Dr. Ayub Mukisa: Ugandan PhDs: Too Much Knowledge, Too Little Opportunity

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda published an opinion piece by Dr. Ayub Mukisa, identified as Executive Director of the Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition, arguing that Ugandans with PhDs face limited job prospects despite the expertise they have built through years of study. The article says the argument was prompted by a comment Dr. Gerald Zihembire Ahabwe posted in a Makerere University PhD alumni WhatsApp group, where he expressed surprise that a PhD thesis could be relatively short and reflected on how much information he had learned only after the fact.

Mukisa’s broader point is that doctoral training in Uganda is demanding and costly, but the country often does not create enough space for PhD holders in government, civil society, or other organizations. He says some employers appear wary of hiring highly educated people, while others view them as overly theoretical or difficult to work with. In his view, this leaves many doctoral graduates underused even though public resources have supported their education through infrastructure and other services.

The piece frames the issue as a wider concern about whether education is translating into economic mobility. Mukisa argues that if advanced scholars are left without meaningful roles, Uganda risks wasting talent and weakening the benefit of investing in higher education. As an opinion column, the article is a commentary rather than a reported news event, but it reflects a common debate in Uganda and elsewhere about graduate unemployment and the challenge of matching academic credentials with practical opportunities.