Blindness never stops Luyombo’s passion for justice

Abbas Luyombo, 26, is a fresh graduate from Makerere University, Uganda’s top university. He says being visually impaired gave him the self-confidence to pursue a law course that will help him fight for social justice, diversity, and inclusion for people with disabilities in both public, private, and corporate spaces.

Luyombo is the fourth-born and only child with visual problems in the family of over 14 children, living in Matuga, Wakiso District.

He says, “When my parents realised the problem, they tried so much to see how much they could be accommodating and trained all siblings to be supportive. However, in the community, of course, you receive some levels of negativity, but you need to learn that life is not only positive. You learn to live with them and challenge that negativity.”

Starts school
Luyombo started school at Salaam School for the Blind in Mukono, which gutted fire last year. He then went to Iganga Secondary School in Iganga District, where he scooped 10 aggregates in Senior Four.

He joined the A-Level at the same school and studied history, divinity, and literature. He scored 20 points in the UACE exams.

Luyombo was given a government scholarship to study law at Makerere University after he had successfully passed his pre-entry.

In February, Luyombo graduated with a Bachelor of Laws during the 73th graduation ceremony with a CGPA of 3.74 (Second Class Upper), ranking him among the top 10 best performers in that cohort.

During the ceremony, the guild president, Lawrance Alionzi, awarded Luyombo as an outstanding male graduate student who outdid himself in academics and politics at the university.

“Apart from just going to class and reading his books, passing and leaving the walls of Makerere, he has been a Makerere student who has dedicated a significant amount of his time to contribute to the wealth of students and has gone extraordinary to fight for the rights of other students that have been abused,” Alionzi said.

Leadership roles.
Luyombo served as the 85 Guild Representative Councillor (GRC) School of Law and also as the 85 Guild Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

He also served as Guild Prime Minister in the 86th guild government.
Luyombo is the first student with a vision impairment to contest for mainstream school politics and win at the university.

In line with those positions, Luyombo is remembered for leading the process of advising the guild government on constitutional matters and cases that involved upholding the academic freedoms of students across the university.
He also worked closely with the 86th Guild President to halt the 15 tuition increment.

He initiated the first student-based constitutional review in the 86th Students’ Guild, and he is a keen advocate for diversity and inclusion in student leadership.

He initially had a record of debate and public speaking that dates back to his high school days, where he participated in the national championships and emerged as a top speaker twice. He represented the country in the world school debate championship in Indonesia and won all national and regional championships for universities.

“I took it upon myself to challenge myself and run in the mainstream race at the school of law; it was something challenging, but winning was something on which I was very keen. It has taken consistency and persistence to see that either various processes are taken towards creating more inclusion within the system of leadership or alternatively breaking barriers that would restrict pursuing particular goals that are the result of a lack of self-confidence.”

Challenges
“My major challenge was perception, where people perceive us differently in line with our duties. When someone holds a particular bias that you need to disapprove of,” he says.

He adds, “Balancing all academic, personal, and leadership schedules at once was most challenging. This becomes a bit complex, but when times move on, you must master the art of managing all of them.”

“It is all about mastering the art; the more you get busy, the more you learn to manage your work and schedules. I always make a timetable for my work, so I know what to do and when to do it, this gives me a chance to fulfil what I intend to do in the time required.”

Future plans
Currently, Luyombo works as a consultant for different individuals on different issues, including natural resources law and community justice, which involves going into communities and sensitising people about family law.

Luyombo is looking forward to increasing access to legal aid or legal representation for minority groups and advocating for access to decent and dignified work.

He advises his fellows to keep pushing harder, consistently. “Although there are many barriers, all we have to do is not lose hope; there will be a breakthrough.”

In addition, he appeals to the government to put up more practical measures, for example, implementing policies and laws that can support people with disabilities in terms of work, saying that there is still a lot of discrimination and stereotypes at places of work among people with disabilities.