By Eriah Lule
The Uganda Christian University (UCU) Eastern Chapter hosted the first Alumni Dinner on September 30th, 2022 at the Pretoria Hotel in Mbale City.
Despite UCU’s five campuses, the dinner was organized to bring together UCU’s alumni living or working in the Eastern part of the country.
Glamour as you entered the Pretoria Hotel’s ballroom. Blue and white were the primary colors of the event . The projector that projected the names of the participants on the wall of fame, as well as the various faces neatly dressed for the evening, made it impossible not to notice UCU’s core values in its alumni.
The theme of the event was ‘Think like a graduate, act like a shamba boy,’ to highlight the rising rate of unemployment and to encourage them to participate in any field that adds a shilling to their pocket.
According to Katto Paul, the Eastern Representative of the UCU Alumni Association and the event’s chief organizer, many graduates these days prefer only white-collar jobs, but there is plenty of opportunity in other casual jobs as well.
“The theme is like a wakeup call to all graduates, to engage in every activity around them to earn from them,” he said. “This is the start, but we are going to engage our alumni through different activities.”
Wabwire Emmanuel, the President of the Alumni Association, attributes the theme to the Association’s strategic plan to establish an alumni business incubator where the association will train and register alumni businesses.
A business accelerator where alumni can manage and expand their business; and the association’s Sacco, where it will provide access to credit facilities of its members at a subsidized rate.
The Guest of Honour, Nuwagaba Blair, an engineering alumnus and a manufacturer in Western Uganda, urged members to watch their financial discipline as well as invest in projects that can add a shilling to their pockets
“I started my journey collecting plastic scrap, but now I have a recycling factory in Mbarara,” he said. “Invest in those small projects, give them time to grow, you won’t regret it.”
Timothy Akampurira, an alumnus and also the Head of the Social Work Department represented the administration. According to him, the management is ready to support and empower the association in all its pursuits.
“As the university is celebrating 25 years, its alumni are one of the reasons for its celebration,” he said. “More alumni engagement and vibrancy amongst the university fraternity should be enriched to reach its maximum potential.”
Wakooli Sandra, a well-wisher from MTN Service Center Mbale City, noted that despite not being an alumnus, she has grown fond of the alumni of UCU who have been good ambassadors through their conduct and ethics
“From our work places, we have grown to appreciate UCU alumni for their strong social and work ethics,” she said. “It is such conduct that keeps inspiring some of us to network with you.”
Wenani Kenneth, the Emeritus Guild president of UCU Mbale 2013-2014, noted that it’s on such occasions that we interact and identify unique potential amongst ourselves and further network to support each other.
