Support Muni University in its hour of need
What you need to know:
- Muni University currently has only one full Professor and four Associate Professors which leaves a lot to be desired.
Tomorrow, President Museveni will install a new Chancellor of Muni University at a colourful ceremony which will take place at the University Campus in Arua City. The new and second Chancellor of Muni University is a favourite son of the soil and distinguished Church of Uganda Archbishop Emeritus, His Grace Henry Luke Orombi. According to the programme for the installation of the second Chancellor of Muni University, the 1st Chancellor, Dr Eric Tiyo Adriko, another distinguished and favourite son of the soil, will address the Congregation and hand over office peacefully to his successor.
The ceremony will take place against the backdrop of the tragic and untimely death of the 1st Vice Chancellor of Muni University, the eminent, illustrious and renowned scholar, Professor Christine Dranzoa who passed on at Mulago Hospital, Kampala on June 28, 2022. May her soul rest in eternal peace!
Muni University is a public institution established in 2013 by the Government of Uganda in accordance with Universities and other Tertiary Institutions Act of 2006.
The university, which started with one faculty running two academic programmes, has grown to six faculties running a total of 24 academic programmes today.
Fifteen programmes are at various stages of accreditation with the National Council for Higher Education and 10 others are currently with the Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development for clearance.
Student enrollment has grown from the original 87 students to 676 during the 2021/2022 academic year. A total of 379 students, in four programmes, have graduated from the university since 2017.
With effect from the fifth graduation ceremony scheduled to take place on Friday, Muni University will have produced over 500 graduates for Uganda’s job market. On the frontier of research and innovations, Muni University has since its inception undertaken 21 research projects earning a total of US$1,268,383 for the university. Publications by the university in scientific journals have increased from two in 2014 to 182 in 2022.
In 2009/2010FY, the university received Shs 700 million as startup funds from Uganda Government; budgetary allocation for 2022/2023FY is Shs25.2 billion, of which Shs15.6 billion is for wages, Shs4.5billion for recurrent expenditure and only Shs3.89billion for development.
The human resources of the university have increased from the original 3-member task force to a total of 233 staff, of which 43 percent are academic staff.
As Muni University prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary in July 2023, the institution faces many serious challenges which impact negatively on its rapid development and steady growth; the primary challenges include gross underfunding, inadequate staffing and insufficient lecture space. I would like to urge the government of Uganda to address these challenges and problems as a matter of urgency.
The University consists of six faculties namely, Faculty of Management Science with three operational departments; Faculty of Health Science with three departments; Faculty of Science with four departments; Faculty of Technoscience with three departments; Faculty of Education with three departments and Faculty of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences with three departments.
Each of the six Faculties should ideally and under normal circumstances be headed by a full Professor and each department should have two Associate Professors with four senior Lecturers. Muni University currently has only one full Professor and four Associate Professors which leaves a lot to be desired. In order to achieve its noble objectives and goals, I appeal to Uganda’s development partners to provide appropriate, generous and timely assistance to support Muni University in its hour of need. Congratulations to the new Chancellor.
