Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki(R).

KAMPALA
At least 11,022 graduates from Makerere University will join the country’s labour force when the institution’s 62nd five-day graduation ceremony starts in a fortnight.
According to the Academic Registrar, Mr Alfred Namoah, 53.3 per cent (5,873) of the graduands are male while 46.7 per cent (5,149) are female.
This figure, he said, is about 4,000 less than those who graduated in the previous two years. Officials attribute this dip to students who delay to clear and lecturers who submit students’ marks late.
A total of 28 male students will be awarded doctorate degrees against 14 female, while 646 males will Masters degrees compared to 386 female. Eighteen graduands will get post-graduate diplomas while the bulk of the graduands (9,671) will get undergraduate degrees.
A total of 259 students will get undergraduate diplomas. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki will be receive a honorary doctorate of laws based on his pan-African credentials and steady leadership.
Mr Namoah told journalists yesterday at Makerere: “We encourage only those students who have cleared with the university to come and start picking their transcripts now because they are ready. We hope the certificates will also be ready by graduation.”
But while the graduands will celebrate an achievement they have long waited for, this will most likely be short-lived when hit by the harsh reality of high cost of living. Inflation has risen from 2010’s 11 per cent closing last year at 27 per cent and eating substantively into most employees’ pay.
Currently, youth unemployment stands at 32.2 per cent, while that of degree holders is 36 per cent. Figures from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics indicate that whereas more than 400,000 Ugandans enter the labour market annually, only about 113,000 are absorbed in formal employment.
Meanwhile, the Makerere Vice Chancellor, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, has announced that National Council for Higher Education has completed the statutory instrument that transforms the 89-year old institution to a collegiate university.
“Makerere University is now a collegiate university with nine colleges and a School of Law which will also become a college by the end of this year under the statutory order of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act,” Prof. Baryamureeba said.
Following the lecturers’ threat to resume their strike over top up allowances, he acknowledged that a committee which was appointed to work out the matter had exceeded the three-month deadline to hand in their report but asked for calm so that a comprehensive report is produced.
pahimbisibwe@ug.nationmedia.com