EACOP awards 16 scholarships to Kyambogo, Makerere students

What the report says

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Ltd has awarded scholarships to 16 students from Kyambogo University and Makerere University, according to The Observer. The support is meant to help the beneficiaries complete their studies in Telecommunications Engineering and Computer Science, with 10 students selected from Kyambogo and six from Makerere. The company said the awardees were chosen on the basis of academic performance, financial need, interest in their field and a commitment to positive community impact.

EACOP said seven of the scholarship recipients are female, which it linked to efforts to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. During the handover event, deputy managing director John Bosco Habumugisha encouraged the students to apply their skills to community needs and to view engineering as a tool for development rather than harm. He also urged them to learn more about the pipeline project and the debate around it.

The company described the scholarships as part of a wider capacity-building programme designed to strengthen skills transfer between industry and universities. EACOP said it has established cooperation with several academic and professional institutions, including Makerere, Kyambogo, Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba, Nakawa Technical Vocational College and the Institute of Surveyors of Uganda. The pipeline project is intended to move Uganda’s crude oil from Hoima district to the Port of Tanga in Tanzania, and the scholarship effort comes as the country advances toward commercial oil production.