By Aggrey Baba
Cabinet has approved the establishment of a new public university in Busoga sub-region, with Government committing nearly UGX90 billion to get the university off the ground and absorb several existing campuses across the Busoga sub-region.
The institution, which had been proposed as Busoga University, will instead be established as Iganga University following a Cabinet decision announced by ICT and National Guidance Minister Justine Kasule Lumumba on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre.
The minister said Cabinet had authorized the Minister of Education and Sports [Janet Kataha Museveni] to work with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to prepare the legal instrument required to formally establish the university.
Government will provide UGX89,998,436,284 to establish and operationalize the institution, although the Ministry of Education and Sports must first seek Parliament’s approval for its establishment as a public university.
The decision is designed to consolidate higher education infrastructure already spread across Busoga rather than create an institution from scratch.
According to Hon Lumumba, Government has already received land associated with several campuses that are expected to be incorporated into the new university. These include campuses in Bugiri, Namutumba, Kamuli and Jinja districts.
Cabinet also decided that Namasagali University will become a constituent college of Iganga University, with a particular focus on marine and fisheries studies.
The development gives Busoga a new public university framework at a time when regional higher education systems across East Africa are increasingly being linked to broader efforts to improve access, skills development and mobility of students and professionals.
The East African Community Common Market framework already provides for mutual recognition of academic and professional qualifications to facilitate the movement of labour across member states, and for Busoga, however, the immediate significance of the Cabinet decision lies in Government’s commitment to consolidate the region’s existing university assets under one public institution.
According to the ICT Minister, the next major step is for Ministry of Education to secure parliamentary approval and complete the legal process before the university can formally begin operating as a public institution.
The Cabinet decision therefore sets in motion a process that could transform the scattered campuses into one coordinated public university, with Iganga as the institution’s identity and Namasagali retaining a specialized role in marine and fisheries education. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
