{UAH} IUIU is introducing a human medicine degree course
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1:56 AM |
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The first ceremony was the awarding of an honorary doctorate in leadership to one of the most celebrated Ugandan Muslim leaders, Prince Kassim Nakibinge Kakungulu, by Pakistan's Lahore University.
The professors, in their academic gowns, dressed up Prince Nakibinge in a gown of his own and read out a justification for the award.
The Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and Saudi Arabia's Sheik Abdullah Omar Nasif, Chairman of the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), witnessed the ceremony.
Credit to Prince Nakibinge; he has kept alive a rich legacy inherited at a young age. Islam in Uganda owes its growth to Nakibinge's grandfather Prince Nuhu Mbogo and his father Prince Badru Kakungulu.
Mbogo in particular offered protection and guardianship to Muslims at their hour of need during and after the religious wars in Buganda. Kakungulu is remembered for many things but the most outstanding for me is Muslim education. And that is what Kibuli hill represents.
The hill is home to various social institutions such as Kibuli SS, Kakungulu Memorial, Kibuli PTC, Kibuli Demonstration, Kibuli mosque, Kibuli Muslim hospital, Kibuli Nursing School, IUIU Kampala campus, and now IUIU's Faculty of Science that begins with a bachelor's in medicine. The launching of the science faculty was the second ceremony to which I will return later.
Some of these institutions have been added to the list under Prince Nakibinge. Although the hospital was started by his father, it has tremendously grown under his reign. In fact, a foundation stone was also laid to expand it from I think 30 to 150 beds. And of course it has a large out-patient facility.
But in his modesty, Prince Nakibinge said in his acceptance speech that the PhD was not solely his but also for his forefathers, Ugandan Muslims, the people of Buganda and the entire nation. Turning Kibuli into a hill of social services, I think, is the most significant contribution the Nakibinge family has made to Uganda. Many rich people think in terms of recreation, hotels, clubs, etc.
That is why, without shame, a leader can order the demolition of Shimoni Demonstration School and Shimoni Primary Teachers' College and replace such social facilities with a shopping mall. Malls are important to the economy but they can't lay a strong foundation for our future.
The Kibuli hill helps us understand how the political leadership in the country has diverted from the core ideals and values upon which Uganda was built. Provision of social services is the reason any sort of leadership existed in this country. Traditional and religious institutions existed to perform this function. They did this together with the leadership of the central government.
The late Abu Mayanja once told me how Prince Badru Kakungulu helped him secure a scholarship from Kabaka Sir Edward Mutesa II upon expulsion from Makerere. But Mengo was hesitant to grant the scholarship because of Mayanja's fragile relationship with the colonial government. However, following consultations, Mayanja went to Cambridge on the central (colonial) government scholarship.
While our forefathers earned their respect through provision of social services, those in leadership today want to earn their respect through acquisition of the latest weaponry – Machiavelli style. Not surprising that Prince Nakibinge told us the doctor-patient ratio in Uganda currently stands at 1-20,000.
The Rector of IUIU, Dr. Ahmed Ssengendo, who has presided over the rapid and steady growth of this institution, said in his speech that Africa accounts for 25% of the world's disease burden and yet it has only 3% of the world's health workers.
Dr Ssengendo added that even the 3% professional workers are a target of or they themselves target the developed world where remuneration corresponds to their expertise. It is upon this background that IUIU is introducing a human medicine degree course, and the expansion of Kibuli Muslim hospital will be a real boost.
The unfortunate thing is that as a country, our time is being wasted by bad leaders. If you read our newspapers and listen to radio stations, the discussion is not about establishing another medical school but on police chief Kale Kayihura trading in rumours with his boss.
Because Kayihura is doing the bidding of the big man, his budget, I mean the budget of the police, will be classified as priority. When it is exhausted, a supplementary will immediately be raised. That is how we have surrendered to private providers of social services.
Dr Ian Clarke told me recently when MPs were unfairly attacking his hospital after an unfortunate death there, that more than 65% of health services in Uganda are provided by private individuals.
The author is Kyadondo East MP.
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