Busitema 3rd Graduation Ceremony

I attended the 3rd Busitema graduation ceremony. The Vice Chancellor Prof. Mary Okwakol is a very hardworking lady whom I knew from the time she was in Makerere. She moved from Makerere to Gulu University in the early 2000 as Deputy Vice Chancellor before moving to Busitema University. She has been there now for five years. What struck me as I approached the university was how big the campus was and I pitied myself as a Ugandan on how we plan and execute things. Busitema University was established when MUBS was demanding for independence. The members of parliament from eastern Uganda said the East must have a university before MUBS becomes a university. Before I proceed, I must mention that to date MUBS has been denied a university status purely on political grounds. Some people feel we are too abrasive as an organization and we do not deserve that status. The saying goes “you can never get what you deserve” if it was so MUBS would be a university but I rest that case.

The creation of Busitema University had several implications, good and bad. On the good side we have an additional university with its attendant benefits but I think that’s all I would say about Busitema. The dark side is we again cannibalized vocational / technical institutions to create an academic institution. We had earlier killed the National College of Business Studies, the Uganda polytechnic Kyambogo and ITEK. Vocational institutions create graduates with a get-up and go skills. Universities may not necessary have graduates with practical skills. Of course the exception has always been medicine, engineering and such similar courses. Busitema was an agricultural engineering institution donated by the then soviet Union to Uganda. It produced people with skills to do mechanized agriculture. I think Busitema is maintaining that though with difficulty. The second challenge is unplanned creation of an institution. Busitema took over existing institutions. Five years later on, the place is still in dilapidated buildings which, because of age and lack of maintenance, may not be ideal for the purposes intended. The third is Busitema University is supposed to have numerous campuses including Namasagali, Arapai among others. This poses a problem of Management. The managers in these campuses are now supposed to pay their due respect and obedience to the team at Busitema main campus. How practical this is, it is hard to speculate but it has challenges. It challenged us when MUBS was formed, taking over the National College of Business Studies. It has continued to dodge Kyambogo University, we do not know where that will end. As I left I kept on wondering when shall we sit down as a country and plan for the development of our institutions. In Kenya, if an institution wants to put up a new building, when you justify it they give you the money! Recently pictures were shown on TV of the washroom facilities in Kyambogo, they were not good pictures but a sign of lack of funds and probably how we use the funds. Busitema is a long way in terms of infrastructure to recovery later on to attaining an international competitive position but I trust Prof. Okwakol will do it if the conditions are right for it.