Makerere University has appointed Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi as the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor in Charge of Academic Affairs. Prof. Buyinza is the current Academic Registrar at the University and assumes duty for a six-month term with effect from 11th July 2024 to January 2025, or until a permanent Deputy Vice-Chancellor is appointed.
URH received the internal memo, which announced Prof. Buyinza’s appointment through Makerere Unviersity’s public relations officer, Ritah Namisango. The changes become effected seven months after the concession of the term of predecessor Prof. Umar Kakumba as Deputy Vice Chancellor. Kakumba has been acting for a six-month period after the completion of his term.
Prof. Kakumba was first appointed alongside Professor William Bazeyo who was appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor in Charge of Finance and Administration- DVC F&A. Bazeyo’s appointment was, however nullified by the court, throwing the search for occupants for these two critical positions into a tailspin. The position of DVC F&A has remained vacant since Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe assumed the Office of Vice Chancellor in 2017 and the University has not had a fully constituted top management team.
The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 provides for the filling of the two positions of Deputy Vice Chancellor to support the Vice Chancellor, but for almost nine years now, those positions have been rarely occupied by permanent individuals.
Prof. Buyinza has had extensive experience, the most recent being service as Director of the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training from 2014 to October 2022. He possesses a PhD in Forest Economics from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, with more than 20 years of experience in university research and teaching in Forestry and Natural Resource Economics. He has had more than 50 MSc and 10 PhD students and published over 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals.
Prof. Buyinza has also engaged in various research and capacity-building activities and built a strong regional and international collaboration network in research administration. He has been a Principal Investigator in a number of research projects, among others, in resource mobilization and environmental governance.
Background of Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi
Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi has been appointed the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs at Makerere University with effect from July 11, 2024, up to, or until a substantive appointment is made in the same docket. He previously worked as the Academic Registrar and is a Professor of Forestry Resource Economics.
Such a strong background—both in academics and professionally—puts Buyinza in a considerable position, as he has previously held positions such as Director of DRGT, Deputy Director in Charge of Administration and Graduate Training at Makerere University, and Head of the Department of Community Forestry and Extension. He has a vast international research network and has authored over 150 papers on forest resource economics, environmental incomes, and biodiversity conservation.
With many years of service in research management and academic administration, Prof. Buyinza is well placed to steer Makerere University‘s Academic Affairs during this transitional period.
