Makerere University

Makerere University
The Main Administration block for Makerere University, normally called the Main Building
Motto"We build for the future"
TypePublic
Established1970; 54 years ago (1970)
Parent institution
Formerly the University of London and the University of East Africa
ChancellorChrispus Kiyonga[1]
Vice-ChancellorBarnabas Nawangwe[2][3]
Administrative staff
3,174 (2018)[4]
Students35,000+ (2018)[5]
Location
Kampala
,
Uganda

00°20′06″N 32°34′03″E / 0.33500°N 32.56750°E / 0.33500; 32.56750
CampusUrban, 300 acres
Websitewww.mak.ac.ug
Makerere University is located in Kampala
Makerere University
Location in Kampala

Makerere University (/məˈkɛrəri/;[6] Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa.[7] It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of nine colleges and one school, offering programmes for about 36,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. These colleges include College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Engineering Art & Design (CEDAT), College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (CAES), College Of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), College of Humanities & Social Sciences (CHUSS), College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Bio-security (COVAB), College of Education and External Studies (CEES) and Makerere University Business School (MUBS). In addition, Makerere has onother campus in Eastern Uganda Jinja City.

The main administrative block was gutted by fire in September 2020 and the cause of the fire is yet to be established.[8] The building is being reconstructed.

Jubilee Monument

Makerere University is the alma mater of many post-independence African leaders, including Ugandan president Milton Obote[9] and Tanzanian presidents Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa.[10] The former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, and former Kenyan president the late Mwai Kibaki are also Makerere alumni.

In the years immediately after Uganda's independence, Makerere University was a focal point for the literary activity that was central to African nationalist culture. Many prominent writers, including Nuruddin Farah, Ali Mazrui, David Rubadiri, Okello Oculi, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, John Ruganda, Paul Theroux, Nobel Prize laureate V. S. Naipaul, and Peter Nazareth, were at Makerere University at one point in their writing and academic careers.

Because of student unrest and faculty disenchantment, the university was closed three times between 2006 and 2016. The final time was on 1 November 2016 when President Yoweri Museveni declared it closed indefinitely.[11] The university was reopened in January 2017.[12]

  1. ^ {{cite web| url=https://en.wikipedia.orgview_html.php?sq=&lang=&q=Crispus_Kiyonga
  2. ^ Mukhaye, Damali (25 August 2017). "Prof Nawangwe confirmed Makerere University Vice Chancellor". Daily Monitor (Kampala). Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  3. ^ Tuhereze, Elias (15 September 2017). "New Makerere University Vice Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe Installed". Ms Jane Anyango, Communication Officer and Ms Ritah Namisango, SPRO. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  4. ^ Mukhaye, Damali (1 January 2018). "Makerere probe discovers 16,000 ghost students". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ Wandera, Derrick (6 April 2018). "Makerere enrolment reduces by 15,000". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  6. ^ Peter Roach, Jane Setter, John Esling, eds., Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2011; ISBN 0521765757), p. 302.
  7. ^ Maathai, Wangari. Unbowed. ISBN 9780307275202.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference FireR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ State House of Uganda. "Past Presidents of Uganda". State House of Uganda. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  10. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica (29 May 2021). "Julius Nyerere president of Tanzania". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Statement: Makerere Visitation Committee lists responsibilities". Uganda Journalists' Resource Centre, The African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME). 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Makerere reopens to empty lecture rooms". New Vision. 2 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017.