Busitema university graduation

Sep 30, 2018

Busitema University is a multicampus university located in eastern Uganda. It was established by the Statutory Instrument No. 22 of 2007.

This Wednesday, October 3, all roads will lead to Busitema University for the institution's 9th graduation ceremony. A total of 1,100 students will be awarded bachelor's and master's degrees, diplomas and certificates in various science professions.

The function will also be unique because the university will be passing out its 43 pioneer medical students, who will graduate with a bachelor of medicine and surgery. It will be yet another grand milestone for the university, which is widely revered for its enormous contribution to national, regional, continental and global development.

As Busitema prepares to record yet another great achievement, it is important for the country to remember with gratitude the important events that led to the inception and subsequent development of this unique university.

 


Busitema's genesis

Busitema University is a multicampus university located in eastern Uganda. It was established by the Statutory Instrument No. 22 of 2007. The university has since then positioned itself as a significant player in the socio-economic transformation of the country, the continent and the world.

It achieved this by embracing new, unique and relevant academic programmes, equipping students with knowledge and appropriate skills, seeking partnerships as well as national and international recognition. Busitema focuses on science and technology through practical sciences, relevant technology, productive education and innovation for sustainable development.

Prof. Mary Okwakol, the vicechancellor, says the establishment of Busitema University was a result of the Kajubi Education Review Commission (1989), which recommended to the Government that a public university should be established in each of the regions of the country to ensure equitable access to higher education.

In 2004, the then education minister, Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire, set up a committee chaired by Prof. Lutalo Bosa to advise the Government on the establishment of a public university in eastern Uganda.

The committee recommended a multi-campus university model, with the main campus located at the then National College of Agricultural Mechanisation, Busitema.

On February 26, 2007, Busitema University was approved as a public university by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). The council also accredited the bachelor of science education, bachelor of computer engineering and bachelor of agricultural mechanization and irrigation engineering, as the initial academic programmes of the University.

The university started with 16 pioneer staff-members, who included among others Okwakol, Peace Balala and Maurice Muhwezi- Murari.

Okwakol recalls the university's humble beginning. "We started with only 153 students and two campuses: Busitema which housed the faculty of engineering with bachelor of computer engineering and bachelor of agricultural mechanisation and irrigation engineering as the initial programmes, and Nagongera campus, which housed the faculty of science education, with bachelor of science education as its initial programmes. 

Busitema varsity holds ninth graduation

Busitema University’s Okwakol an accomplished administrator

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});