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Profiles of PhD Students Graduating from Makerere University

Mwanga Mastullah Ashah
What you need to know:
- Monitor’s Damali Mukhaye presents profiles of more PhD students graduating from Makerere University during its week-long ceremony, which ends on January 17, 2025. The profiles include four students who graduated from MUBS.

Immaculate Mugisa
IMMACULATE MUGISA
She investigated the genetics underlying resistance to the African sweet potato weevils, storage root yield, and dry matter content in sweet potatoes. Using a sweet potato diversity panel, the study examined heterotic gains, transgressive segregation, fitness costs, and genome-wide association analyses. The study identified superior clones, crosses, and parental genotypes that expressed phenotypic resistance to Cylas spp.
It established a fitness cost due to weevil resistance in the form of a 10 percent yield penalty. Furthermore, 18 genomic markers associated with weevil resistance were identified on chromosomes 4, 7, 10, and 12, along with others that control root yield and dry matter content. High-yielding resistant clones identified can be deployed as parental genotypes in further breeding or released to farmers after additional tests.
MWANGA MASTULLAH ASHAH
Dr Ashah’s study highlights how polygamy and cohabitation affect access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Uganda, particularly within Muslim and cultural communities. Her research identifies Uganda’s inadequate legal framework as a significant factor in these challenges.
The absence of culturally sensitive legal provisions has deepened gender inequalities and hindered women’s access to SRHR services in Muslim communities. She recommends empowering women, engaging religious leaders in SRHR advocacy, and formalising Qadhi’s courts for justice within Muslim communities.
EDWARD MUSOKE
He examined the technical efficiency and total factor productivity growth of health systems in 29 African least developed countries (LDCs) from 2008 to 2018. The findings revealed variations in technical efficiency, with reductions linked to political instability, voice and accountability, gross secondary school enrollment, unemployment, and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
Improvements were associated with regulatory quality, gross national income, and adult literacy rates. The study recommended that African LDCs with technically inefficient health systems benchmark their counterparts with efficient health systems, enhance accountability, improve education quality, create employment, combat HIV/AIDS, and adopt advanced technologies to achieve sustainable total factor productivity growth.

BOB SSEKIZIYIVU
He investigated strategy execution in Uganda’s road transport firms, employing dynamic capabilities, complex adaptability, and institutional theories. The study examined how organisational learning, firm resources, institutional isomorphism, and organisational adaptability influence strategy execution in a volatile environment where firms adopt diverse strategies.
Using a mixed-methods design, primary data were collected from 95 transport firms, revealing that organisational adaptability mediates the relationship between firm resources, institutional isomorphism, and strategy execution but not organisational learning. The study advocates for government subsidies to promote environmentally friendly vehicle use under the green transport initiative and emphasises improving coordination among government agencies to address institutional voids in the transport industry.
OSCAR MWEBESA KAMUSIIME
He investigated how business interest groups influence revenue reforms in Uganda using a case study approach. The study found that revenue reforms are influenced by various business interest groups by blocking or softening the reforms or setting the agenda for reform. These findings inform policy discussions on improving domestic revenue mobilisation.
JAMES NKUUBI
He provided a comprehensive historical examination (from the pre-colonial era to 2023) of how the law has been harnessed to enable the militarisation of Uganda. The study draws upon discourse analysis, lawfare-legal instrumentalisation, and securitisation theories. It develops a four-typological classification of militarisation: structural, non-structural, replicative, and transitional, observable across different spectrums of Uganda. The study concludes that Uganda experiences ‘constitutionalised militarisation,’ which can be mitigated through legislative reforms.

DORCUS KALEMBE
She examined the relationship between CEO power, serving two masters, audit committee effectiveness, internal audit function quality, and earnings quality in regulated firms in Uganda. The study found that CEO power negatively impacts earnings quality, internal audit does not improve earnings quality, and audit committee effectiveness significantly predicts earnings quality. The study recommends evaluating current firm governance provisions and internal audits, and that CEOs use their power responsibly to benefit the firm.

FARIDA NAKAYIMA
She investigated the influence of asset specificity, relational governance, firm ecosystem, and firm adaptability on supply chain integration in the food-processing sector. The study found that firms adapt to uncertain situations by investing in specific assets, building relationships, and creating strong ecosystems. However, low trust, multi-level relationships, and limited government support hinder operations in the sector. The study recommends government support to address these challenges and achieve sustainable development goals.

YIGA SIRAJJE
He investigated entrepreneurial behaviour among millennials in Uganda, employing a multi-theoretical approach. The findings indicate that generational persona, initiative conduct, and adaptability tendencies are positively related to entrepreneurial behaviour. Adaptability tendencies mediate the relationship between generational persona, behavioural change, and entrepreneurial behaviour. The study recommends reinforcing the National Youth Action Plan to align it with the practical needs of the youth.