Prof. Waswa Balunywa, the brain behind MUBS

Prof. Waswa Balunywa is the Principal at Makerere University Business School, Uganda. Prof. Waswa Balunywa joined Makerere University Business School in 1983 as a Lecturer and became Head of Department of Accounting and Finance in 1987.

In 1991 he became Dean and took over the Faculty of Commerce with a student population of 240 and by 1996, the numbers had grown to over 1000.

In 1998, the Institution was transformed into a Business School and he became the first Director.

In 2000 he became the Principal of a restructured institution. Along with his team, Prof. Balunywa has been responsible for the growth of the institution from about 2000 students in 1999 to over 12000.

The institution moved from a single bachelor and masters programme to an institution with 16 undergraduate, 8 graduate and 2 doctoral programmes.

Over the period of his career, Prof. Balunywa has been a member of various Boards and has served as a Director both on private and public bodies.

This has included several universities and education institutions, private companies including the Coca cola franchise holder, and is presently a Director on the biggest industrial establishment in the country, the Madhvani Group.

He is also a Director of Uganda’s central bank, Bank of Uganda.

Prof. Balunywa initiated and is currently Chairman of the Entrepreneurship and Leadership Centre Boards which are responsible for research, training and development in the country.

While he has been in administration, he has found time to teach and has had interest in Entrepreneurship, Strategy and the Management of Change.

He has and continues to participate in research and led the Schools team in the GEM studies. His current research interest is in entrepreneurship and team management.

Prof.  Balunywa has published various papers in entrepreneurship, strategy and general management.