By Ivan Tsebeni
As the level of integrity among many Ugandans declines, Uganda Christian University (UCU) Honors College has devised a strategy to promote integrity. On March 15, the students in Honors College introduced stalls where students can pick and pay for commodities in the absence of a seller.
Items at the stall have price tags but NO SELLER!
Pamela Tumwebaze, the head of department of the Honors College said that the initiative was discussed, passed and is funded by the Honors College with the aim of equipping students with integrity.
Tumwebaze added that a lot of skills such as integrity are imparted into students at Honors College to shape them into better citizens ready to face the challenging and dynamic world.
“This idea is aimed at testing the essence of honesty and integrity among students as they are charged with the responsibility to be truthful,” she said. “We don’t have anyone stationed at the stalls to monitor the exchange. It is upon the buyers to observe honesty,” she added.
Bernard Bwambale Molho, the Honors College Administrative Assistant also said that the concept is just a litmus test for the UCU community.
“If we realize that the community is not as honest as we assume, we shall figure out what to do,” he said. “There is a team designated to monitor and evaluate the outcome of this initiative every day.”
The Director of Students Affairs (DOSA), Bridget Mugume Mugasira welcomed the Honours College initiative observing that it will help groom students who will benefit in the future. “Integrity means doing the right thing when nobody is seeing you,” she said.
The students are also happy with the initiative saying that they now can easily access some of the petty items they often walk distances in order to buy, at University canteens, most of which are far from lecture blocks-comparatively.
“It is a good initiative; one can pick an item and even clear later. I can never be hungry,” said Connie Nandutu, a final year student of Bachelors of Agricultural Engineering (BAE).
The integrity check concept in this initiative is built on the foundations of one of the University’s core values- Integrity.
Marvian Kaddu, a student at the Honors College also believes that the initiative will help “administer the sense of trust among students.”
The Honors College program is a leadership mentorship initiative aimed at grooming young people to become rational, assertive and problem solvers of the future generations.
