Eyotaru Patricia graduated with a Bachelor of Laws at UCU, on October 22, 2021. Courtesy photo.
By Joseph Lagen When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and with it, Uganda’s education lockdown, all hopes of completing school evaporated for Eyotaru Sandra Patricia. The Uganda Christian University (UCU) Law alumna says since she could not afford tuition, she saw no other way of completing the education race at UCU.
Indeed, when Eyotaru resorted to sharing her challenges with friends, she began to see light at the end of the tunnel.
“I was so downcast,” she said. “However, I was strengthened by my friends and family in the Umoja choir who constantly prayed and encouraged me until God answered our prayers.”
Singing with UCU’s Umoja and Chapel choirs provided Eyotaru a family of friends who, sometimes, also “served as a distraction from the stress and the challenges that came with worrying about my study and finances.”
Eyotaru’s prayers were fully answered when the UCU financial aid office made her aware of Uganda Partners, a US-based charity, which was able to pay her tuition balance. The 24-year-old was part of UCU’s graduation ceremony on October 22, 2021, receiving her Bachelor of Laws degree.
“Uganda Partners was like a guardian angel sent to me by God,” she says, adding, “They came to my rescue at a time when all my hopes of completing school had evaporated. May God reward the hands that gave through them.”
When schools were closed in March 2020, in Uganda, the government wanted to reduce concentration points which could spread the coronavirus faster. Such a move provided UCU the opportunity to test its online learning infrastructure. Students who were learning virtually were still expected to pay tuition, which was a challenge for Eyotaru’s family because her father, Rev. Johnson Andama, lost his job as an employee of UCU’s Arua campus.
Eyotaru says joining UCU was a good decision from many perspectives. In addition to what she learned in class, the new graduate says she was able to acquire vital social skills. The Christian values and moral virtues, she says, were the much-needed cherry on top.
“I came to the university as an introvert,” Eyotaru says, adding: “My time at UCU taught me how to compromise and live with people of various nationalities and ethnicities – each with their own lifestyle.”
As a result, some of the people Eyotaru met, she says, became as close to her as her family. Some even went as far as offering financial assistance to her during times she lacked necessities.
Now that she has completed undergraduate studies, Eyotaru is presently a volunteer at the Uganda Law Society’s Regional Legal Aid Project in Arua, her home district. She helps to provide pro-bono legal services to the underprivileged and the underserved in her community. She is waiting to enroll for a Diploma in Legal Practice at Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC). To practice law in Uganda, one must attain this qualification at the LDC.
“I hope to pursue a master’s in law someday, so that I can be able to help the marginalized access justice better,” Eyotaru says.
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.
Racheal Mirembe Sserwadda during guild presidential campaign in November.
By Ivan Tsebeni Racheal Mirembe Sserwadda’s victory to become Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) 24th Guild President was not a surprise to those who know her. The third-year student of Bachelor of Laws has been a school leader since her early primary days.
Sserwadda’s victory in the elections held on November 24, 2021, enter her into the annals of UCU as the institution’s third female Guild President in its 24 years of existence. Blessed Murungi was the first female Guild President in 2014. Two years later, in 2016, the institution got another female Guild President in Prisca Amongin.
Sserwadda, next to UCU Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, swears in as UCU’s 24th Guild President at Nkoyoyo Hall on December 2
“I have lost superlatives to describe how happy I feel,” Sserwadda said while addressing students during her victory speech. “This is your win; this is our victory; let’s keep resilient in the new normal.”
Sserwadda attributed her victory to God.
“From day one, God took the lead in everything I did,” she said “During the campaigns, I got to learn about many challenges that our people face. We shall work together to find solutions.”
Most challenges referenced by the new guild president relate to blended learning obstacles. She assumes office at a time when higher institutions of learning are just opening up for in-person education after almost two years of no physical learning because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sserwadda was declared winner of the contest by the Director of Students’ Affairs, Bridget Mugume Mugasira, after beating off a stiff challenge from Bravo Phillip Ayebare. Sserwadda polled 55.45% of the votes cast. She takes over the reins from outgoing Guild President Kenneth Agaba Amponda.
UCU Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi said the institution had “demonstrated to the world that it is possible to have a peaceful, free and fair election.”
Sserwadda hopes to hinge her leadership on three pillars: Social welfare of students,
Former candidate Ayebare Bravo congratulates Sserwadda after the swearing-in ceremony.
accountability and security. She says her greatest reason for contesting for leadership positions is to positively impact the community in which she lives as she ushers it into the Silver Jubilee of existence of the university in 2022.
“I intend to introduce the use of suggestion boxes, particularly in areas around the university’s dining hall, sports complex and lecture rooms,” Sserwadda told TheStandard online, a publication of the university.
“I am also a sports enthusiast,” she noted, adding: “I will work hand in hand with the sports department at the university to facilitate sports activities. I believe that students should be encouraged to participate in aerobics.”
Born 22 years ago, Sserwadda says she has achieved whatever has come her way because of supportive parents. The first born of three children is a daughter of Sserwadda George William, a businessman in Kampala, and Naomi Nakaziba, a pediatrician.
For her primary education, Sserwadda changed schools three times, eventually completing at St. Lawrence Primary School, Kabowa, near Kampala.
From St. Lawrence, Sserwadda headed to King’s College, Budo, an elite school in Uganda, where she studied for the entire six years of secondary education, before joining UCU.
While in Primary Three at Hormisdallen Primary School in Kampala, Sserwadda was elected the Class Prefect. In Primary Six, Sserwadda was elected the school’s Sanitation Prefect. At King’s College, Budo, she was a student leader in the school’s water and sanitation club and, later, a house prefect of one of the dormitories at Budo.
At UCU, she is the leader of the Mustard Seed Choir. Sserwadda believes that the leadership positions have helped her to attain communication and listening skills – competencies that are critical for any leader to succeed.
“I have learnt that as a students’ leader, it’s good to be flexible. You must also strive to bridge the gap between the students and the school administration,” Sserwadda said, noting that such a move will help the school administrators and the students to co-exist harmoniously.
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.
Boss John Bruce is the new Guild President for the Uganda Law Development Centre.
By Ivan Tsebeni Boss John Bruce, an alumnus of Uganda Christian University (UCU), has been elected the Guild President of Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC). In the elections held on November 8, Bruce garnered 69% of the votes cast, beating off a challenge from Mubarak Kalungi, who polled 31% of the votes.
LDC offers a postgraduate bar course, the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, a mandatory course for all lawyers intending to practice law in Uganda. LDC is the only institution that offers such a course in Uganda.
Bruce, a former UCU Guild Electoral Commission chairperson, says that the latest electoral victory is the biggest political milestone in his life.
During his one-year term of office at LDC, Bruce has promised to set up a hotline which students can use for giving feedback to the body’s management and student leaders. He also hopes to create strategic partnerships and alliances with organizations, to enable LDC to extend its brand reach.
“We are looking forward to utilizing the student leadership structures so that we can receive your concerns and the same will be passed on to the administration in a timely manner,” he told the students during campaigns.
Bruce joins former student colleagues at UCU who have in the recent past achieved victory in elections. Ezra Ambasiize, currently a fourth-year student of Bachelor of Laws at UCU, was recently voted the speaker of the fourth National Youth Parliament of Uganda. Immediate past UCU Guild President Agaba Kenneth Amponda also was recently elected the Speaker of the Uganda National Students Association, an umbrella body of student leaders in the country.
Bruce says the latest electoral victory is the biggest political milestone in his life.
Bruce’s triumph at LDC elicited celebrations at UCU. “The Guild Government, together with the entire students’ community, take this opportunity to congratulate @Bossjohnbruce upon being elected Guild President Law Development Center (K’la Campus). Bruce is a former Guild EC Chairperson,” the UCU guild government tweeted.
“Congratulations to UCU’s former Guild Chairperson Electoral Commission, Boss John Bruce, for being elected LDC Guild President,” read one of the posts on UCU’s Facebook page.
UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs Dr. John Kitayimbwa said: “As a university, we are blessed to have our alumnus triumph in the LDC elections. Glory back to God.”
At UCU, Bruce will be remembered for overseeing an online voting process, as the university’s elections boss. The e-voting app, code-named e-Chagua, helped UCU, for the first time, in 2020, to change its student leaders even when the university was not fully functioning. Uganda had imposed a lockdown on in-person learning in schools as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of that process,
Agaba Kenneth Amponda became the university’s new guild president in November 2020. In November 2021, Sserwadda Rachael became the second Guild President of UCU to be voted using the e-Chagua platform.
Bruce was born to Bernard Betambira and Beatrice Ndagano, of Ibanda district in western Uganda. It is in the same region where Bruce had his education before joining UCU in 2016, to pursue a Bachelor of Laws course.
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.
By Vanessa Babirye Gloria Studying a course in law was not Fiona Kemigisha’s first choice, but it was the choice of her parents. In pursuing the course, she intended to fulfill their dream while trying to put a finger on her own desires that edged toward digital media.
In 2013, Kemigisha graduated from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Law program. She immediately headed to Kenya, where she did her internship in Nairobi. She later enrolled in a post-graduate diploma in legal practice at the Kenya School of Law. To practice law in Uganda and Kenya, one must attain a diploma in legal practice.
She is grateful for the four years she spent pursuing a Bachelor of Laws course at UCU because she says it provided her a platform to keep the right company and meet friends who have remained invaluable in her life.
Kemigisha, at right, and her friend, Nyonyozi, also a digital content creator
Upon her return to Uganda, she was employed at the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control, where Kemigisha put her professional learning into action. Her initial intention was to spend five years in this job and then switch to something else. And she almost hit her target. She left the agency just after four years.
While practicing law at the immigration department was rewarding, she felt her heart belonged somewhere else. That place was digital content. She had a side job of creating digital content, which she sold to clients, and hopes of full-time work there.
The force with which the covid-related lockdown came in 2020 was the push that Kemigisha needed for her to throw in the towel at the immigration directorate. Uganda imposed a lockdown last year, from March to June, where movement was only permitted to staff it considered essential workers.
Being home more for Kemigisha meant more acquired skills in creating digital content.
“I got to a point where I realized that I needed to do something that didn’t just make other people happy, but myself,” the 31-year-old says.
Under the digital platform business name of Fiona Kemi, Kemigisha shares everything from natural hair care tutorials to her own journey with her hair. She started her journey on a WordPress blog, where she shared about alopecia (hair loss) and hair care.
Eventually, when her content gained traffic on social media, she began sharing videos not just about natural hair, but about a complete lifestyle. She uses YouTube channels and Instagram to engage with her followers. She helps clients find the necessary hair tools, products and designing a customized hair care regimen to help them grow healthy hair.
Nyonyozi Murungi, a content creator and a friend of Kemigisha, said when her friend told her about quitting her formal job, she got concerned.
“I was afraid about her life outside work, but Kemigisha is a creative woman; you can’t help admiring how her brain thinks,” she said. “She’s unstoppable. I love how her content has helped all of us nurture our hair and relationships.”
Though her parents were concerned when she was quitting her job, they supported her in her new venture. Kemigisha says: “They let me be when I chose and that was all the support I needed from them.”
The ball is now in Kemigisha’s court to turn her passion more fully into finances to support herself.
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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Andrew Ayebare in his office at UCU. (Courtesy photo)
Andrew Ayebale is the academic registrar at the Faculty of Law at Uganda Christian University. Ayebale was diagnosed with the coronavirus in June at a time when Uganda was receiving a beating from the second wave of the pandemic. He narrates his story to Lule Eriah.
The biggest challenge people who contract Covid-19 have to deal with is trauma. Trauma from stigma as well as from the sad stories about the deaths and the suffering that people go through. The case was not any different for me.
In fact, I had to temporarily go off social media, because there was an avalanche of negative stories about Covid-19. They only made me more depressed.
Andrew Ayebare (left) with the UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor, Finance and Administration, Mr. David Mugawe.
I contracted the coronavirus at a time when Uganda was just entering its second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Every time I was on my bed, my only prayer was for God to give me a second chance to live and serve Him.
I watched helplessly as Covid-19 frustrated a lot of my personal plans and those of our department. We had planned a UCU senior staff retreat, for which I was the coordinator, but it did not happen. I was down. The country was plagued with both the disease and the restrictions on movement to reduce the incidences on infection.
The disease manifests itself From May 29-31, 2021, I was feeling unwell. So, I decided to go to the Allan Galpin Health Centre (University Clinic). Surprisingly, the doctors diagnosed non-Covid infection and gave me medication.
On June 2, there was information that the University Clinic had acquired some Covid-19 vaccines and we were urged to get vaccinated. I did. As expected, I felt fever at night. Surprisingly, for the next few days, I would be fine during day and develop high fever at night.
Could this be the after-effects of the vaccine? I asked myself.
On June 3, I travelled to Mbarara in western Uganda, to play a football match, but I could not make it for the second half of the game.
I was so dizzy, and developed flu. When I got home, I began to rigorously steam and drink concoctions because the Covid-19 scare was becoming more and more real.
On the night of June 4, I got a terribly bad fever. It was worse than the ones I had been getting the previous days. However, by day break, the fever was clearing. Indeed, it cleared. In a bid to self-medicate (something not medically recommended) I took painkillers and antibiotics. Later, the fever hit again, and it was worse this time round. I had just returned from a trip to Jinja in eastern Uganda.
I went to hospital three days later, to test, not for Covid-19, but other diseases. I was still in denial. The doctor warned that I was suffering from a strong virus. He could not name it, since the test was not conclusive. Nevertheless, he prescribed Azithromycin, an antibiotic. Thereafter, I took Vitamin C tablets.
By June 10, I had lost the sense of smell and appetite. I was feeling so sick. And it was my birthday.
The following day, when I visited the University Clinic, I was given a referral to Mukono General Hospital. There, I found a long queue of patients and could not wait. I considered testing for Covid-19 elsewhere. The results were positive.
By June 12, I was coughing incessantly. I instantly began medication and got onto the recommended regimen of taking vitamins, eating a lot of fruits, sunbathing, strolling sometimes for about 4 miles, among others. Thankfully, I did not get bedridden.
On June 18, I regained my sense of smell and was feeling almost normal. Around that time, my younger sister, too, and her four friends were battling the virus. Together, we built a support system – praying together and encouraging one another.
On June 25, 2021, when I was declared negative for Covid-19, I was on cloud nine. It felt like being born again. I, immediately, took a photo of the results and sent to my supervisor, friends at work and family. I also requested for a scan to find out whether all my body organs were functioning normally. And all was well.
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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By Michael Kisekka It is barely six months old. It contains a food buffet. For about $3 a person, there are local and spicy selections. It’s called Pearl Classic Food Court on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus.
A busy lunch time at the cafeteria
Roughly double the price of what other nearby restaurants charge in a time with fewer students on campus, this UCU-Mukono canteen is swimming against the tide but keeping its head above the water. How? The quality of food and service and fine-dining atmosphere give the eatery an edge.
“I had come to campus to pay tuition, but I felt hungry and branched at this fancy-looking restaurant,” Juliet Nyakato, a third-year student pursing Bachelor of Laws at UCU, said. “I have been impressed by the good food and the high-quality customer care.”
Understanding how a restaurant might work on the UCU campus is a plus as the court is operated by employees who were laid off and hired back as independent contractors. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck and education institutions were closed, the UCU administration outsourced catering services from a service provider.
The move meant that the members of the UCU catering department were rendered redundant. Upon learning that he had no job, the head of the UCU catering department, Richard Ekadu, opened a restaurant at the premises of the former Guild Canteen, which had closed due to the effects of the Covid-19.
Ekadu recalled to duty many of his faithful servants after the layoff. This time, they would be staff at his new restaurant, which he oversees as the director. The restaurant now employs about 20 people as cleaners, waiters, chefs and delivery persons.
With neatly kept wooden walls painted in purple, white and green, a conspicuous banner on the roof edge, a huge water dispenser at the entrance for clients to sanitize, the restaurant officially opened its doors for the first customer on July 20, 2021.
Bridget Lugunda, a waitress at the restaurant, is proud of her new workplace and the opportunity to have a job.
“I am happy to be serving here, especially after I lost my job,” she says, adding, “I urge students and other people to come and try out our food.”
Habib Felix, who works as the delivery man, says he delivers food to people even outside the university.
In such a business, professionalism is key, if one is to maintain their clientele and that is what Pius Mutebi, one of the chefs, says is their goal.
David Ebonyu, the manager of the
David Ebonyu, manager, at the cafeteria
restaurant, says through the facility, they hope to market the university to the people who eat their meals. He also says they take advantage of the time when they provide services at parties to market the university.
The restaurant intends to train UCU students interested in culinary arts. “Through internship programs, we are aiming at training students as well as providing employment opportunities, eventually,” Ebonyu says.
While much is positive at the food court, there are challenges. The manager says the prices of food in the markets are high and there have been fewer people at the university because in-person classes were suspended June through October 2021, when the second wave of the Covid-19 hit Uganda. Success is expected to increase now as the Ugandan government has allowed universities to open for in-person lectures, starting in November.
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Charlotte Kabaseke, Associate Dean, Faculty of Law
By Ivan Tsebeni In 2017, when Charlotte Kabaseke embarked on a PhD program, she knew that the path to victory would be rough, but did not know how rough. Had she known the challenges that awaited her in the course, Kabaseke says she would have opted out.
“It was not a bed of roses,” Kabaseke said. “The higher I went in my academic career, the more challenging it was and, in many cases, Christ was my only solace.”
Because of obstacles, however, she said she had become “stronger, more resilient, more mature, more analytical, more courageous, more confident, more organized and more intellectually alert.”
It is that maturity and confidence that she exhibited at the interview to hire a new Associate Dean for the Faculty of Law at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Kampala campus. And she emerged victorious.
The academic terrain she traversed during the time she pursued her Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice in Uganda as well as for her doctoral degree was tough. The legal practice diploma is required to practice law in Uganda.
“The Post-Graduate Diploma and PhD journeys presented some of my life’s lowest moments,” she said. “My intellect was put to a true test during my pursuit of both journeys.”
Upon her graduation with a PhD in December 2020 at the University of Wuhan in China, Kabaseke posted on social media that she did not expect the kind of challenge she got during the program.
In the role of Associate Dean, Dr. Kabaseke replaces Prof. George W. Kasozi, for whom a farewell ceremony was conducted during a community worship service, at UCU, on October 5, 2021. The position of Associate Dean is the highest in the faculty at the Kampala campus.
She says Prof. Kasozi laid a firm foundation that she hopes to build on. Kabaseke says she intends to contribute to making the UCU Law Faculty and the entire UCU a better place “for the glory of God and for the satisfaction of all our clients.”
Dissemination of knowledge through teaching, research and publication is the heartbeat of Kabaseke.
“Seeing my students make it in life, as well as transforming communities through pro bono legal services gives me satisfaction,” she says.
Some of Kabaseke’s works are published in popular journals, such as Gender and Behavior, an interdisciplinary publication dedicated to articles that reflect psychological and behavior aspects of gender.
Kabaseke holds a Master’s of Law from Makerere University, which she acquired in 2012. She graduated with a Bachelor’s of Law from UCU in 2009, and acquired a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, from the Law Development Center in Kampala the following year.
For her secondary education, Kabaseke attended Maryhill High School, a prestigious institution in western Uganda. Budo Junior School in central Uganda is where she had her primary education.
Before her appointment as Associate Dean for the Faculty of Law, Kabaseke was the Acting Dean and, before that, the Head of Department at the Faculty of Law at Bishop Stuart University since 2016.
Kabaseke grew up in Kabale district in southwestern Uganda. She says her compassion, and love for Christ and the truth are virtues instilled in her by her mother, Birungi Specioza. When she is not engaged in academic work, Kabaseke spends time evangelizing, listening to gospel music, travelling, reading and making friends.
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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Speaker of Uganda’s National Parliament Jacob Oulanyah robes Ezra Ambasiize after he was declared winner.
By Dalton Mujuni A Uganda Christian University (UCU) student has entered the annals of Ugandan history after being elected the speaker of the youth parliament in the country.
Ezra Ambasiize, a fourth-year student of Bachelor of Laws, has become the speaker of the fourth National Youth Parliament. The Parliament offers political and legislative space and serves as a creative advocacy vehicle that brings together young people in Uganda, as well as youth-focused organizations to amplify youth voices to lawmakers.
“I take this opportunity to thank God and the entire youth fraternity for entrusting me with the mandate of serving as 4th Speaker [of the] National Youth Parliament,” Ambasiize tweeted a day after his triumph. He beat off competition from two challengers, including Calvin Olupot, also a student from UCU.
Ambasiize’s election took place under the watch of the Speaker of Uganda’s legislature, Jacob Oulanyah.
The victory did not come easy for Ambasiize. He had to divide his time between class and travelling throughout the country, consulting and introducing himself to members of the
Ambasiize during campaign at Parliament
electoral college. And the campaigns were as intense as any would be.
So, why did Ambasiize choose to go through such, risking his academic performance at UCU?
“There is a big mismatch between the number of representatives of the youth at national level of policy formulation and their numbers in the country,” Ambasiize says.
He hopes to amplify the youth voices and advocate the implementation of ideas put forward by the youth, as well as use his position as a launch pad into national politics.
On the same day of his election, Ambasiize chaired the youth parliamentary sitting that passed four motions to be sent to the National Parliament for debate. The motions called on the Ugandan Government to address issues of “spiraling teenage pregnancies” and the reproductive health challenges faced by the youth.
The youth also were cognizant of the destructive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, urging the Government to put in place post-Covid recovery measures for young people and address the challenges affecting youth in business.
Standing are National Parliament Speaker Oulanyah (left), Clerk to Parliament Adolf Mwesige (center) and Ambasiize (right).
The corridors of leadership are not new for the bespectacled son of Bernard and Harriet Nuwagira. At UCU, he was the Deputy Prime Minister in the university’s guild government in 2019 and the Vice President in the institution’s student leadership of 2020.
In praise of Ambasiize, UCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi described the student as a principled and disciplined leader who serves with integrity and diligence.
“In the previous year, he and then UCU Guild President Timothy Kadaga mobilized students to participate in the Guild Run, to raise funds for needy students,” Mushengyezi says.
In secondary school, Ambasiize was a student leader in charge of internal affairs at Mbarara High School in western Uganda. He also represented the school at the national association of student leaders.
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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The Rangers at the Source of River Nile in Jinja, Uganda. Courtesy photo.
By Jimmy Siyasa and Lule Eriah While growing up, the idea of Christian ministry on the ground in Africa did not cross the minds of Americans Richard Ranger and his wife, Catherine. But, as adults and later in life, two main incidents made the couple start pondering such a mission that now has them living on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) campus in Mukono.
First, it was a 2017 call by a friend, Prof. Brian Dennison, who, like the Rangers, also is a former Society of Anglicans Missionaries and Senders (SAMS) missionary and, like Richard, a Law lecturer at UCU. Dennison, then moved back to the United States with his family, reminded the couple that their love for the university as Washington, D.C., hosts for Ugandans had been noticed and that many students spoke highly of them.
The Rangers gave a thought to Dennison’s suggestion that they might consider doing more. They also consulted with Mark Bartels, the Executive Director of UCU Partners. After this consultation and prayer, they were still not yet persuaded.
The second thing to happen was an invitation extended to them by a UCU alumnus, friend and lecturer – Arnold Agaba – to serve at the institution. That, along with more prayer, sealed the deal.
The house where the Rangers reside at Tech Park in UCU. Courtesy photo.
“We came to UCU in particular, when Agaba Arnold offered us a specific role in the Faculty of Law,” says Catherine Ranger, who, like her husband, has a law degree. “It was a huge affirmation of our call.”
Soon, it was time to prepare for travel. This should have been easy because during Richard’s 43-year career, he worked at three different organizations, meaning the family had to relocate whenever he got a new employer.
This time around, though, there were added challenges. Richard Ranger had a brief bout with cancer. They had to be Covid vaccinated. And the Rangers were travelling to a country, Uganda, that was in a lockdown because of a pandemic surge.
“All the challenges, such as the Covid lockdown, Richard’s cancer, raising money for the support that came after making our decision and committing to coming, were viewed as bumps on the road, not demands to turn aside,” Catherine Ranger says.
Indeed, on their journey, more bumps emerged. For instance, the Rangers missed their flights at some point. However, whenever that happened, they had people who God used to come to their rescue. For instance, when they missed their flight from Dulles twice, they were hosted by a friend while their travel agent re-ticketed them at a subsidized rate.
When they landed in Uganda on June 20, 2021, their U.S. friends had made the necessary travel arrangement for them from Entebbe to Mukono. Together with their dog, Trooper, the Rangers were ushered into aduplex unit, at a section of the university called Tech Park.
Richard says that it is the prayers, encouragement, mentorship and financial support of friends that have sustained them.
A week into their stay at UCU, Richard, 69, and Catherine, 64, celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. Their intention is to celebrate five of more such anniversaries in Uganda.
The benevolence of Richard and Catherine towards UCU is new on the ground but not new overall. In 2004, their friend, Dr. Mary Seagull from the United States Aid for International Development (USAID), persuaded the mission community at All Saints Church Chevy Chase in Washington, D.C., to give scholarships to nursing students at UCU. The Rangers were part of this church and they participated in the charity.
Five years later, through the Uganda Partners, they supported UCU students who were to compete in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competitions in the US. The Jessup moot court competition is the oldest and largest in the world, attracting participants from close to 700 law schools in more than 90 countries.
“We had one free room and a sofa set and accepted to house three of the students from the team,” Catherine said.
The following year, they housed another team that had travelled for the moot court competitions, for two weeks.
Currently, Catherine serves as an administrator at the John Sentamu Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, an affiliate of the UCU Faculty of Law. Richard, on the other hand, shares his more than two-decade experience in the oil and gas industry with students and staff in both Law and the UCU School of Business. Richard will assist as a lecturer and advisor to students in the graduate programs in oil and gas, and energy in the Faculty of Law as well as some teaching/consulting role with the School of Business.
He also hopes to tap the knowledge of his professional colleagues back at home in the U.S. via online distance lectures so they can supplement his contribution.
In his work with the students, Richard envisages helping them to integrate questions relating to the economic development of the oil resource, the conservation of the surrounding environment, and the concerns and interests of stakeholders whom the project may affect, to be able to make informed recommendations to her clients or her management.
The beating that many education institutions have gotten from the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the adoption of virtual, as well as blended learning. Richard believes there is a contribution he can make on that front, too. Prior to his retirement, his last employer, the American Petroleum Institute, begun to increase its use of remote teleconferencing – skills Richard has carried into his retirement activities.
“Since my retirement, I have been actively participating in remote teleconferencing by Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams for attendance at professional symposia, a project working group comprised of fellow graduates of my undergraduate alma mater, Dartmouth College,” he says.
He believes that virtual communication is a necessary and useful tool in learning across the distances of Uganda and the world.
For the next five years, the couple targets to contribute what they have learned and experienced in their different careers and in the 43 years of marriage and service to God. The couple also hopes to assist UCU’s law and business programs to educate Christian professionals hoping they buttress their careers with the university’s five values of Christ-centeredness, diligence, integrity, servanthood and stewardship.
For the time they will be at UCU, the couple says they will rely on prayer and financial support from generous friends, donors and churches back in the U.S. They do not see giving up on the mission as an option.
Both Catherine and Ricard graduated from law school, but have never practiced law. Catherine graduated from the University of Colorado in 1983. Richard graduated from the University of Denver in 1977. The couple has one adult child, Owen Ranger.
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Shalom Okeke, a UCU law school alumnus, was on July 29, 2021, called to the bar of Nigeria. Courtesy photo.
By Jimmy Siyasa Faced with the career paths of music and law, which one would you take to deliver you to glory?
That is the question Shalom Okeke encountered years ago. He couldn’t choose, so he walked both. Today, Okeke is an accomplished music minister and a barrister.
Okeke achieved part of his childhood dream when he was called to the Nigerian bar on July 29, 2021, at a ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria. The development means the Uganda Christian University (UCU) alumnus will now be able to represent a party in a Nigerian court.
The news of Okeke’s being called to the largest bar in Africa quickly reached Uganda, with his former dean at the UCU Faculty of Law, Dr. Roselyn Karugonjo Segawa, tweeting: “When one of your best students is called to the bar! Congratulations Shalom Okeke!”
It is no surprise that Segawa, now the chairperson of the Leadership Code Tribunal in Uganda, still remembers Okeke. Her former student was the second best in the Bachelor of Laws class that graduated in 2019.
In 2013, upon completing high school at St. Christopher’s Junior Seminary in Onitsha, Nigeria, Okeke and his parents got busy scouting for law schools out of Nigeria, but within Africa. “My parent and I chose UCU, because I wanted to study under an environment where I would not just be built intellectually, but also grow in faith,” Okeke says.
Okeke (second-right) poses with his father, Rt. Rev. Henry Okeke (second-left) and mother, Mrs. Julie Okeke (First- right) and his sister, on his graduation day, at UCU main in 2019. Courtesy photo.
When the family had decided on UCU, he enrolled at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka in Nigeria for a Diploma in Law course, as he awaited his visa and admission into UCU. Everything went according to plan. Okeke, therefore, had to drop out of the Diploma in Law course at Nnamdi Azikiwe after just half a year of studies.
“Some of my colleagues (at the time) who didn’t know what was happening thought I had dropped out because the course was too tough,” he says during an interview from Nigeria. In 2014, Okeke set off to Uganda, to pursue his dream course in a country he had never been.
Activities at the Nkoyoyo Hall at UCU were the mainstay of Okeke’s spiritual development and feeding his passion for music. His skills and busy schedules had fashioned him into being one of the revered keyboardists in the university.
Asked how he struck a healthy balance between commitment to music and to the law course, in typical Christian modesty, Okeke attributes it all to God. He believes God guided him through tested strategies for academic achievers, such as relentless revision, knowing one’s best revision time and “learning to love all course units and the respective lecturers.”
Not all was smooth, though. He faced serious challenges as an international student while pursuing his course at UCU. Three obstacles were the language barrier, unfamiliar food and lack of exposure to Ugandan history.
“Constitutional history needed me to, not just know the native names and cases, but also know Ugandan history. And that is something I had no clue about,” he says.
To aid his academic progress, Okeke began to commit to memorizing some of the cases with Ugandan names. Sometimes, and incorporating his music talent, he says, he often “silently” sang some of the Ugandan names as he headed to the exam room.
Being a pastor’s child, Okeke got exposed to music and music instruments quite early; he lived within the church’s vicinity. And this granted him almost unlimited access. As a teenager, Okeke also pursued a certificate course in music.
It is no wonder that besides playing the keyboard meticulously, Okeke also plays a couple of wind instruments, too. He is also an instrumentalist to the congregation shepherded by his father, the Rt. Rev. Henry Okeke, the Bishop of Ideato, one of the Dioceses under the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion.
He is currently serving his country in the Nigeria Youth Service Corps (NYSC), a government program, whose aim is to involve Nigerian graduates in nation building and development. The ultimate tune is yet to come.
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Amponda Kenneth Agaba (2nd left), with Herbert Mukuru (3rd left) visits parents and the administrators of Good Samaritan Primary School.
Story and photos by Eriah Lule Amponda Kenneth Agaba believes that to rise, one must lift others. True to his belief, he has participated in many charity causes, while effortlessly also rising to positions of leadership at the institutions he has attended.
One of those recent leadership positions is that of Guild President of Uganda Christian University (UCU). And his most recent charitable cause is the founding of a not-for-profit organization, the Amponda Foundation, a vehicle to boost others.
Agaba packs relief items headed for a donation at the Good Samaritan School.
In 2016, when Agaba joined A’level at Gombe Secondary School in central Uganda, he successfully contested for the position of Scripture Union leader at the school. As a leader, he thought of a signature activity that would leave an indelible mark. At the time, there were brilliant, needy students who could not afford the fees at the school.
Agaba and his colleagues rolled up their sleeves and began a fundraising campaign among students and other members of the school community to help these disadvantaged students. On many occasions, they contributed money to the school’s financial aid purse. From this purse, the school got money to meet the tuition fees of the students in need.
At one point, they collected up to sh700,000 (about $200) from students, for this cause. And that was not all. Agaba also often rallied his fellow students to donate items, such as soap, which they would take to patients at the nearby Gombe Hospital.
Now a fourth-year student of Bachelor of Laws at UCU, and through the Amponda Foundation, Agaba has been pivotal in the lives of students living in distress during the two lockdowns that Uganda has had due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Uganda had a three-month lockdown from March to June in 2020 and for 42 days, from June to July this year.
“We came to the rescue of students, mostly those who were in hostels,” he said, adding that they provided food to students in hostels at Kyambogo University, as well as at UCU. In addition to the food items, Agaba said they gave out money to help students with other survival needs.
The university students have not been the only beneficiaries of Amponda Foundation. Good Samaritan Primary School, a school in Mukono for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), is one of the most recent beneficiaries of the foundation’s goodwill. The foundation teamed up with the UCU Guild government, students and well-wishers from the Mukono community and mobilized resources, such as scholastic materials, sanitary pads and foodstuffs to help children at the school.
The foundation also donated $225 toward the building of a PWD-accessible shopping center in Mukono.
While dishing out donations during the Covid-19 lockdown, Agaba’s charity is a victim of
Agaba interacts with disabled pupil at Good Samaritan Primary School.
the pandemic. He says the closure of education institutions has been a barrier to securing more funds. He cannot collect enough supplies from the university community to donate to the vulnerable.
There are high chances Agaba’s foundation would not be existing had he not met a UCU alumnus, Herbert Mukuru, who also runs a similar charity – Upendo Mikono.
“When I became the Guild President, I met Mukuru, who showed me his projects with PWDs, something which opened my eyes,” Agaba says.
Agaba first met Mukuru at the latter’s restaurant. The next time he met Mukuru, he was in their class, soliciting donations, which they could take to PWDs.
“When he saw me coming to their class to collect items, he also picked interest,” Mukuru said. “Agaba is an ambitious and optimistic man and I believe that with such an attitude, his foundation will help many people in need.”
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Razak Tibakuno, enrolled by the Uganda Law Council as an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda
By Eriah Lule and Jimmy Siyasa Among the many turning points in the life of Razak Tibakuno is one in 2016. He says he will never forget the opportunity in that year in which he was employed as a development intern and a law teaching assistant in the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Business. Later, Tibakuno became the development assistant. He also was offered an opportunity to teach at the Faculty of Law.
The salary that Tibakuno earned at the time was not just enough to finance his Master of Law degree course at Makerere University in Uganda. He also used the money to meet the tuition requirements at Uganda’s Law Development Centre. For one to practice law in Uganda, they must acquire a Diploma in Legal Practice at the Law Development Centre.
Razak Tibakuno
For all his efforts, the 28-year-old has been rewarded. The Uganda Law Council recently enrolled him as an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and all subordinate courts therein. As an advocate, Tibakuno will be expected to represent clients in court, interpreting the law, rulings and regulations for individuals and lay people as well as present a summary of the case to the judge.
He pursued his Bachelor of Laws degree at UCU. Tibakuno, who currently serves as the academic coordinator at UCU’s Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, opted to change to another university for his master’s course. He chose Makerere University because he wanted a change of environment and different academic exposure.
At UCU, an academic coordinator handles multiple tasks, including working on academic Memoranda of Understanding between the university and other partners, compliance and correspondences with the National Council for Higher Education, verification of academic documents, organizing and recording senate matters, verifying staff teaching load and coordinating academic activities, among others.
During his time away from UCU, Tibakuno engages in legal work at Denis Nyombi & Co. Advocates, located in Mukono town. This is where he spends much of his time over the weekends.
Just like anyone else, he experiences some frustrations about his work.
“Some cases take too long to be resolved in the courts of law while some people sometimes expect to receive an inducement in order to do what is required of them,” he said.
He noted that some clients who seek legal services get pushed away by the character of the officers who ask for bribes, referring to it as facilitation.
Born in the eastern Uganda district of Bugweri, Tibakuno is the fifth of the eight children of Omar Tibakuno and Monica Naikoba Tibakuno. He says his humble and God-fearing background has impacted who he is today.
“I take pride in service and extending justice to the needy on either pro bono basis or at a small fee,” he said.
From Namalemba Boarding Primary School in Busembatya, Tibakuno joined Bukoyo Secondary School in the neighbouring Iganga district for O’level. For A’level, he attended Kyambogo College School in Kampala before joining UCU for his bachelor’s degree. In both Kyambogo and UCU, Tibakuno was among the student leaders.
He noted that UCU molded him into a prayerful person and that the institution was able to inculcate in him virtues of time keeping, honesty and stewardship.
Christa K. Oluka, the Director of Admissions and Student Records, says Tibakuno is a cheerful employee who is passionate about his work.
“I believe many people will be accorded justice, now that Tibakuno has been enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda,” Oluka said.
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By Joseph Lagen In Senior Five, and while studying history, Edgar Ayebazibwe observed that most change makers were lawyers or academics. He wasn’t crazy about criminal law, but wanted to be part of change, so he chose law.
Along that path, the now 25-year-old with a Uganda Christian University (UCU) Bachelor of Laws degree chose excellence over average. When Ayebazibwe graduated with a Diploma in Legal Practice at Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC) on June 11, 2021, he was among the 10% of the students who made it to the finish line in a class that registered one of the highest failure rates at the centre. To practice law in Uganda, lawyers must obtain a Diploma in Legal Practice from LDC after their law degree.
Ayebazibwe completed the course with a distinction, earning him a meritorious award – the Director of Public Prosecutions Prize – from the LDC.
Edgar-Ayebazibwe: Ayebazibwe completed his course at LDC with a distinction, earning him a meritorious award
Ironically, during the LDC graduation, he was awarded for excelling in Criminal Procedure, despite his disinterest in the field. He says as a Christian, he will find it difficult defending criminals because, oftentimes, they want a court of law, and not a court of justice.
He says part of his life principles are summarised in 2 Timothy 2:21: “If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonourable, he will be a vessel for honourable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
Ayebazibwe was born in a God-fearing family. In 2007, while in Primary Six at Bweranyangi Junior School in Bushenyi, he says he made a personal commitment to follow Christ. This decision would determine several of his life’s choices, including his career.
He attributes his success in the nine-month Diploma in Legal Practice course to the lessons learned and the training received at UCU. He is already part of KTA Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm, where he hopes to pursue issues related to intellectual property, technology and commercial law.
As a Junior Associate at KTA, Ayebazibweintends to dedicate his career to creating the much-needed reform in Uganda’s technology law.
“Our country has registered a higher uptake in internet usage in the recent past,” the son of Jackson and Jessica Muhwezi says, adding: “Sadly, our laws aren’t evolving at the same pace. For instance, we lack laws to govern drones (unmanned vehicles and devices) and virtual assets, such as crypto-currency.”
He says he would be honoured to be part of the team to cause the much-needed change.
Ayebazibwe attributes his dislike for advances in criminal justice to his grooming at UCU. “UCU is held in high regard for putting emphasis on ethics and integrity.”
He says the study environment at LDC was not any different from what he experienced at UCU – both are full-time, with intensive reading that are intentional about quality and application of legal knowledge.
He also credits his success to the ability to multi-task, something he acquired from juggling academics and leadership while at the university. Ayebazibwe held several roles during his four years at UCU, including the speaker of the students’ guild government.
At LDC, Ayebazibwe says he was part of a supportive and motivational discussion group that spent sleepless nights reading cases and discussing group work.
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A campaign poster of Gloria Nawanyaga, when she was contesting in a beauty pageant in 2019. Courtesy.
By Israel Kisakye and Jimmy Siyasa How will I deal with stigma and community negativity? What will my life be like with the side effects of taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for the rest of my life? These were among the questions Gloria Nawanyaga was confronted with when she discovered that she was HIV-positive. She was 11 years old.
Nawanyaga said that when her mother initially gave her the ARVs, she did not know why she was taking them. When awareness set in that she had HIV, she felt dejected, depressed and hopeless. Her self-esteem was crushed and bitterness grew. Her mother had introduced her to an organization that brings together children living with HIV, but she still suffered self-rejection.
Gloria Nawanyaga, renowned HIV and Human Rights activist. Courtesy.
She feared for the worst if her classmates found out the truth. She took the drugs secretly. When it wasn’t possible to take them in hiding, she skipped the medication for that day. Because of the inconsistency, sometimes her condition got worse.
However, at some point, the adversity served to make Nawanyaga stronger. She picked up the pieces and used them to build a formidable firewall against her scorners.
As a result of her rise in popularity, she was elected the head prefect while in secondary school, at St. Charles Lwanga International, Kakiri, located in central Uganda. As a students’ leader, she spearheaded a campaign for freedom of worship that saw Scripture Union established within the Catholic-founded school.
Not long after, Nawanyaga got involved in campaigns against stigma among people living with HIV. And hers is now a face of HIV and human rights advocacy in Kampala. The 23-year-old works as the Communications and Advocacy Officer at Peer-to-Peer Uganda, a not-for-profit organisation that empowers young people in rural Uganda.
To be molded for the advocacy role, Nawanyaga chose to study a Bachelor of Laws at Uganda Christian University (UCU). With her role at Peer-to-Peer, she is able to engage in debates with relevant stakeholders to influence HIV policy.
In June 2021, she was on national television beseeching authorities to prioritize Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) during the government’s COVID-19 response activities because of their vulnerability.
“We need the Ugandan government to prioritize PLHIVs in the vaccination for COVID-19 because our immune system is already weak,” she said.
In 2019, she competed for the Miss Uganda Beauty Contest. Although she missed the top prize Nawanyaga was crowned the Miss Rising Woman for 2019/2020 at the beauty pageant.
Initially, many people found her participation preposterous and controversial. But she was unrelenting, and her efforts paid off. She walked home with a crown.
“I wanted to inspire fellow PLHIVs,” she said. “I also wanted to reach out to as many people as possible and urge them get to know their HIV status; for those who are negative, to keep themselves safe because it is not easy living with HIV.”
That advocacy has not stopped. Nawanyaga takes advantage of her presence on social media to further the sensitization.
In 2019, she started a music band, Y+, which had 15 youths, all living with HIV. They do community outreaches and also raise funds for the savings group that the band formed. The members can borrow money from their pool of savings to start income-generating activities.
She said she had learned a lesson from an unfortunate incident that happened to her family in 2017. Her father, who had been the bread winner in the family, died. Her mother then had to resort to bank loans, to finance Nawanyaga’s law degree course at UCU.
But Nawanyaga could not just look on. She says she decided to take up a day job, in order to cater for her daily living costs at the university, hence reducing the burden on her mother. From that experience, she learned the importance of belonging to a savings group.
Nawanyaga has shown that when there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can surely do no harm.
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Gloria Wanyenze was the best student in Trial Advocacy in the June 2021 LDC graduation. Courtesy photo.
By Jimmy Siyasa Best Student in Trial Advocacy, read the accolade that Gloria Wanyenze took home on June 6, 2021. Wanyenze hit the target of excellence.
Wanyenze had graduated from Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC), with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. To practice law in Uganda, lawyers must obtain a Diploma in Legal Practice from LDC after the law degree. What was even more special for Wanyenze was that she was part of a student cohort whose members had gritted their teeth and made it through bruising final exams that had a 90% failure rate.
Frank Nigel Othembi, the LDC director, attributed the high failure rate to student newness to on-line study during the Covid-19 lockdown.
However, he also attributed lack of academic success to the abolition of pre-entry examinations into the centre. Previously, LDC had been conducting pre-entry exams for students who want to pursue the Diploma in Legal Practice, which was not the case with Wanyenze’s class.
And the level of pride that Wanyenze has earned her family, to her, is higher than the accolade she walked home with from LDC.
“I am the first LLB (Bachelor of Laws degree) graduate in my family,” Wanyenze, who graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree at Uganda Christian University in 2019, remarks.
She says from the day she informed her family that she wanted to pursue a degree in law, they were supportive.
“My family encouraged me, guided me and pointed out the areas I needed to be strong in, as well as the areas where I needed growth,” she says, adding: “They supported my decision to study at UCU and funded that choice.”
Wanyenze has always wanted to be identified as a problem-solver. It is an element that gave her an edge in Trial Advocacy, the course unit in which she topped her class. In Trial Advocacy, one learns the skills necessary to make a case for those they represent. It happened that the tests for that particular course unit coincided with another field of law that Wanyeze is passionate about – Corporate Law.
She believes UCU had a hand in her exceptional performance at the LDC.
“UCU goes beyond teaching law – or any other profession,” she said. “It adds ethics and a Christian approach to every course of study that not only makes us more well-rounded, but also diligent.”
She says the university instilled in her the requisite skills, helped to trigger the virtue of integrity in her, as well as enhanced her Christian leadership skills.
Wanyenze also attributes her excellence to diligence and commitment.
“When you are at LDC, there are days you are amazed at your capability and there are days you are questioning it,” she says, adding: “But what will make the difference is your ability to put in the effort required.”
She says she also ensured she belonged to a discussion group, where they would take turns to talk about cases.
Now that she has qualified to practice law in Uganda, Wanyenze awaits the Uganda Law Council to enroll her as an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda so she can represent clients in court. As she waits to be enrolled, Wanyenze will concentrate on her role as a Legal Assistant at Crystal Advocates, a law firm in Kampala.
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Students carry food packs donated by the UCU Chaplaincy.
By Yasiri J. Kasango The office of the chaplain at Uganda Christian University (UCU) recently donated food to students that the latest government-order covid lockdown has stranded in hostels around the institution.
Each student received a food pack containing beans, sugar, maize flour, salt and soap. A pack was valued at sh23,000 (about $6.5).
“When we got a report about students who are stranded in hostels and in need of food, the chapel council raised some money to help them out,” the chaplain, the Rev. Eng. Paul Wasswa, said.
Uganda on June 7 closed all schools and institutions of higher learning following increase in the positivity rate among the Covid-19 tests that were being done. Uganda is currently in the second wave of Covid-19.
Two weeks later, the country’s President, Yoweri Museveni, announced a 42-day lockdown, banning the movement of vehicles. Only vehicles belonging to categories of people government considered essential workers, such as the media, medical personnel, workers at construction sites and in factories, and trucks delivering goods, among others, were issued with travel permits.
The development meant that the students who were caught up in hostels had to stay there until the lockdown terminates at the end of July. However, in mid-July, it was not yet clear whether government will lift the lockdown after the 42 days. Government has said the positivity rate in the Covid-19 tests dropped from 18% when the lockdown was instituted to 10% a month later.
For the donation that was handed to the students, the chapel council raised sh1m (about $280) towards purchasing the food items. A total of 54 students benefitted from the generosity. The beneficiaries were identified by the UCU deputy guild minister for religious affairs, the Rev. Benson Amanya.
A recent UCU guild government survey indicated that there are at least 200 national and international students stranded in hostels.
Amanya said the needy students were identified through the coordination of class representatives.
“When a class representative recommends a needy student, we interrogate them about the student. Their response would help to identify whether the student was actually in need of food,” Amanya said.
“I am grateful for the support rendered to us,” Edith Joseph from South Sudan said. “We are going through a hard time in the hostels.”
David Kisakye, a final-year student pursuing the Bachelor of Laws at UCU, commended the chaplain’s office for the initiative. “Receiving some food, although little, is better than nothing,” he said.
The Rev. Wasswa acknowledged that the food relief given to students could not sustain them until the end of the lockdown and, therefore, called upon other well-wishers to donate more food to the students. He also asked students who may be in need of counselling to approach his office.
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Honors College Student Chemutai Syndia with some of the pupils of Bishop West Primary School where she conducted her project
By Eriah Lule and Jimmy Siyasa Christian mentorship. Leadership. Academic research. These are the three core goals that define Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Honors College. The 19-year-old college, whose concept is borrowed from the Dutch and American universities, admits only the institution’s crème de la crème students from the different faculties.
Applicants must have at least a 4.0 Cumulative Grade-Point Average (CGPA) out of 5.0 to be enrolled to the college that offers talented students the opportunity to tap on their mettle through an extra certificate-program, alongside the regular bachelor’s degree course.
The college, which is the brainchild of Prof. Stephen Noll, UCU’s first Vice-Chancellor, offers a multidisciplinary approach to scientific and social issues, which helps to enrich students’ projects and research.
Pamela Tumwebaze, newly appointed head of Honors College
Pamela Tumwebaze, the new head of the college, has hit the ground running, by grouping
students based on their interests, using invited guest lecturers and mentors to speak to the students and holding weekly workshops. Before her promotion to head the Honors College, Tumwebaze was the Executive Secretary of the UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academics.
“I want to utilize the full potential of our students, by encouraging them to create solutions for the social problems that people face, through research,” she said, noting that it is such initiatives that will “lift the college to greater heights.”
Juan Emmanuella Zamba, a student of Bachelor of Human Rights, Peace and Humanitarian Intervention, has designed a project called Trash into Cash, which she hopes will be able to solve the challenge of high youth unemployment. Zamba collects inorganic waste, such as plastic and paper, which she uses to make jewelry and wall hangings.
“Honors College has enabled me to explore my potential and capabilities, through mentorship provided by the guest lecturers and our college staff,’’ Zamba said, adding: “I am now thinking of making my project a real business, so that I create employment to the youth, as well as skilling them.”
Thanks to the Honors College, Chemutai Syndia, a 21-year-old fourth-year student of Bachelor of Laws, is currently working to combat sexual violence against children through advocacy. At Bishop West Primary School, located near UCU, Chemutai counsels children and also sensitizes them on the avenues through which they can report child-rights offenders. She also takes advantage of the opportunity to sensitise the teachers about the benefits of creating a favourable environment for their pupils, to share their challenges.
Members of a group project called Share a Skill, spearheaded by Miriam Obetia, a second-year student of Bachelor of Human Rights, Peace and Humanitarian Intervention, went to West Nile early this year, where they engaged children, especially who had dropped out of school during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, in entrepreneurial skills.
Tumwebaze believes her tenure of service is a God-given opportunity to boost UCU’s undergraduate research and she has already started on this by making calls for proposals for projects from students. She believes her ultimate reward will be when students succeed by making a career out of the projects they will have championed.
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The Rev. Liberty Muhereza, who has degrees in law and divinity from UCU, receives an award from the Uganda Police in recognition of ALARM’s contribution towards the improvement of the force. Courtesy photo.
By Eriah Lule Muhereza means “servant leader” in various parts of Uganda. According to Forebears, the world’s largest database of name meanings and distributions, more than 14,000 Ugandans are called Muhereza. One alumnus of Uganda Christian University (UCU) is among them, and appropriately so as he serves as a social justice leader for communities.
The civil rights activism of the Rev. Liberty Muhereza led him to write a training module focused on civil rights ideals to be imparted into society. When he shared his curriculum with leadership of the Uganda Police Force, they did not hesitate to take it up. Today, the module that Muhereza developed is part of the curriculum that is taught to trainees in police academies in Uganda.
Rev. Liberty Muhereza with his family. Photo/ Eriah Lule
“Since childhood, I have always dreamt of a world where there is equity and social justice,” Muhereza says.
It is this dream that even after completing his law degree course, the 38-year-old opted to work with civil society organisations, where he thought he would make more impact than setting up a law firm. He studied a Bachelor of Laws course at UCU, after which he pursued a Diploma in Legal Practice at Uganda’s Law Development Centre.
Muhereza is the Country Director of the African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM), a not-for-profit organisation that deals with conflict resolution, servant leadership development, social justice and reconciliation, as well as community transformation. ALARM, a Christian organization that was birthed in 1996, is based in Ntinda, a suburb of Kampala.
The organization operates in six countries in the Great Lakes region: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan and Uganda, where it started in 2002.
Muhereza, a father of two, started working with ALARM when he completed his Diploma in Legal Practice course. He joined the organisation as its head of the peace and justice department. It is while heading the peace department that Muhereza developed a module on social justice that was eventually integrated into the curriculum of the Uganda Police Force.
Police officers being one of the major enforcers of social justice, Muhereza explains, ALARM found it necessary to train them in servant leadership development, peace, justice and reconciliation. He said they also mentor a section of lawyers under the Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity.
As a Country Director, he has created partnerships with Civil Society Organizations, Government agencies and many churches in Uganda to train pastors or church leaders. Muhereza says they have held sessions with leaders in the Church of Uganda, the Roman Catholic Church and the Pentecostal churches.
To champion their goal of fostering peace and reconciliation, the organisation set up a vocational school, the ALARM Technical Institute in Pader district, in northern Uganda, to equip former child soldiers, wives of soldiers and illiterate teenagers with self-sustenance skills. Northern Uganda was a hotspot of a two-decade civil war, from 1986, with the atrocities of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels forcing communities into internally displaced people’s camps.
At the technical institute, Muhereza says: “The youth are empowered with skills like carpentry, computer literacy, building and concrete practice, electrical installation and many more, in order to establish a job-creating generation rather than a job-seeking one.” He is the institute’s board chairperson.
Muhereza resigned from his job as the head of the Peace and Justice Department at ALARM in 2015 to pursue the Master of Divinity course at UCU. Upon completion, he joined All Saints Cathedral Nakasero, as part of its clergy. However, due to his exceptional service at ALARM, it did not take long for the organisation to call him back, this time as its Country Director, a position he holds to date.
“Attending UCU ignited my Christian values and leadership skills,” says Muhereza, who was a fellowship leader, choir master and was also involved in various ministries as a student at UCU.
Currently, Muhereza is a board member of Hope Children’s home, a not-for-profit that looks after underprivileged children. He also is the general secretary of the Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity, and the board chairperson of Fashion and Compassion, an organization that empowers women with skills for economic development.
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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 )
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
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. MarySsonko 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
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 students of Bachelor of Governance on a study trip to Sipi Falls that was coordinated by Ecstacy Ventures Tourism and Travel
By Gloria Katya The ultimate goal of many students who pursue a course in law in Uganda is to join legal practice. However, for Joackim Mumbere, the story was different.
After spending four years at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Law School, the 26-year-old did not proceed to the Law Development Centre to pursue a diploma in legal practice, which would enable him become an advocate.
CEO of Ecstasy Ventures, Joackim Mumbere, with Miss Tourism Eastern Uganda at Sipi Falls
Mumbere instead opted to venture into tourism. While a student at UCU, Mumbere started a tour and travel company. He realized that tourism was a lucrative venture when he joined the Rotaract Club of UCU in 2014. As the chairperson of the club, he was put in charge of organizing trips, dinners and picnics for club members.
The experience Mumbere garnered from organizing such events soon changed his career path.
In his second year, Mumbere started a tourism and travel company called Ecstasy Ventures. Mostly on weekends, he promoted and conducted business of the company.
In 2018, following his graduation with a bachelor of laws from UCU, Mumbere returned to his company, as his colleagues hit the streets to search for jobs.
With him in the steering of the business, it expanded its clientele rapidly. Mumbere organized dozens of trips, weddings, parties, graduation parties and boat cruises for clients.
“I also worked with many corporate companies, such as Jumia and banks, and my network grew,” he says. He credits the rate of expansion of his business to the special services that he says he offered.
“My company organizes movies, campfires and celebrates birthday parties during the trips.”
Mumbere earns between sh500,000 (about $136) and sh1,00,000 (about $272) per trip he organizes.
“I organize two-three trips every month, but my dream is to double the number,” he said.
Mumbere’s company is online, but his dream is to secure physical space (offices) for it soon.
Studying law has helped Mumbere to realize the importance of documenting every transaction with clients, so that people don’t cheat him.
“With my law background, I am not easily intimidated by certain classes of customers because I know what the law requires,” he said.
Mumbere’s dream in the next five years is to grow the company so that it can acquire more assets, travel cars, land and at least a lodge in one of the national game parks. He urges students to embrace academics, as well as their talents.
“UCU has a lot of co-curricular activities that can make students successful in life, if well exploited,” he said.
Mumbere says his parents – David and Teopista Mayanja of Kasese district in western Uganda – are proud of his business acumen. Mumbere’s law lecturer at UCU, Samson Wanambuko, says he is not surprised by what his former student has achieved.
“He was a good, inquisitive student who used to participate in class, and was always eager to learn. He is very intelligent,” Wanambuko said.
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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