Apex International University marked its first graduation ceremony, a historic triple celebration that combined the institution’s official inauguration, the installation of its first Chancellor, and the graduation of its very first crop of 400 students, all under the watch of Vice President Jessica Alupo, who presided as chief guest.
The Vice President, standing in for President Yoweri Museveni, who serves as Visitor to all universities in Uganda, formally declared the young institution inaugurated before a packed hall of dignitaries, academic staff, parents and graduating students.
In her declaration, she pronounced the university “formally inaugurated as an institution of higher learning committed to academic excellence, research, innovation, ethical leadership, international cooperation and service to humanity,” invoking the provisions of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act as the legal basis for the milestone.
Moments later, the ceremony turned to the installation of Hon. Wilson Twinomugisha Kajwenge as the university’s first Chancellor, a role assigned to him for an initial four year term.
A sitting Member of Parliament, lawyer and diplomat with a background in security studies from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Kajwenge brings more than two decades of experience in security governance, intelligence and conflict mediation across the Great Lakes region to the ceremonial post. He previously chaired Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs and has served as a director of peace and security programmes under regional cooperation frameworks. After taking his oath of office, promising to uphold the Constitution and the governing instruments of the university, he signed the instrument of appointment to formalise his new role.
Addressing the congregation shortly after his installation, Kajwenge described Apex International University as an institution designed to close the gap between academic training and market demand, a challenge he said has left many graduates from established universities struggling to find work.
“We are going to be a university with a difference,” he told the gathering, arguing that the school’s focus on skills development and research driven transformation would set it apart from older institutions.
He credited Uganda’s liberalisation of the education sector under the National Resistance Movement government for creating room for private investors to establish new universities.
The State Minister for Primary Education, Hon. Phyllis Chemutai, who addressed the ceremony on behalf of Hon. Dr. John C. Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education, described the graduation as more than an academic milestone, calling it a marker of the university’s shift from installation to the tangible outcome of producing graduates ready to contribute to national development.
She commended the institution’s practical support initiatives, noting that more than 100 students had been given opportunities to work while studying, and urged closer collaboration between universities and industry so that graduates leave with both knowledge and employable skills.
Reading a message on behalf of President Museveni, Vice President Alupo traced the growth of Uganda’s higher education sector since 1986, when the country had only one public university, Makerere, enrolling roughly 5,000 students.
She said the sector has since expanded to dozens of degree awarding institutions, both public and private, with enrolment now running into hundreds of thousands, a transformation she attributed to the government’s decision to liberalise the education sector and allow private investment.
The President’s message called on universities to prioritise science and information technology courses that match the demands of the private sector job market, given the limited absorption capacity of public sector employment, and urged the new graduates to embrace discipline and avoid reckless lifestyles as they begin their careers.
The Vice President also announced plans for a follow up visit to the university’s main campus alongside officials from the Ministry of Education, aimed at fast tracking the process of securing a full charter for the institution.
Apex International University’s story traces back to 2001, when its founders first moved to establish a private institution of higher learning in Uganda, a journey that culminated in Thursday’s twin inauguration and graduation ceremony.
The university now joins a growing list of private institutions that have emerged since the government’s liberalisation of the education sector in the late 1980s, a policy shift that expanded Uganda’s higher education landscape from a single public university enrolling about 5,000 students to dozens of institutions serving hundreds of thousands today.
With its inauguration complete and its first cohort of graduates now in the job market, the university’s leadership says its next task is securing a full operating charter, a process the Vice President indicated the government is ready to help expedite through a planned visit to the main campus.
