Makerere University to construct East Africa’s first Public Safety lab

Makerere is set to construct the first ever public safety laboratory in the East African region, the university Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has revealed.

Addressing journalists on Thursday revealed that last year they embarked on a consultative process that will lead to formulation of a 10 year strategic plan for the university that will run from 2019 to 2029.

“In December we hosted a delegation from Tsinghua University’s Institute of Public Safety Research together with representatives from the Uganda Police Force and KCCA and held discussions on the establishment of a public safety laboratory at Makerere University,”Prof.Nawangwe told journalists.

The Makerere University Vice Chancellor said the facility which will be the first of its kind in the East African region will help greatly to solve some of the social problems faced especially in Kampala and Uganda at large.

“With a fast growing population and urbanization, we must have a facility from where we can organize the public for their own safety. Calamities like cholera, Ebola and crime need to have our people organised to react to occurrences that affect public safety.”

He said the Memorandum of Association signed with the Tsinghua University in China will see the project completed in 2023 and will not only enable Ugandans tap into the expertise from the Institute of Public Safety Research but also position Makerere as a central national laboratory for Ugandan government agencies in the field of public safety management and research.

Prof.Nawangwe also revealed that Makerere will in its 10 year strategic plan establish an institute of petroleum studies in collaboration with the China University of Petroleum and this facility will be a big achievement following the appointment of the university as the centre of excellence for petroleum and minerals by the Northern corridor states.

“The China University of Petroleum and Makerere also agreed to jointly apply for funding from international funding agencies to support establishment of the state of the art petroleum engineering lads at our respective institutions,” he added.