By Our Reporters
Uganda Management Institute (UMI) is this year (2019) celebrating 50 years of fruitful existence. The Institute (commenced on 7th October 1969) has contributed more than 70% of the personnel holding public service management positions. The Obote I government considered it critical to have this Institute of Public Administration (IPA; later UMI) to train the badly-needed public service cadreship to replace departing foreign workers. Since that time, the Institute has grown from strength to strength prompting UMI Director General Dr. James Nkata to conclude that the evolutionally story of Uganda’s public service would be incomplete without reference to UMI.
So Tuesday last week, a corporate breakfast event was held giving an opportunity to stakeholders to meet and reflect on the JUMI story which the day’s (thanksgiving) main celebrant Monsignor Charles Kasibante said was synonymous with “high moral and academic excellence.”
Present was a high powered Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) delegation, comprising of Deputy Mufti and clerics from other religious denominations. Different speakers were unanimous in commending Monsignor Kasibante’s decision to derive the day’s scripture reading from the Book of Leviticus 25:8-13. The message therein is on the trumpeting, restitution and liberty giving full meaning to the year of jubilee whose significance and meaning Biblical authors sought to capture. As the clergy delivered their messages, talking big and registered their public endorsement of the very high moral and academic standards UMI has set, St. Paul’s Choir (of Old Kampala Catholic Parish) played very nice music creating more pomp at the ceremony.
Guest kept time many of them arriving as early as 7am. The decoration and public address system, as well as the breakfast, were all very excellent. You would think you are attending a top VIP son’s wedding somewhere in the gardens of Serena hotel or Sheraton. There was so much fanfare that by the time the day’s MCs (Peter Kibazo & Adrian) announced end of ceremony, nobody seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Many then moved to take memory photos capturing the imposing background of the UMI new state of art infrastructure.
Before closing the ceremony, Higher Education Minister JC Muyingo (representing his boss Janet Museveni) launched the UMI anthem and flag. Golden Jubilee organizing committee coordinator Dr. Sylvester Kugonza said these would create additional visibility for UMI while enhancing its identity. The golden jubilee is being celebrated under theme: “Celebrating the past & shaping the future.” To their credit, the organizers ensured all past UMI leaders cheerfully participated in the morning event and they were led by former Governing Council chairman James Kalebo and Dr. Kiyaga Nsubuga, Nkata’s immediate predecessor.
THE SPEECHES
Saluting the South African High Commissioner for his patient attendance, Kugonza summarized the events running for 12 months to mark UMI’s Golden Jubilee. They include alumni reach out activities, Chancellor Geraldine Bitamazire’s dinner, awards-giving ceremony recognizing key stakeholders, naming of UMI roads & assets, offering probono management consultancy services for SMEs, launching the new building and the May joint graduation ceremony. There will also be an international conference (22nd-26th October) focusing on how management training impacts service delivery. There will also be matching through Kampala Streets to be led by Alumni patron Dr. Johnson Byabashaija. Kugonza says all these public activities will be an opportunity to raise the profile and create visibility for UMI as a world class development management Institute.
BYABASHAIJA TESTIFIES
Speaking as Alumni patron, the Commissioner General of Prisons (CGP) recalled being literally forced by his predecessor (whom he deputized) to enroll at UMI to do his PGD in Public Administration & Management. “In 2001, my CGP told me to enroll for that PGD at UMI and I stubbornly refused. I already had a lot of qualifications and I didn’t see need for that. My CGP sent the cashier to pay and I was only given the receipts which prompted me to reluctantly join,” Byabashaija said at the beginning of his address.
“In 2003 I was named the CGP and appeared before MPs to approve my appointment. I tell you I wowed all of them with the way I answered their questions and articulated management reforms and interventions that would be my priorities. They asked are you the vet we know or a management consultant?” Fast-talking Byabashaija can be eloquently very humorous and this Tuesday morning as he addressed the UMI gathering, he was in good spirits the very reason many enjoyed his speech and wished he carried on. He explained having seen the importance of UMI quality management training, on becoming CGP he ensured all officers at the AC rank and above mandatorily enrolled for the same UMI PDG. He says he has since decreed the same for even lower ranks. “The UPDF have Kimaka and the UPF has Bwebajja. In our case as Uganda Prisons we have UMI. It’s were we go and this hasn’t been in vain. It’s the reason we emerge the best government agency each time the Prime Minister’s office carries out annual performance review. The last time this was done, we scored 92% and it’s because we have all enrolled at UMI,” Byabashaija asserted attracting applause.
Listing pioneering native journalism training and being the midwife for Uganda’s native public service as some of the things for which UMI would be remembered, Dr. Nkata looked forward to a more assertive UMI starting onto another journey of 50 years. He said the results-oriented approach embedded in the training programs is the reason UMI is first choice for all civil servants and NGO sector workers desiring to acquire additional qualifications.
UMI Chairman General FX Lubanga ran through the major accomplishments including being Uganda’s first education institution to acquire the ISO 2001 certification. He revealed they are now focusing on getting international accreditation for their MPA program. Lubanga also prided himself in the fact that by 2020, 70% of the academic staff at UMI will be PhD holders.
Besides delivering Janet Museveni’s message guaranteeing the UMI management of continued partnership and support by the MoES, JC Muyingo thanked Lubanga & Nkata for running UMI in a way that makes the leadership at Embassy proud always. “UMI is always a pride to be associated with and let me confess this as the line Minister for Higher Education. Unlike other institutions which are mentioned and you want to hide, with UMI I’m always proud and will be quick to say it’s part of the sub sector that I lead,” said Muyingo who was unusually cheerful. He urged UMI to relieve government by doing continuous introspection into the ever escalating youth unemployment and strike culture in Universities.
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