Fulfill your pledges to Adventist Church, Archbishop Maka asks Museveni
By Apollo Mubiru Photos: Peter Ssuuna
The Archbishop of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Uganda, Dr Moses Maka Ndimukika has asked President Yoweri Museveni to fulfil several pledges he has made to the Church but have gone unattended to.
“Your Excellency, the Vice President Jessica Alupo, deliver our message to the President that many of the pledges he has made to the Adventist Church have never come to pass. It’s our prayers that your coming will bring to pass this song of unfulfilled pledges to us. Now that the Minister for Presidency, Milly Babalanda, is here, she will make a follow up in the corridors where we are not. We now send Hon Babalanda and Hon minister Dr JC Muyingo to be our emissaries on this matter,” Dr Maka said.
Dr Maka made the remarks at the 30th graduation ceremony of Bugema University held at the main campus in Luweero district on Sunday November 10, 2024.
A total of 1,138 graduands received their awards in different disciplines. Of these 663 were males while 475 were females.
The ceremony was held under the theme: Destined for greatness in excellence.
In speech read by the Vice President Alupo, President Yoweri Museveni noted that Uganda has a healthy and educated population regretting that unemployed graduates remain a challenge.
“The solutionis to teach courses that are relevant on the job market and seek employment in the private sector. The NRM government has provided a conducive environment on which industrialization can thrive,” President Museveni noted.
Museveni implored higher institutions of learning in Uganda to prioritize the teaching of science and technology.
Former Kenyan Education Minister Prof Samson Ongeri Kegengo and Maganjo Grain Millers proprietor, Eld Benon Luggya were awarded Honorary Doctor of Philosophy.
The Minister for the Presidency, Milly Babalanda, graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and Management.
” I cannot feel ashamed to say that I am graduating with the products of Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education. I will continue to share the knowledge I have acquired from this university for service,” Babalanda said.
Minister Muyingo counselled the graduands on integrity. “Don’t put money before service. I want to caution you against get rich-quick syndrome. In the end, we have been labelled the generation of the corrupt.
The Vice Chancellor Pr Dr Israel Kafeero asked the graduands to carry the spirit of servant leadership.
Addressing graduands under theme: Destined for greatness, the General Conference associate director for Education Dr Edison Kibuuka challenged graduates to be changed they want to see in the world.
He said that optimism is a chain that leads to success. “We have the capacity to create the world a peaceful place rather than hatred. Education is the only greatest weapon to change the world,” he said.
Dr Kibuuka implored graduands on integrity and total commitment.
Former Kenyan Minister Prof Ongeri an alumnus of Bugema counselled graduands on honesty, integrity and humility as virtues that will define a graduate who has gone through Bugema.
Bugema University has a pioneering history in Adventist education which began in 1927 as a training institution for pastors and church workers and later moved to its current location in 1948.
Over the years, it expanded its offerings to include secondary education, junior college, and a four-year seminary.
The university started as a training school for teachers and pastors for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa. At that time, it was called Bugema Missionary Training School before it transformed to the modern day Bugema University.