The Prime minister, Amama Mbabazi has encouraged the graduates to become innovative and create jobs in the private sector.
He said in a country where the youth constitute the highest percentage of the labour force, youth unemployment and underemployment are some of the development challenges in developing countries which graduates face.
Mbabazi was speaking at the 15th graduation ceremony of Uganda Christian University where 1,239 graduates were awarded degrees and diplomas in different academic courses.
22 graduates got First Class Honours, 12 of whom were females while 10 were males.
There were more female graduates than male. 646 of the total UCU graduates were females and 593 males.
Jonathan Tumwebaze (Bachelor of Development Studies) and Julius Izza Tabi (Bachelor of Divinity) emerged the best students with a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.76.
The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda and Chancellor of UCU urged Government not to tax tertiary institutions which serve the public good.
“I pray that Government will hear our plea in this matter so that not-for-profit universities are not stifled in their work,” Ntagali pleaded in response to the new tax on tertiary institutions.
Ntagali also requested the Government to support private universities so as to access facilities for quality education.
The Chancellor was grateful for the Government’s implementation of the students’ loan scheme which will see 1,000 needy students joining both public and private universities.
Mbabazi also launched a book, “More than one wife, polygamy and grace”, co–authored by Archbishop Ntagali and Eileen Enwright Hodgetts, about which he challenged the Church to search for answers on how to abolish polygamy in the 21st Century instead of shunning polygamists.
