It was a rainy Sunday morning, but nothing was going to dampen the mood, as ALI TWAHA joined thousands of Makerere University students and well-wishers in a run to raise funds for the Students' Centre, early last week.
The Makerere University Endowment Fund, which was behind the run, raised Shs 50m as a start towards building a Students’ centre at the main campus.
According to fund chairman Dr Martin Aliker, the move is an effort by students, alumni and well-wishers to support their alma mater.
“It is a long journey but we have to start somewhere and this run is our effort to start the road to putting up a students’ centre,” he said, last week.
The students’ centre, to be built in between the Senate building and Lincoln flats at an estimated cost of Shs 1.5bn, will be a three-storey complex that will host a canteen, halls, offices and a theatre.
The speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, was chief runner and contributed Shs 1m, before pledging that parliament would raise Shs 40m for the cause.
There were other contributions from MPs, Makerere staff and students, bringing the figure to Shs 50m in cash and pledges, according to officials in the vice chancellor’s office.
Among these was Shs 3m raised by the principal of the college of Humanities and Social Sciences, Prof Edward Kirumira, who sponsored 300 students, as well as an undisclosed sum by former vice chancellor, Prof Venansius Baryamureeba. Both participated in the run.
The runners were divided into 5km and 10km segments of the run. According to vice chancellor Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu, the run was just one of the many ways that the endowment fund would work to raise funds for the building project.
“We are working to raise Shs 150m as startup capital, so construction can start, but we will work to find other ways to mobilise funds to ensure completion of this building as our legacy to future students of Makerere,” he said.