Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) today hosted officials from the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) for a Monitoring and Assessment visit held at the University’s Block C Main Hall, Fort Portal City.
The visit was led on the University side by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Pius Coxwell Achanga, together with Assoc. Prof. Kagambe Edmond, Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration, and Prof. John M. Kasenene, Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, alongside other members of Top University Management. The Ministry team was led by the Assistant Commissioner for Higher Education and Training, Mr. John Ochira Pakony, and the Principal Education Officer for University Education and Training, Dr. Eric Giita. Also in attendance were the University’s Deans of Faculties, Heads of Directorates and Heads of Units.
In his address to the visiting officials, Prof. Achanga presented a progress update tracing MMU’s journey since its establishment, from the Kabundaire and Lake Saaka campuses to the current state of the Lake Saaka Campus in 2026. He outlined the University’s systematic academic growth over the past decade, including new projects, PhD scholarships, the Dairy Development Centre, an outreach study centre, a community radio station, expanded connectivity infrastructure and industrial linkages. He also updated the Ministry team on governance strengthening at MMU, noting a fully functional University Council with its committees, Senate, University Staff Tribunal, Top University Management, middle management structures, staff associations, a Students’ Guild, Convocation, and more than twenty policies and guidelines now in place. Prof. Achanga further briefed the officials on the University’s new Strategic Plan (2025/26–2029/30), themed on partnering with industry, government and communities to deliver innovative and transformative education and research for socio-economic transformation, and on the establishment of the Directorate of Postgraduate Studies and Research to strengthen graduate training and research output. He highlighted ongoing community outreach and research partnerships, among them the Aquaculture Community Initiative in Kyoga (ACIK), which supports fish farmers in the Lake Kyoga region, and plans for a proposed Hotel School to build competence-based capacity in tourism and hospitality.
Prof. Kasenene, in his presentation, briefed the Ministry team on MMU’s readiness for Competence Based Education and Training (CBET), which the Ministry has indicated will become a mandatory requirement for universities in the 2027/2028 Academic Year. He explained that after receiving the minimum CBET implementation standards from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in December 2025, the University convened a university-wide review involving Top Management, Deans and Heads of Department, out of which a University Steering Committee for CBET Review and Implementation was formed in February 2026 and tasked with developing an implementation roadmap. He reported that Top Management and academic staff had since undergone dedicated CBET training facilitated by NCHE experts, and that faculties were now at varying stages of redesigning curricula around competency mapping, learner-centred pedagogy and industry-aligned learning outcomes. He singled out the Faculty of Education as the most advanced, already delivering a CBET curriculum to its teacher trainees, while other faculties: Science, Technology and Innovation; Health Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; Business Management Science; and Agriculture and Environmental Science: had each set up faculty-level CBET committees and champions and reported varying progress and constraints, chief among them limited funding for training, benchmarking and equipping practical facilities. He also outlined the University Library’s plans to support the CBET transition and detailed MMU’s wide range of community engagement activities and partnerships, including agreements with institutions such as the African Accounting and Finance Association, the University of Antwerp, Wageningen University, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), SaSaKaWa Africa Association and others.
Assistant Commissioner Ochira Pakony and Dr. Giita commended MMU for the strides made in preparing for CBET rollout. During the assessment, the Ministry officials inquired into the University’s internal systems, including how institutional policies are being implemented, how research findings are translated into tangible community impact, and how the Research Innovation Fund is being utilised. The team went on to conduct physical inspections of key University sites, including the Faculty of Agriculture complex, currently under construction with funding from the Government of Uganda, and the Tissue Culture Laboratory housed at the Faculty of Agriculture.
In his closing remarks, Assoc. Prof. Kagambe Edmond, Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration, appealed to the Ministry to support increased funding to the University, specifically to complete construction of the Faculty of Agriculture complex, boost the Research Innovation Fund to Ugshs. 3 billion, and support staff development, particularly PhD training for academic staff.
The Monitoring and Assessment visit forms part of the Ministry of Education and Sports’ broader oversight of universities’ readiness ahead of the mandatory rollout of Competence Based Education and Training in the 2027/2028 Academic Year among others.