Feature

When Samantha Mwesigye took over power and became the 27th Guild President of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Guild Government, she laid out a four-point manifesto targeting accountability, student life, tuition and security. 

Missing an exam is one of the most unsettling experiences a student can face. For me, it wasn’t just a test; it was the final step in a journey I had planned meticulously like any other student would. I had always set educational goals for myself, worked hard to achieve them on time, and was confident as I began my final semester of Uganda Christian University’s Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication programme.

Namayanja Christabel, a medical student at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Medicine, said the outbreak of the virus in September meant that most students could not spend as much time in hospitals as they were accustomed to because it was putting them at risk of contracting the virus. Namayanja says medical student colleagues who had scheduled ward rounds at Uganda’s Mulago National Referral hospital abandoned the plans.

On January 9th, 2023, at 1:54 a.m., a shocking video of teenage girls beating and flogging a friend went viral. The girls screamed “man snatcher” while pulling her braids, pouring soapy water on her, and beating their undressed friend on the floor outside the house in the video.

A Uganda-based thinktank, the Economic Policy Research Center, estimates that 41% of the jobs in the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises were lost in Uganda as a result of the Covid pandemic. The job of Judith Nabwire, a Uganda Christian University (UCU) alumna and a social worker, was part of that statistic.

Joining the university in 2018, Enock Wanderema wanted to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Education. Drawing the love for teaching from his mother, who is a primary teacher, Wanderema wanted to take the same path. “I admired her work ethic and how she associated with people. She is very calm, and I thought that was a quality I got from teaching,” he said.