Where are the A-Level stars of 10 years ago?

Deborah Nagudi
After my Senior Six at Nabisunsa Girls where I got 1AAAB in History, Economics, Divinity and Literature, I joined Makerere University on government sponsorship for my Bachelors of Law degree.

I studied law because at that time, much as I did not conversantly appreciate what the discipline was about, I recognised the fact that I used to enjoy my literature classes so much. They provoked me to be more inquisitive and analytical.

In school, I always took on debates and novel reading so passionately and so for me, law was just the ultimate choice for the person that I am, and for the things I loved and enjoyed to do.

Currently, I work with the Parliament of Uganda as a Protocol Officer in the Communications and Public Affairs Department. My job is one of diplomacy and international relations.

Contrary to the thought that what I am doing is not under the mainstream legal discipline, I see a very rich and engaging career in international law and diplomacy, and the law.

I can say grades only provide us with a peddle stone to climb up a ladder but they are not an end itself. So many times the good grades become very deceptive when we score them in a field we are not passionate about or if we scored them for our parents.
You just have to identify what you can do and start, the rest will fall into place.

Yunus Masaba
After Kiira College Butiki, Mr Yunus Masaba, who posted 1AAAB, joined Makerere University where he pursued a degree course in Development Economics. That course was his choice. He always wanted to become an economist.

“I was never influenced by my parents to go for Arts at A-Level or chose economics at university. I am glad they did not try to influence me. My only regret is that I have never practiced economics to the magnitude that I had always wanted,” he says.

He never got into formal employment because he and a friend had started a business during their Senior Six vacation. That business had grown quite big during the years at university and it is from that that the man who is described by many as a “serial entrepreneur” became the founder and chief executive officer of the Mas Group of Companies, which has five subsidies including the branding firm, Blue Magic, and Mas Consults & Associates, which is a business consultancy firm for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

Others are Mbale City Football Club, Track24, a security firm which uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide satellite tracking services for mobile assets and fleets of mostly haulage firms.

His advice to those readying to enter university is to stay open minded and focused on their dreams, saying courses that they take at the university do not predetermine their future.

Success, he says, requires one to focus on one’s dreams in much the same way that they focus on their books.

Moses Kaahwa
I was at Ntare School where I did History, Economics, Literature and Divinity and got 2AAAA. I joined Makerere University and pursed a Bachelors Degree in Law. I graduated in 2014, and was admitted to Law Development Centre for a Diploma in Legal Practice.
Upon completion, I secured a job with Equity Bank and later joined airtel Uganda’s Legal Department, where I worked as a legal and regulatory advisor. I am a chartered company secretary with the Institute of Chartered Secretaries in the UK. Currently, I am an Associate partner at Katumba and Company advocates.

Deborah Nasozi
Having got 1AAAB in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics from Nabisunsa Girls School, I went to Makerere University where I was offered a government scholarship.

I did a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. I was inspired by female civil engineers that visited us at Nabisunsa Girls. I completed my degree in 2013, and graduated in 2014. I went on to practice civil engineering in Sweden, specialising in Geotechnical engineering.

Currently, I am living in Stockholm, Sweden, with my family.

If I am offered a placement, I hope to start a Masters programme focusing on Geotechnical engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm in September this year.

From my experience and observation, good grades are important but they are not the only attribute that one should look at to determine one’s competence and success in life.

In my view, one’s competence is best judged by exposing one to different conditions.
Making it in life is being able to take advantage of the opportunities presented to one, it maybe good grades, networks, voluntary work, challenging situations etc.

Dr Ruth Nabisere Mirembe
Dr Ruth Nabisere Mirembe was one of the best four students at King’s College Budo. She posted 1ABAA in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Fine Art.
She had always wanted to be a medical doctor, so the decision to take up a course in human medicine was a no-brainer.

“I got into medical school at Makerere University College of Health Sciences and the long five-year journey, despite the challenges, was worth it because it saw my dreams come true,” she says.

Immediately after graduation, she was employed by Makerere University - John Hopkins University Research Collaboration (MUJHU), one of the centres of excellence dealing in HIV research.

There, she worked as a research medical officer for two years.
The scope of work entailed clinical trials in HIV among HIV infected mothers and their new born children.
The main objective was to contribute towards prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

In 2017, she got an opportunity to pursue a postgraduate degree in Public Health at the University of Leeds after she was awarded a Commonwealth shared scholarship.

She has since returned to Uganda and is currently working with the Infectious Diseases Institute at Mulago National Referral Hospital where she handles clinical management of HIV infected adults.

With those achievements, others would perhaps be content to sit on their laurels, but not so for her.
“I am grateful to God for my achievements thus far, but my journey in medicine still has a long way to go,” she says.
Her advice is simple- “Trust God, work hard and follow your passion. Your choice determines what you are going to do for the rest of your life, hence it is important that you love and enjoy your daily work. All the best,” she says.

Dickens Ahimbisibwe
Dickens Ahimbisibwe was one of the star students from Ntare School in Mbarara. He scored 1ABBC in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics and joined Makerere University to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering.

Mr Ahimbisibwe does not believe he entered Makerere ready to become the engineer he is now, but it was one lecturer, Dominic Semukutu, whose words of counsel left an indelible mark on him.

He said: “The class of degree you get in first year is most likely the class you will get after the fourth year.”
Mr Ahimbisibwe said this changed the whole game.

He graduated four years later with a First Class degree in Civil Engineering and got a job with ICS Engineering, a consultancy firm based in Nakasero, Kampala.

Currently, Mr Ahimbisibwe works with Uganda National Roads Authority as a highway design engineer. His job involves planning routes for new roads or even old ones.

“Besides the route, I have to see where a junction will be, where to put a hump to ensure the road is safe.
One of his latest projects is Hoima– Butiaba–Wanseko Road, for which he did a design review to realign the geometric aspects which is under construction. Mr Ahimbisibwe has worked on the Kampala Flyover and the Kampala – Jinja Expressway. “After studies, it was not hard to get a job because civil engineering jobs are all over,” he says.

Lydia Kabere
After Nabisunsa Girls School where I did Physics, Economics, Mathematics and Entrepreneurship, and got 3AAAB, I joined Makerere University on a government scholarship.

I studied Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Economics. Initially, I had wanted to study accounting.
However, I was advised by my parents and one of the teachers at Nabisunsa that the course would have what I was interested in but also has Mathematics and Economics, which I was also good at and loved, and that is how I ended up doing that course.

Currently, I am working with the Bermuda Monetary Authority in Bermuda, where I also live with my husband and son. I am also a certified Chartered Accountant. This is the career I am pursuing now, but also hoping to add more knowledge in Insurance Finance to it.
I think good grades matter in a way. There is always encouragement that if I did those exams well, then I can do well with what ever am putting my head to.

But again, the discipline one goes through; of hard work, reading smart, persistence while studying, imparts some life long values that stay with them

And also, that winning attitude is important for the world of work, so all those do contribute.
To the stars this year, do not drop the winning ball. If you look at even the smallest task of life that you need to accomplish to best, you will keep winning.

Amuli Bakidde
Amuli Bakidde did Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Economics at Kibuli SS and 10 years down, he is the managing director of Stream Konsult based in Kiira Division, Kampala.

After his Senior Six, Mr Bakidde went to Makerere University, from where he graduated as a Civil Engineer. After graduation in 2014, he worked for Infrastructure Projects Ltd, from where he joined Iliso Consulting, an ambitious structural drawing of a building he worked on stands tall on his Facebook wall.

Mr Bakidde says he designs and builds residential houses for clients the latest one being an eleven bedroomed house he is building in Kiira Division, Kampala. He admits that at Makerere University, he was not the best in his class because he met better students.

Looking back at the journey, Mr Bakidde advises star students to endeavour to make friends. “When you are at Makerere University, you think of completing and finding a good job. Let them network as much as possible, this is one of the things I miss at campus. Let them make friends from all disciplines,” notes Bakidde.

At his current job, Mr Bakidde discovered he needed bankers more because they have the money that helps him run his projects.
Mr Bakidde says he is not into employment because he always dreamt of going solo. He acknowledges that business is low, but promising.

Lorna Nahabwe
I was at Nabisunsa Girls School and got 1AAAA.
For further studies, I joined Makerere University Business School on government sponsorship and did a Bachelors of International Business. Thereafter, I did an MBA (accounting) at Makerere University.
For the last five years to date, I have been working with Equity Bank Uganda Limited in the finance department as an accountant.
Personally, I believe good grades open certain doors and that makes the good grades matter. However, a person needs to be disciplined, hardworking and should have a positive attitude towards life and work in order to achieve success in life.
One of the principles I have lived with in life is one I got from my parents - “There is space at the top”.
This has always been a motivation for me to work hard and to aim for the top.

Miremba Zablon Zion Masereka
Zablon was one of the best performers at King’s College Buddo, posting 1BAAA in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and French and enrolled for Electrical Engineering at Makerere University, but has since taken a very different career path.
“He never got to practice engineering. Soon after he left university, he studied ACCA and has since been working as an auditor,” his sister, Esther Masereka, told Sunday Monitor.

It would look like a case of having taken up a course other than what he was actually interested in.
“I had wanted to do biomedical engineering, but when I realised it would involve me having to practice it elsewhere, I stalled,” he wrote in an email to Sunday Monitor.

However, much earlier while studying at Makerere University, he had learnt that a degree was merely a stepping stone to a wide range of opportunities.

“At first, I thought audit would be temporary as I looked for avenues to practice engineering, but with time, with the exposure I was getting at PwC, and the studies I was undertaking (ACCA ), I realised that it would be more enriching to take this path,” he wrote.
“I encourage all persons graduating to keep an open mind because that opens then up to a whole world of opportunities,” he said.

Jonathan Wandera
Jonathan Wandera, who did History, Economics, Divinity and Literature and posted 2BBAD, went on to do law at Makerere University, before joining the Law Development Centre for a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

He was quite lucky. The biting economic conditions have often seen people take up courses simply because it is what they can get on government sponsorship and not because that is where their interests are. Many are the cases where students have been told to take up the courses to “save the families” the bother of having to look for tuition fees.

“I had been offered admission to take up a course in Information Technology (IT) on government sponsorship, but that was not where my interest was. I insisted that I wanted to do law, which I could only do on private sponsorship. My family was very supportive,” he says.

During his time at Makerere University and Law Development Centre, he took up employment with Capital Law Partners, with whom he worked for about two years after graduation and enrolled as an advocate of the High Court, but he has since moved on.
He is now one of the main partners in JW Advocates.

His advice to young people seeking to join the university is simple: “Go for courses that you are interested in, but only those that you can handle”.

Justus Egesa
Egesa Justus was one of the best performers at Busoga College Mwiri with BDAB in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Entrepreneurship. He went on to study Computer Engineering at Busitema University, but has since quit to do business.

His interest had been in telecommunication engineering, but when the sponsorship came it was for a course in Computer engineering. A course in telecommunication engineering could only come if he could sponsor

“It came to a point where it was decided that I take the government sponsored course to save the family the bother of looking for tuition fees. Besides, my father was also pursuing his degree course at Makerere,” he says.

Following his graduation, he practiced for about two years before opting to quit.
“The world of computers evolves very fast and, I do not think I was not moving very fast on it. So I quit. When I look back I think I practiced even a half of what I learnt in computer engineering,” he says.

Egesa currently runs a pharmacy and also helps out his father, Mr Fred Wabwire, who is the proprietor of Victory Primary School in Busia town.

Compiled by Isaac Mufumba, Desire Mbabali, Tom Malaba and Desire Ruth.