74th Graduation Ceremony: Mak Awards Justice Egonda-Ntende, Hon. Betty Bigombe with a Honorary Doctor of Laws
Makerere University 74th graduation ceremony commenced on Monday 29th January 2024, with three colleges, including the School of Law presenting graduands. The School of Law presented 347 graduands out of the 12,913 graduands who will be receiving degrees and diplomas of Makerere University. Out of 12,913, 132 will graduate with PhDs, 1,585 with Masters degrees, 11,016 with Bachelor’s degrees, 156 with postgraduate diplomas, and 24 with undergraduate diplomas. According to the graduation statistics, 53% of the graduands are female, while 47% are male. 46% of PhD graduands are female, while 86% are male. A total of 699 female and 886 male graduands will be presented for the award of Masters degrees at the 74th graduation ceremony. Overall, the School of Law presented 287 students. Of these, 1 graduated with an LLD, 20 with masters, and 264 with a Bachelor’s degree.
Dr Nakibuule Gladys Kisekka, the only LLD graduate at the 74thgraduation, also the second female LLD recipient at the School of Law, investigated pre-bargained cases and pre-bargaining processes from 2014- 2021, taking a case study of 11 High Court circuits. The School also presented two eminent citizens for the award of the Honorary Doctor of Laws.
Presentation of Honorary Doctorates
Hon. Justice Frederick Martin Stephen Egonda-Ntende
Hon. Justice Frederick Martin Stephen Egonda-Ntende was awarded a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa of Makerere University in recognition of his distinguished career spanning over 40 years in legal practice, international adjudication and mediation and academia. Justice Egonda-Ntende is a judge of the Ugandan High Court, who has been very instrumental not only to Uganda but world over.
Presenting Hon. Justice Frederick Martin Stephen Egonda-Ntende for the award, Dr Josephine Ndagire, a Lecturer at the School of Law informed the congregation that Justice Egonda-Ntende attained his Bachelor of Laws degree, with honors from Makerere University. The Honarary Doctor of Laws Award was conferred upon him by the Acting Chancellor of Makerere University, who is also the serving Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe. His contributions in academia as well as in the legal profession can be seen in a multitude of things including: Lecturing at Makerere University; reorganization of the Uganda Law Society; and setting up programmes geared towards enhancing skills of Judicial Officers i.e. “Between 1996-1997, he set out a broad framework for the design and delivery of programs on judicial education”. Internationally, his contributions have been enormous, ranging from transforming the productivity of judicial officers. i.e. “Between 2009-2014, as Chief Justice in Seychelles, he introduced a digital recording technology in the judiciary system with strong and efficient oversight.” He also pioneered the establishment of the Seychelles Legal Information Institute; and contributed to the fight against serious crimes including war crimes, genocide, and terrorism. He played a critical role in strengthening the Kosovo judiciary and establishing the rule of law in that country. Justice Egonda-Ntende has exhibited the highest level of – integrity, excellence, discipline, passion and, above all, service above self, which paved way for other Ugandan judicial officers to be sought after in many countries. He has executed his tasks as a judge and justice with humility, utmost incorruptibility and unwavering fealty to the cause of justice and equality embedded in the judicial oath.
Hon. Betty Bigombe
Hon. Bigombe has demonstrated resilience with an unwavering commitment to peace and diplomacy in Uganda, the Great Lakes region and the world. She is a lady of outstanding achievements, who has made great contribution to Uganda, the Eastern Africa region and the international community with respect to conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction.
Her contribution facilitated reduction of state fragility, political violence, and also contributed to social-economic growth and development. She made enormous contributions in legal profession including: contribution to peace and post-conflict settlement in Uganda, contribution to Peace and post-conflict reconstruction in the Great Lakes Region, contribution to peace and post-conflict reconstruction at the Global level. Basing on these contributions, Makerere University awarded Hon. Bigombe a Honorary Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa.
The Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellency Award
Unveiling his research excellency award, the VC presented plaques and certificates of recognition to the best 5 researchers from each of the ten colleges of the university. The overall best male and female researchers were, Prof. Moses Robert Kamya and Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze from the College of Health Sciences. For the period under review 2017-2023, according to according to the Scorpus database,Prof. Moses Robert Kamya had 271 publications and Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze had 153 publications. The recipient at the School of Law was Dr. Zahara Nampeewo, Deputy Principal, also a member of staff at Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC).
Addressing the congregation, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe appreciated the Government of Uganda and other development partners for the support extended to training and research programmes at Makerere University. With funding from the Government of Uganda through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), the University is supporting PhD research ideas that generate knowledge that addresses national development priorities. Additionally, through the same fund, the University is supporting the commercialization of projects that have demonstrated the potential for scaling up. “It would not be possible for Makerere University to realize all these achievements had it not been for the unwavering support of our Visitor, our Minister, Parliament and the entire Government. I wish to convey our appreciation to H.E. the President and the entire Government for the continued support to Makerere University, especially the support to staff welfare and the Research and Innovation Fund,” he noted.
In her remarks delivered by the Minister of State for Higher Education, Hon. Dr. J.C. Muyingo, the Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Janet Kataaha Museveni, appreciated Makerere University Management and faculty for the significant research output that has greatly contributed to the realization of the national development goals. She expressed Government commitment to addressing the human resource gaps at the University. She equally re-affirmed Government commitment to the enhancement and harmonization of staff salaries.
