📸 UCC, NEMA commend Vision Group for Ultimate University Quiz Season Three

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) have commended the Vision Group for coming up with the Ultimate University Quiz Season Three with more vibrancy.

The organisations, together with the Bank of Uganda (BOU), are the main sponsors of the New Vision-organised Ultimate University Quiz, Season Three, which is targeting to attract over 20 chartered universities across the country.

The games are scheduled to begin on October 4, 2025, and the grand finale is slated for November 27, 2025, in Kampala. 

UCC head of regional offices Emmanuel Muyomba said their interest in sponsoring the University Quiz was intended to let students learn about other issues outside their learning environment and courses. (All Photos by Eddie Ssejjoba)

Macgyver Mugamba, the manager for data protection and legal advisory at UCC, stated that they were excited about the coming season and pledged that the organisation would offer full support.   

The winning universities and students, as well as participants, will walk away with cash prizes and modern ICT equipment and communications gadgets.

During the orientation of students at Nkozi University main campus in Mpigi district last week, Macgyver Mugamba, the manager for data protection and legal advisory at UCC, stated that they were excited about the coming season and pledged that the organisation would offer full support.   

He explained that their engagement with New Vision and the universities is focused on fields and certain issues, which he said are affecting the everyday life of a student.

“One of them is about our data protection and privacy. Because these days data is referred to as the ‘new gold’, yet many people may not know yet the power of what they possess until it is taken from them,” he explained.

He added, “These days we know that information is traded across borders, but we also need to make sure that these young minds (students) know that it is important to protect their identity through getting exposed to the data protection and privacy policy”.

He told the students, who are the main users of the internet, that they ought to be responsible enough.

Max Adii, the Vision Group’s project lead for the Ultimate University Quiz, disclosed that the orientation exercise would move to more than 20 universities before the games start on October 4, preaching to the students about the exercise.

“Because to use data, there are certain things one must put into consideration, like whether one’s data is being transferred lawfully,” he said, and challenged students whether they take note of where they buy their phone sim cards and whether they care when giving out about themselves to the SIM card sellers, saying many times their personal information lands in the wrong hands and could easily be used for criminal activities. 

Mugamba said UCC was in a campaign to enlighten the public about institutions that demand information when, for example, people are applying for jobs or vacancies and how they keep it.

“For example, do the authorities know that the information they possess about somebody is his or her wealth? That is what we came to tell the students and let them feel empowered, because an empowered mind is a strengthened mind,” he stated.

“And that is why we felt it was important for us to come here. And not only at Nkozi University, but even other universities, because they also participate in other aspects that affect the environment. It is important that we lend a voice to the students; we, therefore, appreciate this collaboration with the Vision Group,” he further explained.

He encouraged students to prepare well for Season Three in all fields. 

“Some students have a bias that because one is studying law, he or she will not read aspects like finance, telecommunications or sports”.

Instead, he explained, participants will be given vast topics, but again, they will be broken down into segments. He said all this information would be shared with the participating institutions for the students to know and prepare in time.

“Often students think they can only read to pass exams, but this time we want them to read to enhance knowledge, because such knowledge may become vital when they are applying for a job where, in addition to the academic papers, interviewees are asked other things they know about the environment, child online protection, telecommunication,” he noted.  

Learning beyond the official curriculum

UCC head of regional offices Emmanuel Muyomba said their interest in sponsoring the University Quiz was intended to let students learn about other issues outside their learning environment and courses.

“We want these students to become our ambassadors and spread the message to the public,” he noted.  

Throughout the orientation, he said, UCC was carrying messages about their ongoing national drives, like the e-waste collection campaign, which is an organised effort to collect and properly manage discarded electronic devices to prevent environmental contamination.

It also promotes resource recovery, where UCC encourages everyone to safely dispose of ICT equipment that is no longer useful. These may include old mobile phones, laptops, computers, and related ICT equipment.

“Because if carelessly disposed of, this old equipment can become a risk to the environment like air, water and to the soils, where it can affect our food chain and become dangerous to human lives,” he explained, adding that it was the UCC's responsibility to encourage people to properly dispose of them in a safe way.  
 
He said UCC had set up collection centres at its headquarters at Bugoloobi, at the Communications House in Kampala city centre, and at regional offices in Mbale, Mbarara, Gulu and Masindi, and plans were underway to set up more collection centres.

In another campaign dubbed Tokigeza, UCC is warning the public against vandalising communication equipment and reporting the culprits to the authorities to prevent interference with the communication services.

Another campaign is about encouraging the public to take care of their own cybersecurity seriously. Issues like keeping their passwords, secret pin codes, or remaining safe, they ought to change them more often and keep them secret to avoid exposing them to possible fraudsters.

“We encourage the public to learn to protect their personal privacy and communication, to avoid wrong elements hacking into their emails,” he explained, adding that the campaigns were giving priority to universities.

The ‘Tonfera’ campaign is also ongoing and is also warning the public against fraudsters who call them purporting to be employees of certain companies and announcing that they have won some cash or a trip to some country.

Ozone layer protection

Isaac Mugabi, the NEMA National Ozone Officer charged with the implementation of the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (The Montreal Protocol is a landmark international environmental treaty, signed in 1987, to protect the Earth's ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

He said NEMA is passionate about participating in the university quiz because they want to gauge the students’ understanding of the ozone layer protection initiatives, as well as protecting the environment in general.

He regretted that NEMA has been known by the population as an agency that handles issues of wetlands, but contrary to that, they go beyond wetlands to include other segments of the environment, like water, air and the ozone layer.

“This quiz is intended to educate the students and the masses about ozone layer protection initiatives that are enshrined in the Montreal Protocol. We want the students to learn and educate themselves with the initiatives of protecting the ozone layer because the national ozone contest will revolve around those initiatives,’ he explained.

Over 20 universities lined up

Max Adii, the Vision Group’s project lead for the Ultimate University Quiz, disclosed that the orientation exercise would move to more than 20 universities before the games start on October 4, preaching to the students about the exercise.

“So that we can prepare them in terms of participation, share some of the tactics, and the processes they have to go through so that they are able to participate successfully,” he explained.

According to Adii, the orientation helps both the students and the administrations to know how to participate and gives them the opportunity to ask the necessary questions.

The orientation kicked off last week with the Western route, and will include other routes like the Eastern, Northern, West Nile and then conclude with universities in the Central Region.

“We still encourage more sponsors to come on board so that they can reach out to the young leaders. We want to get as many universities as possible and expose the students to more knowledge beyond the lecture rooms,” Adii said.

Benefits

According to Adii, both students and universities benefit through the exposure the exercise gives them. He said once a university participates in the quiz, automatically they get exposed because of the visibility the exercise offers.

“These games are relayed across all our electronic, print and online media platforms. It is therefore far-reaching, beyond the country and across the globe, which is an immense exposure”.

The students, he explained, also get to interact with fellow students from other universities, and since it is also a collaborative game, institutions also get to speak to one another and work together and connect more than if they were working on their own.

Addi said the tangible benefits for universities include shillings 25 million of equipment for the winning university, with each student that participates and wins getting a brand-new laptop and shillings one million, including their coach.

The second-placed university receives shillings 15 million worth of equipment, and each student and coach gets shillings 500,000 each in cash plus a brand-new laptop. In third place, the university gets shillings 10 million worth of equipment, and the students get sh300,000 together with an iPad, which can help them in doing research.

The fourth-placed university gets sh5m worth of equipment. Any other student who participates, including those who get knocked out, gets rewarded with a token of 200,000 each.

“It is worth more than the tangible rewards or prizes”.