Rema's doctor graduates, causes a stir at MAK grad

As he strolled to the front rows, to sit amongst his course mates as they waited to be conferred a bachelor's degree in Medicine and surgery, Hamzah Sebunya, husband to singer Rema Semakula, sent graduands into frenzy.

The graduands who were intently listening to the President's speech being read by the Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda shifted their attention to the Sebunya and his friends who were walking confidently with smiles plastered on their face, to the front row.

They started clapping and waving their caps while ululating. The most excited ones stood up, removed their caps and bowed their heads as a sign of respect while others either dashed to touch or hug him.

Being one who loves the limelight, he kept waving at them further aggravating the situation. This forced the Prime Minister to cut his speech and wait for the noise to go down.

Journalists including press managers of government officials swarmed around him, taking videos and photos as he turned around waving heroically at the excited graduands.

He could not hide his excitement as he granted journalists an interview. Speaking to journalists, he said he is proud to join a number of medics who are offering a noble service to the country to ensure that lives are saved.

He noted that there is a huge gap of medics that needs to be filled given that the country is still has a huge disease burden, especially HIV/ AIDS, Non-Communicable Diseases and a high child mortality rate.

"We need to work together to fight these, to save lives and help our country," he said.

Speaking on how he balances celebrity life and his work, Sebunya noted that he takes his work seriously and can never mix it with his newly acquired celebrity status.

"I do not mix my social life and my professional life. I separate the two. When I am at work I focus on the people I am working on," he said.

This year, 13,509 students are graduating from Makerere University, out of which, 6,820 (50.5%) are female and 6689 (49.5%) are male.  61 are receiving PhDs and 1173 are getting their masters. 422 of these got first-class degrees with the best coming from the Makerere University Business School (MUBS) with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.92.  The best student in sciences, Sarah Namayengo, posted a CGPA of 4.83 and yesterday she received a plaque and sh1m from the University.