On August 17, 2021, Members of Parliament and academics from Bunyoro made a presentation before President Yoweri Museveni at the State House, Entebbe, highlighting the need to fast-track the establishment of a public university of Earth and Applied Sciences in the region.
They told the president that multiple sites had been proposed to host the university.
These locations included land owned by government institutions, including Uganda Cooperative College in Kigumba (Kiryandongo), Kamurasi Primary Teachers College (Masindi), Bulera Core Primary Teachers College (Hoima), Former National Teachers College (Masindi), Kibaale Town Council, Birembo War Memorial Technical Institute (Kakumiro), Gulu University Hoima Campus, and Kihonda Demonstration Farm (Masindi). Additional land offers came from Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom and Dr Henry Wamani, a former lecturer at the School of Public Health, Makerere University.
In June 2022, the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, constituted a six-member taskforce management committee (TMC) to oversee the establishment of a public university in Bunyoro. One of its tasks was to identify and secure the land for the university.
A few days later, on June,9, 2022, the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, chaired a meeting (attended by Members of Parliament and academics from Bunyoro) that set up a three-member sub-committee to carry out a rapid evaluation and verification of the proposed sites.
The sub-committee comprised Fred Kabagambe Kaliisa, the chairperson of Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom Royal Commission (representing Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom), Jacob Karubanga, the Member of Parliament for Kibanda South, and chairperson of Bunyoro parliamentary caucus (representing political leaders), and Patrick Byakagaba, a natural resource and environmental governance specialist at Makerere University (representing the academia).
The sub-committee identified Buhimba and Bulera as suitable locations, but only 20 acres of land were available at Bulera.
Detailed technical studies
Thereafter, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development conducted detailed technical assessments of all the proposed sites.
Except for Buhimba and Kihonda land, all the sites inspected were less than 50 acres in size – and yet the government needed 50 acres and more. Subsequently, Buhimba emerged as the most suitable location.
“Based on the overall assessment of all the proposed sites visited, the team found the land offered by Dr Henry Wamani in Buhimba was the most suitable for the establishment of the main campus for the proposed public university in Bunyoro region,” the March 5, 2025, NCHE report reads in part.
Ground-breaking
Dr Wamani offered 100 acres of land for the university in 2017. However, as the government did not take up the offer at the time, he planted trees on 80 acres.
When the government later expressed interest in his land, he offered two options: acquire the unplanted 20 acres immediately and take 80 acres after tree harvesting or acquisition of all 100 acres after compensation for the planted trees.
The Chief Government Valuer assessed the value of the trees, but the Ministry of Education and Sports decided to acquire the 80 acres after tree harvesting.
However, presiding over the ground-breaking ceremony for the university on March 19, 2025, in Buhimba, President Museveni directed that Wamani be paid for his trees, so the government can acquire the entire 100 acres.
On June 17, 2025, the Ministry of Education and Sports formally acquired 100 acres from Wamani. The permanent secretary, Kedrace Turyagyenda, signed grant agreements with Wamani at the ministry headquarters in Kampala.
Next steps
Prof. Samuel Kyamanywa, the TMC chairperson and Vice-Chancellor, described the land acquisition as a key milestone.
“Dr. Henry Wamani handed over the titles of the land after the agreement signing and land is now being transferred to the Ministry of Education and Sports,” he says.
“We are now going to do physical planning for the area and will have designs of the university by mid-July. We hope that the construction work will begin by September, and once construction begins, we will need one year to open the university.”
Prof. Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo, the first vice TMC chairperson and Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of academic affairs, says the institution will create enormous opportunities for the region and Uganda at large.
“It is going to be a public institution, but people in the region need to get prepared to harness the opportunities the university is going to create in various areas of life,” she explains.
Byakagaba says that the location of the university aligns with the goal of setting up a science-based public university in the region.
“You need enough land to start a globally competitive university of earth and applied sciences,” he says.
“There are not many settlements in its neighbourhood and that presents opportunities for expansion. You can have a land use plan to develop a university town.”