For
October, it has not been possible to have a Magazine format; instead we are
having a number of stories/articles below.
You may copy and cut out to a Microsoft word format where pages will be
clearly shown. Thank you,
Editor: Willy Kituuka
Email:
williamkituuka@yahoo.com
Appreciation
v
I wish
to express my appreciation to Dr. G. H. Kkolokolo for his financial support and
giving me courage as well as contributing to the publications which are meant
to promote the image of St. Mary’s College Kisubi, which though known for
training scientists, its products are meant to be leaders, more so bound by
religious norms. I thank the Doctor.
v
I also
thank all those who take time to read my works.
Who am I that there is some sense they find to continue reading my
works?
v
I thank
my ‘young brother’ Isaac Mpoza for the envelope he once gave me – this is the
real spirit which SMACK OBs should promote.
v
As for
Mr. Charles Mbire, I am short of words.
He uplifted me, and now I am really worth a man from SMACK. Against all odds, where some OBs have thought
I am political and kept a distance, to my brother who was a class ahead at
school though he is miles away now, I simply say, “Thank you Charles.”
v
And,
for all OBs who have made some pledge, I am most grateful for I know one day
you will deliver.
v
To
fellow OBs of SMACK, I am in the field of Good Governance, and I must be seen
practical. The Police may one day be on
me, as is the norm for those who are seen as fighting the state. Please, when I am in trouble sometime and you
learn about it, come to my rescue, for I promise to continue my mission until
we get Good Governance Practice.
Willy Kituuka – Editor
“DUC IN ALTUM”
EDITORIAL
For
quite sometime now, may be about 2 months, we have been treated to what has
since come to be known as the “Temangalo Land Saga.” This in essence shows how a regime which over
stays in power can degenerate, with “the feeling of shame gone!” This is
unfortunate. For a group who ventured
into the Luwero bushes, walked over a number of innocently murdered, now known
as the “Luwero skulls,” for a cause which they disguised as national liberation
and is now clearly seen as personal financial liberation!
In
one instance, I listened to “Hon. Amama Mbabazi” explain from KFM Radio that
procurement for investment did not require the approval by the Public Procurement
and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA)!
This was news more so against the background that NSSF bought the
structure which previously housed the Ministry of Gender, and Audit reports
clearly showed that the purchase price had been inflated!
An
investigation report by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets
Authority into the NSSF’s land deal with businessman Amos Nzeyi and Security
Minister Amama Mbabazi has indicted the fund’s top management and recommended
“severe disciplinary” action against them.
PPDA Executive Director Edgar Agaba told Daily Monitor that in recommending severe disciplinary action, the Authority is seeking a “suspension” of the fund’s top managers, or a punishment “commensurate to the kind of mistakes they committed.” (The Monitor Friday 24, 2008)
PPDA Executive Director Edgar Agaba told Daily Monitor that in recommending severe disciplinary action, the Authority is seeking a “suspension” of the fund’s top managers, or a punishment “commensurate to the kind of mistakes they committed.” (The Monitor Friday 24, 2008)
The
change of the composition of the NSSF Board to have 4 workers added makes sense
in theory, but practically the four will not close the door for politicians who
at all cost will keep encroaching on this ‘Golden manna’ given to them by
virtue of the historical roles they played in the “Liberation of their
pockets.” It has been proposed that
liberalization of the Social Security Fund is the way to go. The practicability of this is the
problem. Assuming Parliament okayed the liberalization
of Social Security, it is likely that given the reputation of NSSF, many
workers would wish to opt out. If this
happened, it would be very difficult to divide the workers’ savings into the
various social fund investors, more so, where NSSF decisions have been
interfered with by politically motivated investments which are not value for
money.
The
way forward is that NSSF should remain the sole social security fund in the
country given that when the fund mobilizations are sensibly utilized, a lot of
achievements can be accomplished which would not probably call for borrowing from big financial
establishments. What can be done is to
make public all decisions of investment nature prior to implementation in the
press so that the public can debate and okay them if found to make economic
sense.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
- Don’t Cry
3 - Possible
Clues to the Budo Fire
3 - President
Museveni does not need poverty visits
3 - The use and
Discard Policy of the NRM
5 - Good Luck
to all our Candidates
5 - Go forward,
Dr. Lwanga
5 - Govt.
Sponsorship promotes Exam Cheating
6 - The day when SMACK Re-discovered Hon. Kajura & Dr. Lubega 7
- The Min. of
Education & International Languages
8 - LC’s and
Legality
8 - Reflexology Practitioners & Conventional Medicine 8
- Go to the
Search Engine …
8 - Oh God! “How many more need to die on our roads?” 8
- Brother
Kyemwa more than a father!
9 - Mr. J. C.
Kiwanuka made 89 years
11 - SMACK’s
other Key Constituencies
12 - Prof.
Otiti’, Uganda’s
Only Nobel prize Winner
13 - Let us not
build a Katayimbwa Economy
14 - When the
petrodollar cannot save Nigerians
14 - UAC call for
proposals amazed me
14 - Dear
Doctors, “Is AIDS; Cancer?”
15 - Oh! My
blocked email (wkituuka@yahoo.com)
15 - De-congesting
Kampala
15 - Cleaning
the Highway leaves Kajjansi in darkness
16 - Moringa - Marketing is the problem
16 - Kiwanuka’s
First House prefect Bereaved
17 - Football in
Germany
17 - Bibiana
Steinhaus – first female referee
18 - Major New
Airport under construction
19 - Did you
know that?
19 - Growing
trade Highlights Food Safety
20 - Biotechnology
and Food Security
20 - What is
Biotechnology?
21 - How can
biotechnology help the hungry
21 - Genetically
Engineered Products: Many unknowns
22
1. DON’T CRY!
It
amazes me to find a parent/teacher telling a child not to cry when being
canned. I thought the idea of canning
was to inflict pain, and because it is normal that such pain inflicted is
balanced with crying/tears as the expression of pain, it disturbs to see the
one who wants to see the other party in pain demanding that the beaten victim
does not cry! Does it make sense?
2. Possible Clues to Budo Fire
If
Uganda Government is concerned about the 20 children who died in the Budo fire
and the pain inflicted parents/relatives, the way to go is to get the parents
who withdrew children prior to the fire, as chances are that they may have had
prior knowledge about the fire, hence wanted to save the lives of their
children. Secondly, parents who arrived
while the dorm was still on fire and immediately testify that two bodies of
mature men were recovered from the dorm.
These bodies MUST have been there but someone must be killing the
evidence. Just get the police who were
on duty and the parents who testify to have seen them put the bodies on the
truck. If these two cannot yield to the
clues to how the fire came about, then it may make a lot of sense to abandon
the case.
3. President Museveni does not need poverty visits
I
am always amazed whenever I hear that President Museveni is on a visit to some
district and is really touched by the poverty prevailing in the
countryside. He ought to be concerned
about the poverty because much of its intensity is directly due to the harsh
economic policies of the day, more so given
the global financial crisis.
the global financial crisis.
Finance Minister Dr Ezra Suruma told Parliament on Thursday, 23 2008 that while Uganda is not directly exposed to the risk, the crisis could lead to a reduction in money remitted by Ugandans in the Diaspora, aid flows from donor countries, and foreign direct investment into the country.
The minister’s statement came a few hours after Central Bank Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime - Mutebile told a press conference, called in the wake of the shilling’s slide against the US dollar, that the global economic woes would slow Uganda’s growth.
“We expect the recession in Europe and the US to reduce demand on our exports. This will lead to less earnings from exports, earnings from tourism are also going to be affected,” Mr Mutebile said. “Tentatively, I can say that instead of the 8 per cent growth rate, it will be in the range of 5 or 6 per cent.”
The global financial crisis, triggered by risky loans given to US borrowers and sold on across the world, has been raging for several months mainly in the developed world. Mr Mutebile told a press conference on September 24 that while there was need to be concerned, the effects on the Ugandan economy would be minimal.
The two economic chiefs, however, were forced to raise the red flag Thursday after the shilling fell steeply against the US dollar in this week’s trading. The shilling traded at Shs2,200 to the dollar by close of Wednesday before cooling down marginally yesterday to Shs2,000 after the Central Bank injected $300,000 (Shs600 million) into the market.
“There are already signs of depreciation of the shilling in the foreign exchange market,” Dr Suruma told MPs. “We are watching it very closely and will take the action necessary to encourage exports and stem inflation.”
Given
the above new development, knowing that things have not been better either for
the poor prior to this development, it should be is easier on a macro – level for
the president to help the poor people by remaining in his office and dealing
with among other things the following:
Creation of new districts/administrative
units – not only should
there be a ban on this, but actually some created districts should cease to
be. This culture of politicking is
funny, and also annoying. You get to
Kajjansi trading centre where one Town Board would be created, but because people
want to reap from politics, here are two town boards to be created in same
district one bordering the other and the dividing line is a water passage which
crosses Entebbe Highway
from the side of Uganda Clays! These
would under normal circumstances be in one Town, but trust political schemers,
we are to have two towns in what would be one town! Secondly, again under Local
Governance, time is now to trim the number of counselors on various councils
because supporting them is already to heavy a duty in financial terms to the
poor.
Oversized Parliament – we don’t need the oversized Parliament,
and the games going on now as regards the Temangalo land saga show you how the
institution is gradually losing repute!
Less than half the size of Parliament we have can deliver better and
even be better facilitated. It is in the
mandate of the President to see this a reality if he is really concerned about
the poverty.
He should do away with
Presidential advisers –
much of the work these do if at all they do anyway is supposed to be done by
the technical personnel in the Ministries.
Check corruption – if the President does not get the corrupt
investigated to the end, he may have to stomach more of what for example Bishop
Luzinda said at the burial of Dr. Sebunya. Corruption has reached stinking levels and
people can now react in ways which may even embarrass the Head of State. Prosecution should be done to the conclusive
end and not just make news that some prosecution is on and shortly after
abandoned.
The
President need to identify cadres
capable of manning critical aspects of the economy which are productive in
nature instead of sycophants we always hear about who are useless yet milk the
economy.
There is need for cutting all
tax rates across the board
– this will positively boost disposable income hence the purchasing power for
goods and services and chances are that more taxes will be realized, as well as
productivity, as high costs of virtually everything are constraining increased
economic activity.
Much has to be done to boost
agro-based industrialization. It is not clear why this is failing, as this
is one basis for export income.
4. The use and discard policy of the NRM
The
recent refusal of the Kabaka of Buganda to visit one of his counties under the
cover of ‘insecurity’ is not news. The
NRM has the practice of using and throwing to the dust bin once it has
successfully exploited a Good Samaritan.
More
than two decades now, NRM leaders seem to have forgotten that the ‘man’ they
barred from visiting his country was very useful at some moment when the
liberation war was still on, as they needed his presence to convince the people
to give the liberators support.
5. Good luck to all our
candidates
SMACKOBA
Paris-France, on the approach of the National UCE and UACE exams, wishes to
show herewith its solidarity with all members of the College community: the Headmaster, his Deputies, the Chaplain,
the teaching staff, the administrative staff, members of the regular school
personnel, and all students, in particular our beloved candidates of S IV and S
VI.
This is indeed to
assure you all of our fully committed spiritual and moral support at this very important
our. And we know very well that, our great motto DUC IN ALTUM, already playing
its part, our very prestigious college will naturally come out triumphant just
as it has always traditionally done.
Beloved
candidates, we count on you to steer to enviable success and glory Uganda’s most celebrated senior secondary school
and one of Africa’s top best colleges. Please,
rest assured that the Almighty Good God and Lord of all virtues and victories
will assure your success!
Warmest
regards to you all!
Dr G. H. Kkolokolo
(SMACKOBA –
Paris/France)
10.10.2008
6.
Dr
G.H. Kkolokolo ( Paris – France)
Much as I personally
respect others’ views on topical issues, I strongly however disagree
with anyone of those
manipulatable cheap minds, the scorn of any serious-minded
person, who have shown disapproval
of Archbishop Lwanga’s attitude and
style of approach to political issues during his sermons at Lubaga Cathedral.
Indeed, the
Archbishop as both a moral and spiritual guide is doing the right thing and he
is on the very same wavelength with his three illustrious predecessors :
Kiwanuka, Nsubuga and Wamala who too stood boldly firm whenever questions involving rights and duties arose and, just like Dr Lwanga now,
would pose as fearless spiritual leaders
to avert the faithful from
treading on any dangerous path.
One must
also understand that Dr Lwanga, as
Metropolitan Bishop in a region where
both tradition and politics are
strongly the interplay of
events, wouldn’t be wrong
in putting a finger on those questions that are solidly at heart in the minds of his faithful however much
this may
derange and disturb others if approached and treated in a manner contrary to
their way of thinking.
Likewise Dr
Lwanga, in line with his brave predecessors, has already been equally praised for
calling a spade a spade. See how he has always cautioned against insulting the
President and in addition, before a million-strong congregation at Namugongo,
he warmly expressed his gratitude
to the authorities for creating an environment conducive to freedom of worship, a liberty which enables the church to rightly
guide and counsel on any serious matters where morality and spirituality have to play
centre stage.
And in
this context the question of ever seeing Uganda succumb to a Rwanda-like
situation, as some naïve persons wrongly
observe, is just an eye-wash, for, in spite of the turmoil the nation has often
gone through due to political greed, any
vengeful scenario, like a
planned systematic mass-scale
genocide, has never appealed to people’s sentiments and will never do so,
thanks to the role played by religion as a guiding politico-moral factor, a
thing the Archbishop’s well-received sermons wisely aim at and strongly adhere
to.
7. Govt. Sponsorship promotes Exam Cheating!
If
Government removes the Government sponsorship at higher levels of learning, you
can be sure that cheating to pass exams will greatly have been fought!
The
driving force to cheat exams is that even with what traditionally were good
grades to take one to the University for a good course and at the same time be
Government sponsored is all now history to the extent that one needs to have an
average of say B’s not to be sure of Government sponsorship, a situation which
is not easy given the 4 principle subjects students offer.
Government
sponsorship is political, in that Government has political capital in
sponsoring some students, however, it makes no sense if the system is wholly
abused and Government is not able to bail the country out. We know many of the rich are the beneficiary
and many poor students who are bright have to look around for funding, yet if
all paid for tuition the discrimination would be more, yet tuition could even
be lowered compared to current levels.
There is fear that if corruptly based decisions are maintained by
Government, the future of the country is a real doom. Strong decisions have to be made to get the
country back on the road, short of that, Uganda is simply finished.
Money
saved would go to infrastructure development and better learning facilities as
well as employment creation which graduates target.
8. THE DAY WHEN SMACK
RE-DISCOVERED HON. KAJURA AND DR LUBEGA
Dr
G.H.Kkolokolo (Paris/France)
Yes, as
usual in similar circumstances, the two occasions were a historical milestone that
reached us to the personality of these two very prominent Kisubi gurus, namely
Hon. Henry Kajura, a long serving Minister
and former top civil servant with the East African Community, and late Dr
Lubega, East Africa’s first Ph D Architect.
We were
still young boys at SMACK. We had already heard of Mr H. Kajura but not to the
fully, until one day when we were listening to the 8 pm English radio news bulletin
in front of the main building, as the custom used to be at our time, and we
heard of one Mr Henry Kajura having been appointed Secretary-General of the then
powerful East African Community in Arusha. The bulletin gave us a complete
background of the distinguished individual and concluded by saying: “Mr Henry
Kajura was educated at St Mary’s College, Kisubi.”
At this
juncture there was a very solid clap of hands mingled with deafening applauses
of: “Hear! Hear! Hear!” At supper the entire conversation on every table was on
Kajura! The following day we rushed to the notice-board to read the English
daily, Uganda Argus, and the Luganda paper, Munno, and discovered a lot on our
celebrated alumnus whose picture was figuring prominently on the two dailies.
Then Kajura became a legend on his campus!
Equally
promoted to legendary celebrity was Dr Lubega whom we got to know for the very first
time thanks to this famous 8 pm news bulletin which qualified him as East Africa’s first Doctor of Architecture! Then the broadcaster
rose the amazed students to absolute
frenzy when, after having given at
length Dr Lubega’s academic background, he concluded by saying that Dr Lubega
did his secondary school studies at St
Mary’s College Kisubi. There was another uproar of those “Hear! Hear!
Hear! ” and, at table, supper was dominated not by the delicious menu
but by conversation about our celebrated alumnus who, the following day figured
also very prominently on the two dailies. And, just like for Hon Henry Kajura,
the Brothers helped us to get to know more and more about him and what he was
at SMACK. Then one day, some two months later as we were preparing to go to
class for preps after sports, we saw Rev Bro Peter Katanga taking around in the famous quadrangle a notable top-personality
individual. We greeted him as we moved on and the Brother presented him saying,:
“ This is Dr Lubega the first PhD architect in the whole of East Africa and, as
you all know, he is an OB of this college!”
Seized
with surprise and emotion, the students clapped very cheerfully and many
returned to the dormitories to inform their housemates of the presence of a
notable East African guru on the campus. And, as we eventually looked around,
we saw many heads peeping out of the windows to admire the legend whom many
others in the famous quadrangle were greeting with a slight inclination humbled
with a polite smile in respect : “Good evening, sir!” / “Good evening, Doctor!”
/ “We are very glad to see you, dear sir”/ “Thank you very much, dear sir, for
honouring us with this visit!” ETC…
Then
Lubega became a legend on his campus!
9. The Ministry of Education and
International Languages
If International Languages ever get to be not
officially authorized in secondary schools, one would wonder the intention of
this. It is clear that Government aided
schools have teachers who are not on the payroll, these are paid for by the PTA
funds, so, I don’t think it is a big wage bill that would make Government
interfere with the teaching of International languages knowing very well that
these are a pre-requisite to acquiring some jobs. One gets tempted to think that such a policy
when implemented would leave a few private operators to teach these languages
and hence would be able to make some bit of cash.
10. LC’s and Legality
We
are all aware that Lower LC’s are operating illegally. We are told that Government has no money to
fund elections. There have been
instances where some people have made a lot of noise about Constitutional
crises; however, as far as they are concerned, there seems to be no
Constitutional crisis in this case! It
is not clear for how long we are to keep on this way, however, meanwhile LC
courts are undertaking judgments; they are involved in contracts, name it. In
1986 or thereabout, it was possible to undertake elections very cheaply. For the sake of legality, given that there
are no funds as alleged, why doesn’t Government borrow from how these elections
were conducted in 1986 and at least have properly mandated people in office?
11. Reflexology Practitioners and Conventional Medicine
Practitioners
of Reflexology are convincing as many people as possible to change from
conventional medicine to Reflexology treatment.
There is need for proper guidance here.
Already there is a gentleman who was told that with reflexology
treatment he would not need the daily injections for diabetes, and this patient
nearly died. Can Government (Ministry of
Health) come out clearly on how reflexology can co-exist with conventional
medicine, and how patients on conventional treatment can be started on
reflexology treatment without worsening their health problems.
12. Go to the Search engine ….
If
you go to the Internet search engine, be it Yahoo, Google, or any other, and
you fill your name, and there are no results in your favour, then it means you
may need to do some homework. Worldwide,
someone should be able to feed your name into the search engine and get at
least one result; say your particulars or your works, name it. You can even use free facility like on
Tagged. You can take a look at my page –
Just click the link:
13. Oh God! “How many more need to die on our roads?”
Not
long ago, I went for an Introduction Ceremony of a long time friend. On our way back, I wondered whether it was
worth risking life to go for some of these functions given our drivers. To the function we had an institution driver
who was driving a new vehicle and it is until traffic police warned him about
his speed that he realized he was speeding.
On the way back, I thought changing vehicles was a better option. It wasn’t!
We came while it rained and at times I had to tell the driver to mind
our security, and by grace of God we arrived in one piece.
Recently
a bus crushed into a trailer in Lugazi and the death toll has risen to 40! I remember a time when Idi Amin banned the
trucks on roads at night. Given the
death rate on our roads, it may be better to have trucks stop traveling at
night. 40 people can not perish in
accident and we take this normal. Speed
Governors are yet to be enforced, and it is a political decision that they are
yet to be implemented. There is simply a
lot of junk vehicles including buses imported in the country as well as
used/old spare parts. After those
deaths, what happens to the dependants?
Is it any body’s concern? Can we
get serious in this country and stop having politics leading in all decisions
to be made. If vehicle owners cry about
the cost of fitting speed governors, should we scrap them and just let people
die? What ever possible ought to be done
to have safer road transport.
14. Brother Anthony Kyemwa more than a father!
I
will never forget the parental care of Brother Anthony Kyemwa former Headmaster
of St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMC).
Kyemwa saw the school through very difficult time in the 70’s. The
school had no fence but trust the Brother, he was in control. There was insecurity in Amin’s time, but the
Brother made it to see us go for preps where teachers at times were
scared. He endured through the strikes
mostly due to food. I thank the Brother
for the parental care.
For
the students, reading was pleasure (unlike the situation now when cheating of
examinations is the norm by a number of students who don’t want to read yet
they fictitiously want to show they excel at books. For us we could even compete in
bathroom! Those students who would go
for Express (reading from midnight to 3.00am) would wake up their friends for
Oriental (reading from 3.00am to breakfast time or thereabout). Cooking water with bedsprings for heavy
coffee was normal. We were good at
summarizing for exams.
Brother
got respect from students; they could see him from a distance and would get
moving very fast to wherever they were required. The Brother gave us freedom to move around
Kisubi hill but this never compromised academic standards/excellence.
Brother
Kyemwa would like to be remembered as one who tried under the circumstances of
the time. He tried to keep the school
standards up and never down.
The Eagle Magazine Team Interviewed Dr.
Geofrey Onegi Obel (Old Boy of SMACK) and below is the Excerpt:
The Eagle: What do you remember most about SMACK?
Geofrey Onegi Obel: When I think about SMACK, the
first thing that comes to my mind is Brother Anthony Kyemwa.The Eagle: Why?
Geofrey Onegi Obel: He was kind of role model to us, a very strong figure, parental and also very nice as long as you did not cross his way.
The Eagle Magazine team of 2004 Interviewed Dr.
Simon Kagugube and below is an Excerpt.
Dr
Simon Kagugube was at St. Mary’s College from 1970 to 1975(He is Executive
Director, Centenary Bank)
The Eagle: Any negative memories of SMACK?
Dr Simon Kagugube: No negative memories, none at
all. A few difficult times maybe. For me it was very good. I don’t have anything to regret. I have been to America for 6 years, Yale…all over;
Kisubi is the best place I have lived in period. There are no serious worries when in
SMACK. No negative memories, tough
moment’s maybe. When I was House Prefect
for Kiwanuka there was a near strike.
That was one of the most challenging moments in SMACK, not
negative. We were new prefects and there
was a near strike in the school. And
remember these were Amin’s days they could bring Military Police! As leaders we had to balance the pressure of
the students and the administration. So,
we collected all the students, had them sit in the middle of the school
buildings that is (Administration block, the Chapel, Chemistry Laboratory and
HSc Block), we then asked them to write down all their grievances. I was assigned the role of writing out these
grievances because of my good English Language.
I sat in Cubicle A (HSc
Building) and for the
bigger part of the night I was writing.
And, remember Brother Anthony Kyemwa (the Headmaster) was the type whose
No! was a NO! Nonetheless, we had very
good working relationship with him.
There was respect for each other.
I wrote out the students’ complaints and gave students to reproduce (I
still have the original copy in my papers).
I read it out to the students; that is before the entire school. We had to control the crowd… charisma, and I
felt like a real politician. Brother
Kyemwa insisted on reading it to the members of staff himself. The staff members came out asking why we were
so hard. However, I am very proud of
that effort.
15. Mr. J. C. Kiwanuka made 89 years
Mr.
J. C. Kiwanuka, the longest serving teacher at St. Mary’s College Kisubi
(SMACK) from 1951 – 2001 made 89 years in July.
We thank God for the gift of life he has given to our great Mathematics
encyclopedia popularly known as Manoeuvre.
He began teaching at Mary’s on October 1st 1951 making 57
years since he reported to teach at his former school. He is a graduate of Nottingham University,
got his degree in June 1951, and was sponsored by Buganda Government.
Mr. J. C. Kiwanuka in the DP Government
As
a Minister of Education in the short lived Democratic Party Government (for
about one year), J. C says that he had the advantage of having been
President of Uganda Teachers’ Association (UTA) hence knew many problems that
existed in the profession, and following the Lawrence Commission Report
with some adjustments, their Government acted on:
1) Improving Teachers’ Salaries and Conditions
of Service;
2) They enacted the Teachers’ Pension Schemes
for all teachers;
3) Equalised salaries of male and female
teachers of the same grade, lay or religious;
4) Awarded 300 scholarships to suitable
candidates in all walks of life including tailors, shoe makers, etc;
5) Started Higher School Certificate in Girls’
Schools for example Gayaza
High School, Mt. St. Mary’s Namagunga and Trinity College Nabingo;
6) Some schools were given initial Government
grants, for example Bishop S.S.S Mukono, Kibuli S.S.S, Christ the King Girls’
School (Kalisizo), Mary Hill Girls’ School, Lubiri S.S.S and Kiyira College
(Busoga) built by the Kyabazinga.
7) During the one year stay in Government, they
J. Cs administration enacted the Board of Governor’s Rules for Senior
Secondary schools and Teachers’ Colleges.
8) The Teachers’ Conditions of Service were
also enacted.
Manoeuvre says that when he started teaching at
SMACK, starting HSC at St. Mary’s had penetrated his mind. He talked the matter over with the Late Brother
Louis Chuonard and Brother Oscar Roger both former Headmasters of
SMACK. Fortunately, they were also very
keen on the idea. The Executive
Committee of St. Mary’s Old Boys Association (SMOBA) made an appointment with
the Late Governor Andrew Cohen to meet and discuss the matter. The Governor accepted to meet them, they
discussed the matter, and on the occasion of the School’s Celebration of the 50th
Anniversary, Sir Andrew Cohen broke the news that he had allowed the
school to start Higher School Certificate (HSC).
Sir
Andrew Cohen broke the news that St. Mary’s Old Boy’s Association (SMOBA) was
the only body that contacted him on this matter.
Mr
Kiwanuka says that he feels
very grateful to God for the venture of the HSC, which ended up a success
through the vehicle of the Old Boys. The
school now gets so many graduates from Makerere University
and other Universities.
Asked
why SMACK has always excelled, Mr Kiwanuka says, “Because of her excellent
basic foundation; spiritually, morally, academically.” He further says, “The first three Medical
Doctors in Uganda
are SMACK products (Dr Bamundaga, Dr Bamugye and Dr Baziwane). He says, “The old colonial idea that there
was hardly anybody in Uganda
that was capable of reading successfully for a degree was first smacked by a
SMACK product. He smashed the theory on
the colonialists’ own ground”.
16. SMACK’S Other Key Constituencies
Dr G. H. Kkolokolo (Paris-France)
St Mary’s
College Kisubi has always been a consistent pioneer in sending students not
only to University but also to other very important centres of high learning
specializing in key domains which are very relevant to the development of our
country and of Africa in general.
Having sent
numbers and numbers to Entebbe School of Surveyors (Katabi) during most of the British
colonial period and produced for East Africa very many wonderful land surveyors
and notable Cartographers some of whom were recruited by Universities to boost
their Geography Departments, SMACK intellectually gave weight to recruitment
into such celebrated institutions as Kyambogo Technical Institute, for diploma
engineers and technicians, Bukalasa Agricultural Institute and Arapai Agricultural Institute for our very important
agricultural sector, Mulago Medical Institute for our very badly needed
paramedical personnel, Entebbe
Veterinary Institute for our very necessary grass roots veterinarians, Kyambogo
TTC for our senior secondary school teachers, and the security forces training
schools where many of our alumni have performed so excellently well and
eventually become very wise brilliant members of the forces.
Serious-minded
graduates from these institutions have proved their very great utility
throughout our positive stage development. And SMACK is always there to share
very good points! We must really commend and praise our alumni who have passed
through these institutions for the very good name they have made for our great
college. Remember the saying: whenever and wherever there is anything positive,
constructive, progressive, educative and productive, SMACK is always present!
Yes, our
people have always been there making a very excellent name for our very much
prestigious institution, and I personally thank them for this special
contribution. It’s SMACK’s contribution!
These
alumni are an exemplary lot to us all. Very many of them have taken on advanced
further studies and have become top graduates. I can cite a few examples: Dr D.
Bafokuzara, Senior etymologist and Researcher at NARO (Kawanda), he went
through Bukalasa Agricultural Institute. Idem Dr J. Nsereko, Senior lecturer in the Faculty of
Agriculture at MUK; then two alumni, among others, from Mulago Medical Institute, one Dr Lutaaya, a London University
PhD in Pathology, and one Mr Lugomoka,
a BSc and MSc in Biochemistry. And those others who
didn’t venture into further studies have remained very faithful servants of
their country, always exemplary models to emulate and imitate! They are indeed
the core calibre of hard workers and
humble patient achievers through those genuine means that their simple
environment can offer, and this is one of the wonders of our notable St Mary’s College Kisubi, an institution that
has produced achievers in all layers of
society!
Via the
security forces SMACK has given to Uganda an admirable lot of competent
personnel in very top key positions whether in the army or in the police or
prisons services. We were the first to produce a number of Sandhurst -trained
army officers; and think of the police and the prisons services where we have
always had our people in command and at the helm and they have always been
doing very well to the point of being
strongly appreciated by the whole Ugandan society!
In order
to express our
fully-committed appreciation and
sincere gratitude to these nation- loving alumni,
I would humbly request our very intelligent and
very highly inspired far-sighted SMACK Awards Committee to look very
carefully into more of these names and prize them for
the good of our very great
nation, just as it has already been done to one of them, H. E. Ambassador
J. Tomusange, a very pragmatic diplomat
who made it to everything via the celebrated Mulago Medical Institute.
Some outstanding profiles from our forces and from our Bukalasa / Arapai / Entebbe / Kyambogo-trained
civil personnel would deserve a secondment to our SMACK Awards Committee for a special
recognition as alumni who have achieved a lot under extremely very difficult
circumstances.
17. Prof. Otiti, Uganda’s Only Nobel Prize Winner
(The New Vision)
Born of peasant
parents, Prof. Tom Otiti has risen to great heights as a Physicist and
Researcher, and among other schools he has been at St. Mary’s College
Kisubi.
STRIKES and Makerere University are so intertwined that to
have been at the institution, whether as a student, lecturer, support staff or
an administrator, you are expected to have participated in one. Not so for Prof. Tom Otiti. The 51-year-old
don joined the university as a teaching assistant in 1985, with little to his
name. But with a profound belief that university education is
research-oriented, he got engrossed in research.
Read more by
clicking on the link below:
18. Let us not build a Katayimbwa
economy
(The Monitor)
By Joachim Buwembo (OB SMACK)
Everyone
is saddened, shocked and unhappy with the growing use of katayimbwa (iron bar)
to kill innocent people in the early evening hours around our urban areas. It
is a senseless new trend by urban thugs to extinguish useful lives in a manner
that leaves everyone around in shock. It is also an unacceptable misuse of
steel.
More
about the story click on the link below:
