Meet Mr. David Mugawe, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development and External Relations (DVC DER) at Uganda Christian University, who has this year celebrated 20 years of marriage to Deborah, with two children, Daniel (14) and Dorcus (11).

The couple supports orphans and other needy children and are regular donors to mission work such as the Scripture Union. Mugawe met his wife Deborah at Makerere University, where they were classmates. From there a strong friendship grew into more. Deborah Mugawe has worked as an executive director for Acid Survivors and worked at Cheshire Homes, a home for physically handicapped children.

His father, John Were, was a full professor of geography at Makerere for 36 years and his mother a teacher.

As children they grew up in a disciplined household that instilled in them a strong reading culture. Mugawe favours academic texts, research and factual works, “I’m not into fiction,” he says, “but I read a lot of life stories.” Among the biographies he has read are those following the lives of Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Abraham Lincoln, Joyce Meyers, Winston Churchill, Chimon Perez, Nelson Mandela, and more.

“I also read a lot of African politics,” Mugawe adds. Although it exposes the suffering of this country and continent, Mugawe believes it also energises him to reflect on what kind of world we are handing over. “We see natural disasters, drought, war, global warming, poverty and worse. But the Bible doesn’t promise great times,” he says. So in response we can bring value to the world, preparing a better future for those to come, “By small contribution, I want to hand over a better life to our children.”

Mugawe does not express surprise that he is now at Uganda Christian University. He felt somehow he would end up in academia ‘like father like son’ as the saying goes. He reflects that while he may not become a lecturer today, he has a silent affinity for university life. This love for campus living is in part due to growing up at Makerere.

“I believe in the values that Uganda Christian University holds,” says Mugawe, “if I have learnt anything in this world, I should pass it on and UCU is ripe for that.”

This is the first organisation he has worked for with an explicit Christian identity and he believes coming here is a calling. “I am coming to see how I can build the body of Christ,” he says.

Building the body of Christ sounds noble albiet vague, but Mugawe reveals he has a concrete plan to leave a positive impact at the university. “I’m keen in terms of increasing efficiency in business, raising resources, improving communication, marketing and branding as well as improving quality and ultimately being good stewards,” he explains.

Aiming for excellence is a tall order, but Mugawe remains optimistic with a unique perspective. “I like that challenge. It inspires us that we can work towards it. We have to do away with mediocrity and always push further.”

Mugawe’s role as the DVC DER is a proper platform to push Uganda Christian University towards its vision of excellence. His experience and education in finance and social work has equipped him specifically for this duty. “How can I apply my MBA skills?” is the departure point for his goals at UCU. He explains that from a business angle, “you aim to add value, not just to mark time. Don’t spend unless there is a gain. This makes you more productive and competitive.”

Making difficult decisions can create tension within your team, but to Mugawe the solution is guiding the team to understand the rationale: why has this been done? “You have to build ownership,” he elaborates. This helps a team understand and accept tough decisions, not taking them as a personal attack but as responsible decisions.

Mugawe has just made two months in Uganda Christian University but he asserts, “I’m committed. I’ll be here for a while.” The decision to accept the offer from UCU was a conscious decision, well thought out, not just by Mugawe alone but by the family as a whole. “It’s a calling,” he says, “and I have peace and feel happy about it.”
There have been great benefits to Mugawe in moving to Uganda Christian University. “I’m a workaholic. I love work and tend to arrive early and leave late. So being on campus helps.”

Mugawe is passionate about staff development. “I love a staff to leave as a better person – more skilled and more equipped. I encourage and support staff development,” he explains. One battle he has taken on due to this passion is to set aside monies in the budget for staff members to go for their PhDs.

Mugawe came in to fill a position that has long been vacant, the post of DVC DER. In dealing with this, he said, “The initial challenge was the need to get the team together again.” He views the DER team as custodians of the strategic direction of the university.

His first great feat was to take the university strategic plan and change it from a document to a fully operational tool. His whole team is restructuring their work plans to fit within the strategic plan of the university, synchronising all efforts with the university mission. Ultimately, the university will have a consolidated work plan in harmony with the university strategic plan.

 Mugawe has a lot of work set out before him, but identified a few goals he is interested in. Apart from the implementation of the strategic plan, he is looking at diversifying the resource base since UCU is highly dependent on fees and therefore vulnerable according to admissions. He would like to improve communication and marketing alongside branding and the use of social media. Mugawe has also taken interest in seeing how the regional campuses can grow in terms of capacity, saying: “We cannot claim to reach them from here.”

He looked at other areas that Uganda Christian University will benefit from as a whole such as strengthening governance at UCU, building human resources in capacity and eventually growth and especially improving research because as a university, UCU needs to bring knowledge to the world of academia. Also, research is key to better ranking overall and more funding. With these things in motion, Mugawe believes Uganda Christian University will have a solid foundation.

Mugawe’s previous work has prepared him well for his position at Uganda Christian University. He says, “It taught me management of people and programmes on many levels – grassroots, country, pan-African and global.” He explained that work on such levels exposes you to all kinds of skills because you manage teams that are multi-sectional and multi-national, what Mugawe calls, “the interface between policy and practice.”

With his stern demeanour, you would not believe that Mugawe started out as cheeky, playful child, claiming he was a handful even as a baby. As a youth, he enjoyed sports, especially football, sprinting and cross-country and received medals for his performance. But as he moved into his teen years, he focused more on his faith, serving as the chairman for the Christian fellowship. He is also a photographer, who relishes the complexities of the camera and the art of photography. Mugawe still enjoys sports as a participant and spectator and looks forward to joining the staff sports DER Team, hopefully to claim another victory next year.

Reminiscing on his childhood, Mugawe says, “We grew up knowing you need to lead a disciplined life, to be good to society.” Growing up during Idi Amin’s time meant their family faced inevitable challenges but to the best of his ability, his father provided for the whole family, ensuring education for all six children.

First impressions of Mugawe ring true. He is as principled as he seems but beyond that is a man who strives for integrity and honesty. He is passionate about his work and his Lord. Though he seems quiet, Mugawe describes himself as sociable. “I like people, though I’m not a noisemaker.” He also shares about his more difficult personality traits, “I like attention to detail but you can be held back while trying to achieve perfection,” he explains.

“In everything you do in life, it is important how you start, how you walk but most important is how you finish. Like in the 100 metres, you could be the first to take off but the last to finish. What counts is who finishes first. Reflect on how you are finishing,” Mugawe advises. He applies this philosophy in every area of life saying that, “in every job, do it unto perfection.”

This is a motto that carries over from one of his favourite Bible verses. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) David Mugawe
Born 26th March 1968
From Butaleja

•    Primary: Kitante Primary School
•    O-level: Kings College Budo
•    A-level: Kings College Budo
•    Makerere University : Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration
•    Postgraduate studies:
•    UMI – Programme and Management Planning
•    London School of Economics – Economic Principles
•    ESAMI – Financial Management
•    Bradford University, UK – Master of Business Administration

Work History:

•     Programme Manager at InterAid International, a child and community development initiative
•     Country Director, International Care and Policy (now Build Africa) for 8 years
•     Executive Director, African Child Policy Forum in Ethiopia.
•     Founding Executive Director of Africhild Centre – affiliated to Makerere University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

By Gloria Kiconco

  David Mugawe, UCU, Uganda Christian University, Vice Chancellor