By Kitts D.Mabonga
KAMPALA
Focus on higher education
All roads shall be headed to Sheraton hotel on Wednesday 29th November 2023 for the high profile 2nd Benjamin Mkapa memorial lecture to be hosted by Cavendish University.
The lecture is aimed at paying homage and recognizing his achievements and contributions to democracy, diplomacy and good governance in East Africa and the African Continent.
A statement from the University states that HE Mkapa’s memorial lecture would bring together over 100 high profile guests including academicians, government officials, politicians, researchers, business community and media attending in person and online.
The chief guest of the day shall be prof.Tarsis Kabwegyere former minister of general duties office of the prime minister as well as Amb. Dr Azizi Ponary Mlima
Former Tanzania High Commissioner to Uganda and Personal Assistant of H.E. Benjamin Mkapa being the keynote speaker respectively.
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Under the theme ‘Diplomacy and Contemporary State Formation in Africa – The Role of Benjamin Mkapa in the Moshi Conference of 1978, the panelists lined up for the day are expected to discuss several issues like diplomacy, academics, social and economic issues affecting the East African community as well as Africa and the world at large.
Background of Mkapa’s 1st Memorial Lecture 2022
On November 30, Cavendish University Uganda held the first Benjamin William Mkapa Memorial Lecture which inaugural Memorial Lecture was on the theme “Role of Integrity and Resilient Leadership in Managing Transformation.”
It was attended by different dignitaries from academia, government, business among others
“This foundational lecture is a project designed to immortalize our Chancellor who has done so much for Cavendish University, his country Tanzania and for Africa.
President Mkapa will continue to be remembered for his tremendous work of strengthening Tanzanian democracy and development,” said the former Nigerian President Good luck Ebele.
He also described the late Benjamin Mkapa as a hero who left a solid foundation others will continue to build on. “To us Cavendish University Uganda, the late Mkapa was a hero. He left a solid foundation upon which we will join to build a greater future for Cavendish and the continent.
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His memory will prepare all of us to seek and do more in improving learning and advising the course of humanity,” Good luck Johnathan added.
Prof John Francis Mugisha, the Cavendish University Uganda Vice Chancellor said that he had both personal and institutional memories about H.E Mkapa. “The experiences and memories I have are both personal and institutional, Mkapa was a great mentor, planner, father, reformer, passionate leader, an advisor, a role model and down-to-earth man.
In spite of his status, he was a personification of purity of the heart, full of good intentions for humanity, concerned about the weak and the suffering,” Prof. Mugisha said.
He further noted that H.E Mkapa helped in transforming Cavendish University Uganda, making it a competitive institution. “He was transformational, he presided over university restructuring and rationalization of programs to create more efficient operations,” Prof Mugisha said.
“During his term, Cavendish University installed a learning platform in 2017 to get Distance Learning students to study better.
The learning platform enabled Cavendish University to transition students to virtual learning when Covid-19 struck the country.” Cavendish University Uganda was among the first two universities to be cleared by the National Council for Higher Education to run online learning and to administer online exams.
During his tenure as the Chancellor, H.E Mkapa was loved by many staff who worked under him at Cavendish University because kept a low profile and interacted freely with the staff he could meet. “He always asked to take dinner with the Senior Management Team, the faculty deans, and also took time speaking and listening to them,” said Prof Mugisha as he described the personality of H.E Mkapa.
Having studied in Uganda, He did not forget about the friend he had made as he occasionally travelled to Uganda to check on his friends.
‘He was a man of family and valued friendship. He always travelled with Mama Anna Mkapa and made time to visit his old university friends of the 1960s,” Mugisha recalled
However David Mutabanura, the Cavendish University Uganda Executive Director also remembers his personal encounter with H.E Mkapa and he gives a unique memory of their interactions.
“I remember our former Chancellor as a very passionate family man who always travelled with his wife everywhere” he said
I cannot forget the very key encounter that I had with him, his identical firm handshake that he gave me. He was a man who also had casual friends that were kin to him whenever he traveled,”
According Mutabanura said. Mpaka was a great listener, speaker and above all, calm. “He spoke in a way that was very calm, bold and encouraging.
“I remember in a conversation; he always listened so intently and spoke so passionately. I guess it was because he had studied Journalism and Communication, English, and also practiced as a writer and editor,” Mutabanura recalled.
Besides being highly knowledgeable, a former head of state, significantly down-to-earth, among other attributes, was an advocate of female gender representation.
“He always looked out for appropriate representation of the female gender and was always keenly interested in the learners and inspired them to remain humble but of value to society even with high educational achievements,” said Dr. Olive Sabiiti the Deputy Vice Chancellor.
During the first Mama Anna Mkapa also attended the Memorial Lecture alongside other Tanzanian diplomats in Uganda. In her speech, she said that her late husband Mkapa loved Cavendish University and devoted his time to it.
“I know how much the late H.E Benjamin Mkapa loved this University and how much he appreciated the opportunity that was given to him to serve and make his contribution to it. While his body is gone, his soul and inspirations remain in the battles he left behind,” said the former third first Lady of Tanzania,
Mama Anna Mkapa said his husband was at the epitome of moral change, his deep convictions driving him to do what he knew was right to be despite the risks associated with transformation including unpopularity in the political sphere.
Ambassador Ombeni Sefue, Chair Uongozi and Tanzanian Diplomat, the Keynote Speaker of this inaugural memorial lecture.
Mkapa provided a global ethical leadership amidst challenges. He was a good leader who denounced corruption in his own country and in Africa at large.
About Mkapa” back ground
His Excellency Mkapa was Message born on November 12, 1938. Mkapa, Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts English Makerere University in Uganda in 1962, Master’s Degree in International Affairs Columbia University,
He served as the 3rd President of the United Republic of Tanzania for a decade from 1995 to 2005. He was also Chairman of the Revolutionary State Political Party Chama Cha Mapinduzi, CCM).
He was elected as President based on a popular anti-corruption campaign and the strong support of former president Julius Nyerere. His anti-corruption efforts included the creation of an open forum called the Presidential Commission on Corruption (Warioba Commission) and increased support for the Prevention of Corruption Bureau.
Mkapa privatized state-owned corporations and instituted free market policies. His policies won the support of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and resulted in the cancellation of some of Tanzania’s foreign debts. Prior to his Presidency.
He served as the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education and also the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1977 to 1980 and again from 1984 to 1990. He led the Tanzanian mission to Canada in the year 1982 and the United States of America from 1983 to 1984.
He started his work as the Cavendish University Uganda’s second Chancellor after Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, the former President of the Republic of Zambia. In December 5, 2014 in an event presided over by the chancellor of Makerere University by then, Professor George Mondo Kagonyera,
Mkapa took up the significant role in the development and strengthening of Cavendish University Uganda’s Academic model, teaching and the learning way of life.
He served for six years as the University Chancellor Cavendish University but died on July 24, 2020 after a short illness at a hospital in Dar-es-Salaam where he was receiving treatment at the age of 81 years and was laid to rest in his hometown of Lupaso, Masasi. The memory of his passion and achievements will remain an inspiration to all who continue in the struggle to achieve a better life through education.