1,000 students who had paid half tuition to sit for their exams. Lule and Mukisa were among the beneficiaries of this goodwill.

“Many students sat for their exams without completing their tuition,” Walter Washika, the manager of the UCU Financial Aid office, said. “We didn’t want to be so hard because we knew what was going on out there, and, besides, we are also parents.”

“Last year, 642 students approached our offices for assistance,” Washika noted. “This number was only for the finalists who had been allowed to report back to school.”

But hundreds more who were studying remotely using online platforms also reached out to the Financial Aid office to be permitted to sit for their end of semester examinations before completing the fees payment, and Washika permitted them.

Washika noted that before Covid-19 struck, only between 40-60 students would run to his office per semester to ask for pardon to sit for the examination before completing their fees payments.

Lule explained what the arrangement entailed: “About 30 of my classmates, myself inclusive, were given exemption letters by the Financial Aid office, so as to be able to sit for the exams. The letters allowed us to sit for our examinations after paying only half of the tuition required and we were asked to complete the outstanding balance before graduation.”

Washika confirmed that a number of students who were allowed to sit for the examinations before paying full fees have since paid their balances and continued with the new semester. For the finalists who have not yet paid he said they will not graduate until after the balance is settled.

This year’s first phase of graduation will take place on July 2, in a virtual nature. The next virtual ceremony will be held in October.

The Financial Aid office has, since inception of the university, offered a life-line to thousands of students, ordinarily contributing a little under $100 to each of its beneficiaries’ tuition balances.

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UCU appoints new deans, heads of departments

May 24, 2021Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, SRPGS, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Dentistry, UCU School of Education, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, UCU School of Law, UCU School of Medicine, UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

Some new UCU Deans and Heads of Departments present for announcement at a May 2021 function at the Hamu Mukasa University Library. Photo/ Israel Kisakye

By Jimmy Siyasa
The Uganda Christian University has announced a change of the guard within its faculties and departments.

The announcement was made by the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, during the farewell for some of the outgoing leaders and the unveiling of the new guard. The ceremony took place on May 10 in the Learning Commons Room, located at the Hamu Mukasa University Library.

The Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa unveils a list of some new deans and heads of departments. Photo/ Israel Kisakye

“Covid-19 has shifted the demands,” UCU Vice Chancellor Associate Professor Aaron Mushengyezi said as he urged the new leaders to be creative in their work. “And so, as we come in to lead, please take note, you are not going to lead with the ordinary tools your predecessors have led with. You will require new tools because wholly duplicating what your predecessors did, may not work.”

Due to the “new normal” presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, Mushengyezi said all programs will have a digital equivalent.

“Covid-19 has changed the academic landscape,” he said. “And so, one of the main tasks for you is to pioneer and continue to consolidate e-learning.”

The university’s council chairperson, the Rt. Rev. Can. Prof. Alfred Olwa, congratulated the new leaders and thanked the outgoing for their dedication and hard work.

The newly appointed Head of the Department of Literature and Languages, Dr. James Tabu Busimba, was delighted by his new role at UCU. Busimba recently retired from a public university, Makerere, after clocking 60 years.

“I think serving in an institution that has one of its core values as Christ-centeredness is such a golden opportunity,” Busimba said. “I am grateful to God.”

According to the Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who unveiled the new team, the UCU Statute for Appointment of deans and heads of departments mandates that the appointments are ratified by the University Senate and then submitted to the institution’s human resource board for consideration.

Comments from some of the leaders
“To me, serving in Uganda Christian University is building the kingdom of God,” Professor Martin Lwanga, former Dean, School of Business, said. “It is a privilege, and some of us are still available to serve at this great institution.”

Eriah Nsubuga, the Head of the Fine Arts Department, said: “It is unusual times. But an opportunity for us to reengineer how we do things. And one thing I like about UCU is that they care for their staff.”

“This year, we are changing direction as a university,” said Prof. Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo, the dean of the School of Research and Post Graduate Studies. “We shall provide a bigger amount of funding to professors, to lead various teams of researchers.”

The changes that were announced in May 2021

Faculty/ Department	New Head of Department	Predecessor
School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies	Dr. Emilly Comfort Maractho (Now the Director- UCU Africa Policy Center) Also Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, until contract expires on 31 May 2021	Reverend Professor Lawrence Adams
Faculty of Social Sciences	Mr. Kasule Kibirige Solomon
Department of Social Work and Social Administration. (Expired contract )	Mr. Kasule Kibirige Solomon	Contract renewed
Faculty of Education and Arts
Department of Languages and Literature	Dr. James Taabu Busimba	Mr. Peter Mugume
Honors College	Ms. Pamela Tumwebaze	Reverend Abel Kibedi
Department of Art and Design	Dr. Eriah Nsubuga	Dr. Joel Masagazi
Department of Education	Dr. Mary Kagoire	Dr. Joel Masagazi
School of Business
Department of Management and Entrepreneurship	Mr. Martin Kabanda	Mrs. Elsie Mirembe Nsiyona
Faculty of Health Sciences
Department of Public Health	Dr. Edward Mukooza	Dr. Ekiria Kikule

ASSOCIATE DEAN APPOINTMENTS

Faculty	New Dean	Predecessor
Faculty of Social Sciences	Rev. Dr. Andrew David Omona	Prof. Mary Ssonko Nabachwa
School of Business	Mr. Vincent Kisenyi	Assoc. Professor Martin Lwanga
School of Medicine	Dr. Gerald Tumusiime	Has been acting Dean, but now is the substantive Dean
Faculty of Engineering, Technology & Design	Assoc. Prof. Eng. Eleanor Wozei
School of Law	Dr. Peter David Mutesasira	Dr. Roselyn Karugonjo Segawa
Faculty of Education and Arts	Rev. Can. Dr. Olivia Nassaka Banja	Effective date: September 1, 2021

CONTRACT RENEWALS

Faculty	Dean/ Department Head	Renewal Date
Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication	Professor Monica Chibita	To be communicated
Department of Communication	Dr. Angela Napakol	Effective date: June 1, 2021
Bishop Tucker School of Theology	Rev. Can. Prof. Christopher Byaruhanga	Renewed in December 2020
Faculty of Health Science	Dr. Miriam Gesa Mutabazi	Renewed but not communicated

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UCU alumna awarded for non-communicable disease reporting

May 17, 2021News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Lynn Komugisha received the award of “Best NCDs journalist” 2021 in the Broadcast category, in a contest organized by the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance for East Africa.

By Jimmy Siyasa
Journalists are trained to be messengers of news. Not many of them are the news. Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate Lynn Komugisha was both in 2020. The attention was on her and her reporting of non-communicable diseases (NCD).

The East Africa Media on NCDs Awards (EAMNA Awards) 2021 has acknowledged Komugisha as the best NCD journalist at the national level – Uganda. Her reporting was recognized as exemplary for highlighting the dangers and means of prevention for non-communicable diseases. Such diseases as diabetes, cancers, strokes and heart attacks cause more deaths globally than conditions that are contagious.

Komugisha told stories of Ugandans suffering from NCDs such as diabetes. Through these stories, she called upon relevant stakeholders to sensitize masses about diabetes. Her reporting covered the dangers of this condition that keeps the body from processing food properly, its causes, and what individuals and communities can do to support persons suffering from diabetes.

Her media message stood out above other entries from the region that includes Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Zanzibar.

Komugisha, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication degree from 2010, says health reporting is her passion. In 2020, when understanding that people with underlying, non-communicable health conditions were more at risk of Covid-19, she reported it.

Lynn Komugisha, TV and radio news anchor and hosts of a Talk Show on Urban Television

“The award encourages me to do more. An award is not only an appreciation for the work you are putting in. It is also a reminder that you can do more,” she commented from her office at Vision Group, the largest media conglomerate in Uganda.

At Vision Group, Komugisha hosts a TV show on Urban TV, reads news on TV, as well as on Vision Group’s radio, XFM. She reads and reports the news.

Komugisha is driven by both her passion for the news and a strong work ethic. She gets up at 3 a.m. and is at work two hours later, researching and preparing copy for the Urban TV show that she hosts. At 6 a.m., Komugisha is brainstorming with her producer. Some days, she anchors radio news on 94.8 XFM. She eventually retires for the day at 7:30 p.m.

Komugisha’s intense schedule pushes much of her role as a mom to an eight-year-old son to the weekend.

“Sometimes my son is not with me, so I get to see him whenever I really can. But I make time over the weekend to see him, my family and the people I care about,” she says.

While she appears tough on the surface, Komugisha has an easygoing and genial side. She says the tough demeanor is a shield she puts on herself to ward off some men who harass her, including male engagement in catcalling.

When asked how she is able to manage the pressure of working in a media house, Komugisha points to the sky to signal divine power. Every morning, when she wakes up, prayer is among the to-do items on her list.

“My faith in Christ, is my grounding force, for every move I make, He is my guide and the only one that keeps me on the right track,” she said, adding, “I am grateful to Uganda Christian University because it cemented my faith in Christ. I believe it nurtured me into the faithful woman that I am.”

Komugisha attended St. Hellen’s Primary School in Mbarara, a district in western Uganda, before joining Masheruka Girls Secondary School for secondary education. Masheruka is found in Sheema district, also located in western Uganda.

Komugisha says she was advised to pursue journalism at UCU by one of her former high school teachers who believed she had great potential in that profession.

By the time she acquired her undergraduate degree in 2010, Komugisha had worked as an intern or volunteer at least at four radio stations in Uganda – Spirit FM (2007), FM J, Kampala FM and Capital FM. Upon graduation, she worked at Vision Radio, located in Mbarara, her hometown, for four years, after which she quit to join Vision Group.

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Ntege dances off stage, ending her ‘tour of duty’ as UCU librarian

May 3, 2021News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Retiring Librarian Monica Nabagala Ntenge and guests enjoy a meal outside the UCU Learning Commons Room at Ntege’s farewell party.

Story and Photos By Jimmy Siyasa

“Time limits are good things. No matter how good a dancer you are, you must leave the stage.”

This quote, attributed to former Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba, came to mind when Uganda Christian University (UCU) bid its recent farewell to the campus’ long-serving librarian, Monica Nabagala Ntege.

For half of the time she has spent on earth, Ntege has been serving UCU. She retires at 65, which is the university’s age of passing the baton.

“UCU has been my home. UCU has made me what I didn’t even expect to be. And I thank all of you for being part of that making,” Ntege told guests at a farewell party organized in her honour on April 26, by the Human Resource Department.

“It’s been a long journey. Some people were asking me to request for a contract extension. But the university retirement age is clear and we have to uphold it.”

Ntege is credited for many initiatives during her tenure, including starting a library choir whose sweet melodies always formed part of the ambiance outside the Hamu Mukasa Library whenever they met to practice.

Ntenge serves cake to Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi and former Vice-Chancellor, the Rev. Can. Dr. John Senyonyi, at her farewell party.

Top UCU managers, led by the Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi and his two deputies – John Kitayimbwa and David Mugawe – as well as former Vice Chancellor, the Rev. Can. Dr. John Senyonyi and his wife, Ruth, were part of the team that convened at the UCU Learning Commons Room to celebrate Ntege’s dedicated service.

Senyonyi exalted Ntege for upholding Christian values and inspiring her subordinates.

“As Vice Chancellor, I visited the (library) staff several times,” he said. “And I saw her to be a mother, so caring and loving to the staff. Thank you for leaving the library without a scandal.”

Senyonyi added: “She could have actually served very easily as an Assistant Chaplain. Her interest in the spiritual life and spiritual vibrancy of this university is something that I can attest to.”

Ntege’s strong Christian values are reflective of a conventional brand of Christianity that was popular in the early 1930s, as espoused by an Anglican movement then known as the East African Revivalists.

Her not-beating-around-the-bush approach to life could have rubbed some students the wrong way, but it, no doubt, won Ntege admiration from not only “people that matter,” but also those to whom truth matters.

“I am so obliged to celebrate your hard work. I have not worked for long with Monica, but for the few months I have been here, a few things have struck me about her; she is someone who is natural.” Assoc. Prof. Mushengyezi said.

One of the things the library staff will miss about Ntege are the pancakes that she would bake for them. “Every small thing she had, she shared with us. She made sure we had something, especially for breakfast,” Annet, a front desk officer at the library, said.

A daughter of Mr and Mrs. Isaac and Ekiria Ntege, who were both primary school teachers, Ntege is the eighth of 14 children. Both her parents have since died. Ntege joined Nabisunsa Girls School for O’level at 11 years and later proceeded to Trinity College Nabbingo for A’level. It was at Nabbingo where she gave her life to Christ, at 17 years. She later enrolled to pursue a Diploma in Library course at Makerere University.

Ntege joined Bishop Tucker Theological College on June 1, 1988, as the Assistant Librarian. Bishop Tucker Theological College became UCU in 1997. Before joining Bishop Tucker Theological College, Ntege worked at Kibuli Secondary School in Kampala as a librarian.

To sharpen her competence edge, Ntege flew to England to study a bachelor’s degree in library studies, which she completed in 1996. At the time, there were plans to transition from a theological college into a university, so she needed the academic qualification to work in a university library. World Council of Churches sponsored her course in England.

In 1999, Ntege returned to England to pursue a master’s degree in library services at the Loughborough University.

Upon her return, Ntege was employed as the Deputy University Librarian, a position she held till 2015, when she became the Librarian, upon the retirement of Dr. Frederick Mukungu, who held the position.

As a child, Ntege’s parent taught her to appreciate reading. While she says her father did not know much English, he often bought for them books to read, to sharpen their literacy. It is no surprise that the grammar Nazi once punished Frank Obonyo, currently the UCU Communications and Marketing Manager, in his student days, for poor punctuation.

In her retirement, Ntege plans to open a bookshop, so she can “strengthen the reading culture among children.”

Ntege leaves the library in the able hands of David Bukenya, who has been deputizing her. Bukenya will be the acting University Librarian.

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New journalism curriculum reinforces ‘industry ready’ learning

April 28, 2021News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

UCU journalism students have a discussion at the University Guild Park.

By Ivan Tsebeni

Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Faculty of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies has adopted a new curriculum that aims at bridging the gap between training institutions and the practical world.

The curriculum implementation has started with the first-year students who joined the university for the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication (BAJC) on March 1, 2021. Until its implementation, the journalism program at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) was called Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication (BAMC).

The faculty dean, Prof. Monica Chibita, said the changes in the curriculum are aimed at “shooting several birds with one stone.” Chibita noted that the first aim was to address the requirement of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) that curriculums should be revised every three years.

“But the faculty also has used the same opportunity to redirect the curriculum to address the questions of ethical practice, gender and the faculty’s performance,” she noted. “Our goal is to produce students who are industry-ready and ethical in practice.”

Building that houses leadership for the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies.

To achieve the goals, the faculty made changes in some of the course units. The new course units introduced include Media and Information Literacy; Introduction to Journalism and Media Studies; Journalism and Political Communication; Economics and Business Journalism; Data Journalism; Media, Gender and Social Justice; and Understanding Journalism, Media and Communication.

Chibita said the new curriculum was approved by the university’s senate and NCHE, which allowed the faculty to launch it this semester, using blended learning.

Dr. Emily Comfort Maractho, the Head of Department of Journalism and Media Studies, said the faculty labors a lot to respond to the dynamic demands in the media industry.

She noted that the areas tackled under the new curriculum are of “great importance” in defining the future of journalism.

“We have introduced writing in almost every semester. We believe that the writing skills are helpful in restructuring the profession of journalism,” she said. “It has been our desire to improve journalism performance in Uganda.”

The changes in the curriculum have been welcomed by the journalism and communication students.

Marvian Kadu, a third-year student, said the curriculum will yield more and better results and lauded the faculty for what he called progressive transformation.

Andrew Bugembe, a second-year Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication student, said he expects the new curriculum to help them improve their writing skills, which he said is the ‘backbone’ of journalism.

“Without writing skills, a journalist is incomplete. It is encouraging to see the faculty giving it priority,” Bugembe said.

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