I am not afraid of challenges - Dr. Mushengyezi

By Angela Ndagano

WHEN he was a little boy, he was attacked by malaria that almost claimed his life. His mother carried him on her back to a dispensary. 

“If you had not brought this boy here, he was going to die in the next 48 hours,” a nurse told the mother. 

 He was only in Primary Five, but Aaron Mushengyezi knew God had kept him alive for a reason. His life journey has attested to this. 

Today, he takes over as the head of the most sought-after department at Makerere University — Mass communication.

“Hello, I am Aaron. Thank you for coming,” he smiles.   

“There is someone installing something in my computer. Do you mind if we use my other office?” he suggests.

Mushengyezi’s jolly disposition shines through as we move to his office. He smiles and waves at a colleague. Gentleness is written all over his persona as we begin the interview. 

“So what do you want to know because after your interview, it will be my turn to interview you,” he says laughing.  

I find myself at ease; it is like I have known him for a long time.

His new assignment gives him a challenge to fit in the huge shoes left by his predecessors, but he says he is up to the challenge.

“I do not fear challenges. I embraced the opportunity to head the department because I saw it as my duty to come in and help,” he says.

Well, many say he faces a huge task ahead. Mushengyezi takes over from Dr. Monica Chibita, who joins Uganda Christian University, Mukono. Chibita leaves in the same year as her predecessor Dr. George Lugalambi. Due to shortage of staff, the university recently suspended the masters of arts in journalism. The department lacks  basic facilities necessary to churn out better graduates. All these pose a tall order for the renowned literature expert.

 “Mushengyezi may come through as calm and can easily be taken for granted, but he has a tough skin. He has the ability to intimidate and tame students and turn the worst into the best,” says Paul Timbiti, one of his former students. 

Emmanuel Ssejjengo, Mushengyezi’s former student, describes him as a person who pays attention to detail. He says he has a passion for prolific writing and would definitely want his products to fall in that line.

His other students like Ruth Isabirye and Ronald Musanjja sum it up by saying mass communication has a good teacher, mentor and a very patient man.

So, what does Mushengyezi have in mind to save the department?

“We sat down as a department and agreed to propose to the senate and university council to waive the PhD requirement for the department to recruit lecturers. With the requirement waived, we can attract more people to come and lecture,” he explains.

But for purposes of urgency, Mushengyezi says the faculty can get some lecturers from related fields to fill the gap. Before becoming the head of department, he was a senior lecturer in the literature department. 

A week before our interview, there had been a discussion on the journalists facebook page on whether he has the expertise to run the department. I pose the question, expecting a gloomy response. But instead, he smiles.

“I understand their concerns, but, if you understand the history of the department, you realise trying to distance the department from that of literature is like trying to separate a child from its mother,” he says.

Makerere University started its mass communication degree programme in 1988. The programme was run under the Department of Literature for 10 years. It was in 1998 that mass communication became a fully-fledged department in the Faculty of Arts.

Neither is Mushengyezi a stranger in the field of communication. Most of his research has been done in the field of communication.

“I just feel like I am joining my second home,” he says.

Over the years, the department has been criticised for emphasising on theory and churning out graduates who lack practical skills. Mushengyezi believes the gap between theory and practicals can be bridged through students interacting with media personalities and other figures in the field of communication.  

It takes time for me to notice he is reserved until the interview turns to his personal life.

“I am happily married with four children,” he says. And, the conversation shifts back to work.

“I am very optimistic about the future of the department. It has the capability to grow and become independent and we have to think of ways of realising this dream. We need everyone on board,” he says, wearing a stern face for the first time during the interview.

“We have the capacity to attract funding and be able to have better facilities. With the help of the university authorities, the Government through the Ministry of Education, the media houses and other funding agencies, we can establish our own home,” he adds.

Humble beginnings

Mushengyezi was born 46 years ago into a family of cattle keepers. Although his father was uneducated, he believed all his children had to attend school.

“He always told us he wanted us to read his share of books. We were 15 children, but he made sure he did all he could to send us to school,” he recalls.

Because his father was a nomad, Mushengyezi had to spend his childhood in different places.

He attended Masindi Primary School and Old Kampala Senior Secondary School. Owing to the stiff competition, he failed to make it to Makerere University after A’level.

He instead went to National Teachers’ College, Kakoba. He taught in Mbarara High School for three years, but did not give up on his dream of furthering his education.

In 1992, he joined Makerere University to pursue a degree in literature and graduated at the top of his class. The university decided to recruit him and he pursued his master’s in 1997-2000 at Makerere University. He later did his PhD at the University of Connecticut, USA.

Additional reporting by Charity Ahimbisibwe