Kabale University Bids Farewell to Prof Kwesiga After 21 Years

What the report says

Kabale University has bid farewell to its founding Vice Chancellor, Prof. Joy Constance Kwesiga, who retired after 21 years of service. The ceremony was held on Friday at the university grounds on Kikungiri Hill in Southern Division, Kabale City, and drew family members, university staff, students, political leaders and other stakeholders, according to Nile Post.

The university credited Prof. Kwesiga with helping guide its growth from a small community institution into a fully fledged public university. She said she joined the university in 2005 when it had 42 students and limited infrastructure, and she described her tenure as one marked by growth in enrolment, finances, governance reforms, academic expansion, research and wider visibility. The article says student numbers have since risen to more than 8,000.

Prof. Kwesiga also used the occasion to highlight a major challenge facing the institution: limited land for further expansion. She called for support from local leaders and pointed to an 80-acre parcel owned by Kabale District Local Government as important to the university’s future. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa also urged district leaders to allocate more land to support infrastructure development.

The university is now led in an acting capacity by Prof. Johnny Mugisha as it continues to seek space for growth. The farewell underscored both the end of a long leadership period and the infrastructure pressures that remain as Kabale University enters its next phase.