WHAT NRM LIBERATION CELEBRATIONS SHOULD MEAN FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

By Moses Sserwanga

 As Ugandans mark the 32 Liberation Day Anniversary under the theme: Uganda’s liberation struggle; a significant contribution to our present and future development, it is imperative to remind ourselves about the essentials that are central to the transformation process from a peasant to a modern and prosperous society.

 

Uganda’s Vision 2040 was put in place to harness the abundant opportunities around the country. The opportunities include; oil and gas, tourism, minerals, ICT business, abundant labour force, geographical location and trade, water resources, industrialisation, and agriculture among others.

 

But the planners envisaged that one could not possibly realise the opportunities abound with our natural resources and hence underscored the importance of accelerating investments in the development of  infrastructure for (energy, transport, water, oil and gas and ICT); Science, Technology, Engineering and Innovation (STEI) not forgetting human resource development, peace , security and defence.

 

The full realisation of the intentions of  the well crafted  NRM government Vision 2040 statement , will therefore,  depend on the  commitment and dedication of all Ugandans towards hard work, premised on having  the  right attitudes and mind-sets to  improve our competitiveness and collective participation in national development .

 

This is because Uganda, as we all know, is endowed with significant amount of minerals which can be deployed for value addition across many development sectors including but not limited to the automotive industry.

 
Uganda’s airborne geophysical survey, geological mapping and geochemical sampling estimates that there are over 27 types of minerals in significant commercial viable reserves dotted across the country.  Iron ore deposits in Kabale and Kisoro areas alone are estimated to be over 50 million tonnes.  And yet these are not the only natural resources available , There  are other minerals which  include; Beryl, Bismuth, Columbite Tantalite, Copper, Chromite, Diamond, Gold, Tin (cassiterite), Wolfram(Tungsten), Asbes-tos, Clay, Diatomite, Feldspar, Granite Gneisis, Graphite, Gypsum, Kaolin, Kyanite, Limestone, Marble, Mica, Phos-phates, Rock Salt, Silca Sand, Talc, Cobalt, Lead, Zinc, Platinum Group Metals (PGM), Uranium, Vermiculite and Nickle to mention but a few .

 

When fully exploited these minerals can provide a source of raw materials for many industries triggering an industrial revolution with pleasant ramifications. The automotive industry is one of those sectors with a huge potential as demonstrated by other East African countries the Mobius in Kenya and now Volkswagen in Rwanda. Don’t forget that Uganda was hitherto ahead of these two countries in the development of the automotive industry through the country’s vehicle production flagship-the Kiira Motors Corporation, (KMC).

 

As  Rwanda  partners with German car maker Volkswagen to produce vehicles in Kigali,  Uganda too, has the opportunity to build a strong  automotive industry  with forward and backward linkages with other industries like mining  which will have far reaching economic and development  implications in revenue  generation and employment for the fastest  growing population in the world.

 

The huge global demand for vehicles is testament that once Uganda’s automotive industry takes off it could easily become one of the country‘s major foreign exchange earner. Some 79.6 million vehicles were sold last year alone and the demand is only expected to increase this year. This should be the bench-mark to fast- track the potential that Uganda’s industratisation trajectory presents.

 

A review of the development paths of many developed and emerging economies show that except for a few oil-exporting countries there is a direct relation between industrialisation and rapid development. A strong and competitive industrial base is therefore, important to create employment, advance technology and build a strong resilient economy.

 

But industrialisation cannot be realised out of the vacuum. There must be a conducive legal environment for the industrial sector development to take effect. It is a pity that not much has been done to develop the gazetted industrial parks which are supposed to be the  bedrock for industrialisation.

 

Government must put in place and support outward oriented policies to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and provide the entire necessary infrastructure in the gazetted national industrial parks for championing industrialisation. Otherwise,  celebrating national liberation without tangible economic benefit to the majority of the people shall be rendered redundant. Happy Liberation Day!

The writer is a media and communications Consultant/trainer and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda.   This article can also be found at msserwanga.blogspot.com

msserwanga@gmail.com

 

GOVERNMENT SHOULD IMPLEMENT THE MAKERERE UNIVERSITY VISITATION COMMITTE RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY

BY MOSES SSERWANGA

The  Visitation Committee on  Makerere University  in its report which was  officially handed over to President Yoweri Museveni last week , has made far reaching  recommendations to reform Uganda’s Higher Education Sub Sector to make it more  relevant to the country’s development goals through innovation and industrialisation.

The recommendations address thematic areas which include, teaching and learning, research and innovation, knowledge transfer partnerships and networks and the National Higher Education Strategic Plan which expired in 2015, among others.
The Committee which was set up in 2016 to examine the challenges that face Uganda’s Public Universities stressed the need to restructure training programs to place emphasis on skills development, research and innovation that is critical for the aspired national socio- economic transformation of the country.
This in essence means that Uganda must as a matter of urgency establish a resilient and vibrant higher education system that can contribute to the competitiveness of the country’s economy in tandem with the Vision 2040 and the National Development Plan II.
Although Makerere University is still ranked the 3^rd in Africa by Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 2016/17, a relatively good standing among its peers in the East African region and African continent , the Visitation Committee established in its investigations that the institution just like many others in the country, is still using backward teaching and learning methods which are  devoid of serious research undertakings and innovative ideas to reflect the institution’s mission of “Bringing the Future to the Present”.

The Committee also found that Makerere University lacks a comprehensive policy to guide the development of indigenous knowledge and knowledge transfer partnerships. This situation is not helped either by the lack of a nationally-funded research agenda and the allocation of less than one percent of the University’s internally generated income to research, innovations and skilled based knowledge/learning.

 These findings are of great national concern because the challenges as highlighted by the Committee are not only limited to Makerere University but cut across the entire Higher Education Sub Sector.

 

If Uganda is going to find space in a highly competitive global education system, there is urgent need to put in place a Higher Education Strategic Plan that will emphasise alternative thinking or “lateral” thinking and creative application of acquired skills through research and innovation as was espoused by Edward Charles Francis Publius de Bono, a Maltese philosopher, physician, psychologist, author and inventor.

 Makerere together with other stakeholders must this time round take some bold steps to implement the Committee’s recommendations by carrying out radical reforms which will promote research, innovation and skills based learning. Graduates who are skilled will be easily absorbed in the productive sectors such as the automotive industry. There is already evidence to prove that once well thought out reforms as advocated by the Visitation Committee are expeditiously implemented, Uganda’s Higher Education Sector can be transformed rapidly.

 

This is because many of these revolutionary concepts are not alien to our education systems they have either been captured in previous reports or have been implemented but rather selectively by a few spirited individuals.

 Take for instance the Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) a national automotive manufacturing company that designed and produced the first solar bus in Africa –the Kayoola solar bus has built on many of its widely acclaimed milestones to develop the Kiira Motors brand identity and is now slated to produce vehicles made in Uganda for the first time this year. But this is not to forget that KMC was initially a Makerere University Presidential Initiative Project which in the late 2000s demonstrated that students, when given the right knowledge, skills, guidance and attitude can be quite innovative. At the time, under the stewardship of Prof. Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa and Mr. Paul Isaac Musasizi, a handful of students at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology, designed and built the first electric vehicle in Africa, the Kiira EV.

 Similarly, by employing alternative thinking, Makerere University is running a program called Resilient Africa Networks (RAN) the largest University –Institutionalised Platform that involves 18 Universities spread across 13 African countries. The Platform is used as a conduit for engagements with cities and communities in Africa to generate knowledge and skills to inform resilience driven innovations that create African solutions to Africa’s problems. The RAN lab alone manages a multidisciplinary portfolio of over 150 innovations.

These and many other examples show that we can get out of this retarded Higher Education quagmire. The Visitation Committee has recommended that Makerere and other public universities should in the short and medium term, ensure that professional bodies, industry and employers are actively involved in the development and restructuring of courses so that the restructured programs are relevant to the national development needs and agenda. The Committee also calls for a review of the internship programme to capture students’ learning experiences.

In addition, it urges government to sustainably operationalise the Research and Innovation Fund and scale it up from the Shs. 500bn to boost research and innovation at the national level. The revolving fund should be competed for nationally by education and research institutions in both the public and private domains to encourage multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, academics, students and practitioners including inventors and industrialists.

 This is the only way Higher Education Institutions can fulfil their mandate and be at the helm of national economic development and transformation through their contribution to professional training.  The Uganda Vision 2040 places great importance on developing a skilled and creative workforce to harness the abundant economic opportunities available in Uganda especially in regard to natural resources and industrialisation.

And yes, it can be done if government and all stakeholders can implement the recommendations as contained in the Makerere Visitation Committee Report without further delay.

The writer is a Media and Communications Consultant and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda. This article can also be found at msserwanga.blogspot.com 

msserwanga@gmail.com