Makerere University (/məˈkɛrəri/;[5]Mak alsoMUK) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as atechnical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa.[6] 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 another campus in Jinja City, Eastern Uganda.
The Main Administration block for Makerere University, normally called the Main BuildingJubilee Monument
Because ofstudent unrest and faculty disenchantment, the university was closed three times between 2006 and 2016.[9] After the third closing, it was reopened in January 2017.[10] The main administrative block was gutted by fire in September 2020[11] and reconstructed.
Thetrade school that became Makerere University began operating in 1921 with the first classes in carpentry, building construction and mechanics.[12] In 1922, it was founded as the "Uganda Technical College" with additional courses in the arts, education, agriculture and medicine.[12][13] That same year it was again renamed as Makerere College.[12] In 1928, the vocational classes were separated from the college and renamed Kampala Technical School.[12] In 1937 the college began offering post-secondary education certificate courses.[13]
In 1943, the British Protectorate government proposed the university, which led to a controversial struggle. It was described as "a plot to steal African soil for European settlement," by theBataka Party. In response to this campaign, there was rioting in the capital ofKampala.[14]
In 1949, Makerere College was granted university status and its name became Makerere College, University of East Africa.[15] In the same year, the Bataka Party had been banned by the British Protectorate government, because of acts of riot and arson committed after a Bataka protest gathering.[16]
Makere University has been cited as playing a "crucial" role in the development ofprimatology, particularly field studies.[17] Researchers such asNiels Bolwing,Alexander John Haddow,Vernon Reynolds,Alison Jolly, andThelma Rowell studied and conducted research through the university. Makerere helped bridge medical tropical research on human diseases such as Yellow Fever to field studies.[17]
The university was closed three times between 2006 and 2016.[18]
Beginning on 1 August 2016, the non-teaching staff went on strike demanding back pay. The strike lasted three weeks and the government agreed to pay them by the end of October; however, the government failed to make the payment.[19] This was but one more broken promise in a cycle of failed promises, strikes and more promises.[18] That strike was followed by a strike of the lecturers over unpaid incentive pay, and that strike was joined by students in solidarity. This led to President Yoweri Museveni closing the university "indefinitely".[18] Additional protests, including from parents whose children were left hanging in mid-semester, led to Museveni appointing a special commission to try to rectify the situation but with no promises of reopening. The commission's report was due in late February 2017.[9]
On 20 September 2020, the main building of Makerere University (the Ivory Tower) was severely damaged by fire,[20] allegedly following a probe by Uganda Parliament into financial mismanagement by university authorities.[21][22]
Makerere University's first administrative building
In 2022, the university celebrated its centenary since its establishment as Makerere College in 1922. The institution was granted additional land for expansion into a university by Nsibirwa, a former prime minister of the Buganda Kingdom, in 1945. Despite facing numerous challenges in Uganda's political, social, and academic history, the institution has persevered for a century.[23][24]
On October 7, 2022, a ceremony commemorating the centenary was held at Freedom Square, with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in attendance. A statue monument was unveiled at the entrance of the university's Freedom Square to mark this significant milestone in Uganda's educational sector.[25]
This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.
Andrew Felix Kaweesi, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP)Uganda, military officer and policeman; Spokesperson ofUganda Police Force, 2016–2017
Mwai Kibaki, the third president of Kenya, 2002–2013; graduated at the top of his class (summa cum laude) in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics[49]
In January 2010, the university announced the opening of two new campuses, one in the city ofFort Portal, approximately 310 kilometres (190 mi), by road, west ofKampala, and another one in the city ofJinja, approximately 85 kilometres (53 mi), by road, east of Kampala. The following courses are offered at the upcountry campuses:[54]
In September 2020, a fire gutted the Main Building of Makerere University, destroying university records and the building structure.[11] A subsequent investigation by an eleven-person team could not establish a definite cause of the fire, but pointed to an electric fault as a likely cause.[55]
In August 2021, theCabinet of Uganda resolved to break down what remained of the Main Building after the fire. A new building, which will be designed to look like the original structure, will be erected at the same location, at a budgeted cost of UGX:21 billion (approx. US$6 million).[56]
Theengineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to Excel Construction Company Limited, a Ugandan company and a subsidiary of theMadhvani Group. The reconstruction process began in April 2022, starting with tearing down the structurally unsound original building, built in the 1930s and commissioned in 1941.[57]
^abcdUganda. Public Service Review and Re-organization Commission (1990).Public Service Review and Reorganisation Commission, 1989-1990, Volume 1. Kampala, Uganda: Uganda. Ministry of Public Service and Cabinet Affairs. p. 272.OCLC32432462.
^A. J. Hughes (1969). "Buganda Troubles in the 1940s".East Africa (Revised ed.). Penguin Books. p. 157.
^Byaruhanga, Frederick K. (2013).Student Power in Africa's Higher Education: A Case of Makerere University (second ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis (Routledge). p. 20.ISBN978-1-135-51448-8., originally published in 2006,ISBN978-0-415-97746-3
^A. J. Hughes (1969). "Buganda Troubles in the 1940s".East Africa (Revised ed.). Penguin Books. p. 158.
^abHaraway, Donna (1989).Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science. London: Routledge, Chapman, and Hall. p. 124.
^abcBarungi. Andrew (21 November 2016)."Makerere University is closed. Now what?". Uganda Journalists' Resource Centre, The African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME).Archived from the original on 2 December 2016.
.jpg)
