Beyond the banter: Uganda’s university rivalry should be about impact
Makerere University
The Makerere-Victoria debate exposes a deeper question about what higher education is actually for
By Daniel Tusiimukye K’abaasa
Uganda’s graduation season has arrived with its familiar rituals — photographs, congratulatory messages and, increasingly, arguments about which university deserves greater recognition. This year the spotlight has fallen on Makerere University and Victoria University, with social media serving as the arena for competing claims about institutional prestige, academic standing and the value of their respective qualifications.
For some, the debate is about history. Makerere, established in 1922, has built a reputation as one of Africa’s most prominent institutions of higher learning. Its alumni populate the upper ranks of government, business and academia. Its contribution to Uganda’s intellectual and professional development is inseparable from the country’s own history.
Victoria University, a private institution established in 2013, represents a different chapter in the same story. Its growth reflects the expanding role of private universities in broadening access to higher education and responding to changing expectations around professional training and the world of work.
The contrast makes for entertaining graduation banter. Beneath the jokes and competing claims, however, lies a more important conversation — one Uganda cannot afford to overlook.
There is nothing inherently wrong with institutional rivalry. Competition can push universities to strengthen their academic programmes, improve student experiences and demonstrate the value they offer to learners and employers. Heritage matters. Academic standards matter. Teaching quality, research output and professional training all matter.
But when the conversation centres almost entirely on reputation, it risks losing sight of the actual purpose of higher education.
A university should not be judged solely by the age of its buildings, the prominence of its alumni or the recognition attached to its name. It should also be assessed by the knowledge it generates, the problems it solves and the opportunities it creates.
Uganda faces challenges that demand practical, research-driven responses: agricultural productivity, affordable healthcare, energy access, industrial development, financial inclusion and digital transformation. Universities have a critical role in addressing these challenges. They bring together researchers, students, industry professionals and public institutions whose combined knowledge, properly directed, can translate into meaningful progress.
The question is therefore not simply whether Makerere is more established than Victoria, or whether a younger institution can challenge a more experienced one. It is whether both universities — alongside every other institution in the country — are adequately translating academic work into solutions that improve people’s lives.
Every year, thousands of Ugandans graduate with qualifications in engineering, business, information technology, agriculture and health sciences. For many, graduation marks the beginning of a difficult transition. Some find employment in their fields; others spend months searching. A number turn to entrepreneurship, often without sufficient access to capital, mentorship or the practical networks required to build sustainable enterprises.
This raises uncomfortable questions. Are students given sufficient opportunities to develop products, test ideas and engage with real-world challenges before completing their studies? Are universities actively connecting promising innovations to investors and partners? Are academic programmes evolving quickly enough to reflect what employers and emerging industries actually need?
These questions deserve more attention than any debate about graduation ceremony aesthetics.
Universities should be spaces where students not only absorb existing knowledge but create new knowledge, develop solutions and identify opportunities where others see obstacles. A graduate should be equipped to pursue employment, contribute to research, establish an enterprise or improve an existing system — not simply collect a certificate.
One of the most meaningful measures of any university is its ability to connect research with practical application. Engineering projects could inform the development of affordable machinery. Agricultural research could improve crop yields and post-harvest handling. Work in financial technology could expand access to affordable services. For such outcomes to become routine, universities need stronger industry connections and clearer pathways from research to implementation.
This requires investment in laboratories, innovation hubs, incubation programmes and intellectual property support. It also requires universities to reward practical innovation alongside conventional academic achievement, and for industry to regard universities as partners rather than simply graduate suppliers.
The Makerere-Victoria debate offers an opportunity to reframe how Ugandans assess university performance. Institutional rankings provide useful information but cannot tell the full story. A more complete assessment would examine research quality, graduate outcomes, entrepreneurship rates, industry collaboration and community impact. How many viable businesses have emerged from university programmes? How many research projects have produced policies or products that address real needs? How effectively do universities support graduates who choose to create their own employment?
These questions cannot be answered by graduation photographs. They require evidence, sustained evaluation and institutional honesty.
Not every graduate must become an entrepreneur, and not every research project will yield an immediate commercial result. Universities serve multiple purposes — advancing knowledge, preserving culture, developing critical thinking and training professionals for essential public and private services. Nevertheless, every institution should be able to demonstrate how its work contributes to national development.
Uganda needs universities that are proud of their heritage without being constrained by it, and institutions that are ambitious about the future while remaining accountable for the quality of education they provide. It needs universities that produce competent graduates, support meaningful research, encourage entrepreneurship and work closely with the industries that will absorb their talent.
The graduation banter will eventually fade. The photographs will disappear from social media timelines, and next year’s season will bring another round of comparisons.
The challenges facing Uganda, however, will remain.
The country needs solutions to persistent development problems, businesses capable of creating jobs, technologies that raise productivity and graduates equipped to contribute meaningfully to a changing economy. No single university will achieve that alone.
Let Makerere and Victoria compete. Let every university in Uganda challenge the others to do better. But let the competition be measured by something more than institutional reputation.
The real question is not which university is more prestigious. It is how much each one contributes to building the Uganda that its graduates deserve to inherit.
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