Juggling books and military duties

At one moment he was attending lectures and the next call of duty would be with UPDF for duty that prolonged Lt Col Dr Julius Emmy Kumanya’s PhD in Management and Administration from possible four years to seven but did not break his resolve to attain the milestone.

At Kumanya’s graduation party at Las Vegas Garden Hotel in Bunga recently,  we learnt that the battle hardened soldier and professional accountant researched on the analysis of continuous professional development training and performance of accountants in the public sector of Uganda.

Like his name Kumanya (loosely translated as to know) in Bantu dialect, the amiable military man has an unmatched love for books and has left a trail of being the best in most of the academic institutions he attended.

Inspired by family

At Kumanya’s graduation, attended by crème de la crème in the army, academia and Rotary fraternity, he revealed how he was inspired to crave the doctorate achievement by some of his close relatives and demanding society when he was tied down by military assignments.

“I am fortunate to have Prof Alex Bashasha as my uncle because he bankrolled me for this prestigious course. I have always wanted to tread his academic and military path since childhood. Midway his studies in 1979, Prof Bashasha broke off to fight Idi Amin, returned to books to become a professor in law. That is the path I have always followed,” he said.

Getting a nod from Museveni

In his maiden speech at the graduation, Dr Kumanya revealed how he worked as a soldier at the lowest rank of Private in the then Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) December 31, 1997 where he stood up at a presidential briefing in Rwakitura to ask President Yoweri Museveni if low ranking soldiers can also continue pursuing their academic dreams. He would remind the Commander in Chief about the same on August 18, 1998 about the same plea to which he directed the then commanding officer Maj Dick Bugingo to pave way for the soldiers in need of further academic endeavours. That allowed Kumanya to enroll for a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting at Makerere University. He graduated with honours on October 22, 2004.

Immediately after graduation, he enrolled for  the Association of Chattered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of UK. This was interrupted by his being nominated for officer cadet course in Butiaba in 2006 where he was commissioned to second lieutenant.

He was thereafter posted to work with Gen Kale Kayihura as a financial analyst in the Uganda Police Force. He worked closely with AIGP John Ndungutse who also graced the  event in the Professional Standards Unit (PSU).

Later, Kumanya got an opportunity to undertake his post graduate studies on scholarship under the India-Africa Tele-education programme collaborated between Amity University , India and Makerere University to pursue a Masters in Financial Management from 2011 to 2012. He turned out one of the best performers in his class and was aptly advised by Prof Gerald Karyeija Kagambirwe about the opportunity of a PhD programme at Uganda Management Institute in 2013. Sponsored by his uncle  Prof Bashasha, Kumanya set out for his doctorate in 2013 that was punctuated with breakoffs to attend to career military training.

Kumanya’s tangible input can be best felt in Wazalendo Sacco, the UPDF saving scheme.

 “I worked for two years as a treasurer and was part of the team that transformed Wazalendo Sacco performance from 2014 to 2016. From net profits after tax of Shs6bn to Shs15bn when I left, in addition to solving the tax question that the President put to rest. It gives me satisfaction that its capital is now bigger than most commercial banks in town,” he said.

The  balancing  act

To get to the D-day, Kumanya had four layoffs which expounds the seven-year wait. First, he was sent to US for a military logistics course at Wright Phillips Air Force Base in Ohio in the Defence Institute of Security Cooperation Studies (DISCS). 

Thereafter, he was sent to Gadhafi Barracks for a junior command and staff course for six months and in the same year was sent to NALI-Kyankwanzi for Advanced Political Education and Leadership Course (APELC). The lengthier break came with the senior command and staff course at Kimaka where he graduated with a passed staff college (psc) accolade which could force the weak-hearted to bin the PhD.

“I am glad to have always been deployed at the headquarters and also being gifted with a knack to grasp lessons in class. I worked during the day and burned midnight oil to achieve this honour with distinction,” he revealed. 

At the same time, he dared to concurrently undertake another Masters of Arts in Defence and Security Studies at Makerere University under  a partnership with Senior Command and Staff College, Kimaka that he will be graduating next year.

Kumanya credits his ‘understanding’ UMI lecturers who coincidentally taught at Kimaka.

The thesis 

Kumanya’s PhD thesis research looks at the continuous professional development training of professional accountants working in government entities. The accountants Act requires them to have mandatory 40 hours of training every year.

“My study showed that it is not what they study but their work environment. They are supervised by politicians that have personal agendas, yet the society also impacts on their performance and demands them to gain riches even if you do not earn a commensurate salary,” he said.

He looked at those that had trained and those that had not trained but they were more or less the same. The study recommended that the training of accountants, especially in technology is a must and thus Kumanya developed a Competence development and evaluation model adopted from Kirkpatrick, 2009.

“We embedded it to be used by government to make an assessment of the required skills of accountants rather than just sending them for training. Government agencies must look at who is skilled and how to handle them, help them apply what they have learned, evaluate and implement what is studied to solve financial mismanagement in the country,” he added.

Aiming  higher

The father of six is ready for redeployment with UPDF, serving the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAU) and continuing with accountancy research and disseminating knowledge in addition to serving Rotary International since he is a member. A practicing accountant with Kumanya Karakuzi & Co, an audit firm where he is the managing partner, he is waiting for UPDF to give him the green light to take up a teaching opportunity at UMI and later extend his research to attain professorship.

Benefactor says

Kumanya first broke his ‘performance record’ in secondary school nine years apart and continued to excel at top institutions.

“He is a go-getter, focused, reserved and intelligent. I knew that nothing could halt his dream of attaining the PhD,” Prof Bashasha revealed.

He thanked the army leadership for granting soldiers such as Kumanya education space to attain their dreams and reshape the force.

“I am grateful to his immediate boss Brig Gen Charles Bakahamura who has supported him. Kumanya is headed for big things in the professionalising force if he can keep his down to earth, robust and patriotic demeanour,” he added. 

Prof Bashasha urged Kumanya to upgrade to meet the demanding standards of the ever changing world.

Motivation

 He is motivated by about five other PhD holders including a professor of laws and UPDF’s move to improve its human capital with the Education Implementation Committee (EIC) initiative headed by Maj Gen Henry Masiko who graced the occasion. 

While working at the chieftaincy of finance, he helped prepare a syllabus for officers to acquire a basic finance officers course conducted at the College of Logistics and Engineering in Magamaga, being one of the instructors and his initiative with ICPAU has seen more than 30 soldiers enroll for CPA programme sponsored by Ministry of Finance.  

Kumanya is forever indebted to Brig Gen Bakahumura, the chief of logistics and engineering in UPDF who attended the graduation and lauded him as ‘workaholic, dedicated and innovative soldier’.

At a glance

Born on March 26, 1973 to Winston George Turahe and Rhoda Turahe in Nyarurambi Parish Rwamucucu Sub-county in Rukiga District, Kumanya is married to fellow chartered accountant Sylvia Drabo Kumanya and they have six children. He attended Kihanga Boys School, Kihanga Senior Secondary School and St Peter’s College Tororo in 1994 before re-joining the army in 1996. He had earlier been in NRA as a kadogo but returned home to further his education.