EAST AFRICAN UONGOZI INSTITUTE

Rwekaza Mukandala

1. Introduction

The East African region, like the rest of Africa, has been facing many challenges since the mid-1980s which require a qualitatively different breed of leaders than those who were groomed under the one-party systems and military regimes. The challenge that concerns us here is that of coping with, and shaping and managing the many changes that are taking place locally, regionally and globally. These require leaders who are imaginative, innovative and cosmopolitan in outlook.

The problem is seen as the absence of dynamism, initiative and vision among leaders. Three causes account for the problem. First, the monolithic one-party and military, (in the case of Uganda) heritage fostered authoritarian and uncompetitive elite. Second, the countries concerned have generally accorded low priority to leadership training, especially during the current period of' economic hardships. Third, the civil society in East Africa is still relatively weak due to post-independence destruction of autonomous institutions, and therefore cannot challenge (awaken) the ruling elite effectively or call it into accountability. The effects have been resource cutbacks for institutions of higher learning, reduction of training programmes and the poorly trained, local generation of leaders. Thus the need to change this situation is clear and urgent.

2. Objectives of the East African Uongozi Institute

The overall objective of the Institute is the creation of a dynamic and broad-minded leadership in the East African region. This should be referred to as the "Development Objective". To achieve this objective, a number of "intermediate" (or supportive) objectives must be achieved.

3. Implementation Strategies

The implementation of the East African Uongozi Institute's mission has, so far, been carried out through three strategies, viz: the Uongozi School training programme, Networking and co-ordinated activities by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

3.1 Uongozi School

The Uongozi School hopes to provide a forum for exchange of ideas and research experience among top-notch students from East Africa, and elsewhere; and experienced scholars, policy makers, and individuals in leadership positions in East Africa and elsewhere.

3.1.1 Recruitment process

The recruitment of the Uongozi School participants went through a two stage process. First, a provisional list of 15 students was made from the list of applicants at each centre. Second, a final selection of participants was made from the lists of provisionally selected participants to attain the allotted quota at each centre- 10 participants from each of the Universities of Dar es Salaam, Makerere, and Nairobi, and 9 participants from the University of California, Los Angeles (2 Graduate students were also added to the team).

In addition, there was one self-sponsored participant from Denmark in the 1998 Uongozi School training program.

To execute the two stages of the recruitment process committees were formed at all the four centres - Makerere University, University of Nairobi, University of Dar es Salaam, and University of California, Los Angeles.

3.1.2 Composition of the participants

3.1.2.1 Gender

One of the points raised in the project proposal is the gender dimension. It is explicitly stated in the proposal that not less than one third of the participants will be females.

It is gratifying to note that of the 42 participants of the 1998 Uongozi School, 24 (57 per cent) were females and 18 (43 per cent) were males. The gender composition from each of the four centres, however, varied. Table 1 below presents the gender composition of the participants by centre of origin.

Table 1: Gender Composition of the 1998 Uongozi School Participants by Center

Centre

Numbers

Percentages

 

Females

Males

Total

Female

Males

Total

University of Dar es Salaam

4

6

10

40

60

100

University of Nairobi

6

4

10

60

40

100

Makerere University

4

6

10

40

60

100

American Universities

10

1

11

91

9

100

University of Copenhagen

0

1

1

0

100

100

Total

24

18

42

57

43

100

3.1.2.2 Disciplines

Another aspect on participants raised in the project proposal is the composition of academic disciplines. In the project proposal, it is stated that students of the Uongozi School will be drawn from the disciplines of Political Science, Public Policy and Administration, Sociology, History, Economics, Business Administration, Commerce, Law, Education, the natural Sciences and other related fields.

Table 2: Discipline Composition of the 1998 Uongozi School Participants

Social Welfare and Administration 1

Although the Political Science discipline seems to have had the largest representation as shown in Table 2 above, the spirit of the project proposal has been widely satisfied because as many as 27 different disciplines were represented.

3.1.2.3 Universities

The participants of the Uongozi School came from as many as 12 Universities (3 Universities in East Africa, 8 Universities in the United States, and 1 University in Europe). The distribution of participants from various institutions in the 1998 Uongozi School programs is given in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Participants of the 1998 Uongozi School by University

University of Dar es Salaam 10

University of Nairobi 10

Makerere University 10

University of California, Los Angeles 4

Monmouth University 1

Stanford University 1

MaCalaster College 1

Indiana University 1

Reed College 1

Wellesley College 1

Harvard University 1

University of Copenhagen 1

3.1.3 Programme

The Uongozi School programme combined formal studies with educational visits to interesting historical sites.

3.1.3.1 Formal studies

The formal studies theme for the 1998 Uongozi School was governance, democracy, and development. The theme was considered under 5 modules, namely:

Modules 2 and 4 were co-ordinated by members of the organizing committee whereas Modules 1, 3, and 5 were co-ordinated by resource persons who are not members of the organizing committee. The Module Co-ordinators and Sub-themes of the Modules were as detailed below.

MODULE 1 - Co-ordinator: Professor Issa Shivji

MODULE 2 - Co-ordinator: Professor Akiiki B Mujaju

MODULE 3 - Co-ordinator: Professor Severine Rugumamu

MODULE 4- Co-ordinator: Professor Edmond Keller

MODULE 5- Co-ordinator: Professor Penina Mlama

The formal studies approach was by lecture presentations followed by open discussions. In addition to the open discussions, participants had an opportunity to pursue points in seminar group discussions. The participants were divided into two discussion groups of 20, each led by a graduate student. In the discussion groups, participants were expected to analyse and discuss the points raised in the lectures or picked in the readings. In this way, the participants could help each other to better follow the program and benefit more from it. The discussion groups were scheduled to meet twice a week. Furthermore, in three cases a panel discussion approach was adopted in lieu of the normal lectures. At the end of each Module, an assignment was given to the participants to assess the knowledge gained from the presentations and the required readings.

3.1.3.2 Study visits

Participants visited sites of historical and cultural significance in Bagamoyo, Zanzibar, and Arusha, all in Tanzania, and in Jinja and Kampala, both in Uganda. While in Bagamoyo, the participants first visited the Kaole ruins, and later they were shown the place were slaves were kept before being transported to their final destinations. Lastly, the participants visited the Catholic Church Museum.

The first destination in Zanzibar was the Maruhubi Palace ruins, one of the famous places constituting the ancient monuments of Zanzibar. From the Maruhubi Palace ruins the participants visited the spice farms where they saw, tasted, and bought various spices of the Zanzibar Island. This was a memorable and learning experience to all the participants. Subsequently, the participants visited the Jozani forest to see the red calboush monkeys and finally stopped at the old slave town, and in particular the Lutheran Cathedral to see the tunnel in which slaves were dumped before they were transported to their final destinations. Many traces of the cruelty done to the slaves, including the chains used to tie them together, are visible in the tunnel.

In Kampala, the participants first visited the Namugongo Roman Catholic Church built in commemoration of the 22 Ugandan Christian martyrs who were ordered to be killed by Kabaka Mwanga for following a foreign religion and refusing to give it up. At the same sight, the participants were shown the exact spot where the killings took place. In Jinja the participants visited the source of the White Nile, and some used this rare opportunity to ride in canoes up to the actual place which marks the source of the river. Next, the participants visited the Bujagali falls. The visits continued with a guided tour of the Uganda National Museum where the participants saw lots of things associated with the past Ugandan way of life. with a historical perspective. From the Uganda National Museum, the participants proceeded to the Kasubi tombs, where the kings of Buganda are buried.

While in Uganda, Dr Abel Rwendeire, the Minister of State for Higher education addressed the participants. It was originally expected that the participants would have an audience with the Prime Minister of Uganda, Mrs. Specioza. This did not materialize owing to her illness.

During the Arusha tour, the participants first made a brief stop at the Cultural Heritage where there was plenty to see concerning the culture of a number of ethnic groups in Tanzania. From there, the participants went to Lake Manyara Game Park where they saw different animals and birds, and also toured the Ngorongoro crater where they saw herds of animals of different types.

3.1.4 Resource persons

The Uongozi School benefited from the services of 32 resource persons. Of these, 8 were females and 24 were males. There were resource persons from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, England, Denmark, the United States, and Tanzania.

3.2 Networking

· In November 1997, the Director of the Institute attended a panel discussion on the East African Uongozi Institute at the African Studies Association(ASA) conference, in Columbus, Ohio. This was a good opportunity where the Institute was introduced to the North American and other scholars.

· The East African Uongozi Institute has already established contacts with the East Africa Co-operation Secretariat by getting the Executive Secretary of the secretariat to launch the Institute and the Uongozi School. In his opening speech, the Executive Secretary emphasised the need for future co-operation between the Secretariat and the East African Uongozi Institute.

· There is a good working relationship between the Institute and the African Association of Political Science (AAPS). The Association sponsored two resource persons for the 1998 Uongozi School training program.

· The East African Uongozi Institute informed all the associated members of the New Africa initiative about the Institute's programmes. In actual fact one person associated with the New Africa Initiative gave a speech to the 1998 Uongozi School participants.

· There is a good working relationship between the press in Tanzania and the East African Uongozi Institute. At its launching, the Institute received a wide press coverage.

· The Institute has also been introduced to a number of Non-Governmental organizations.

· Most importantly, the East African Uongozi Institute had developed a good rapport with the Administrations and colleagues at the four Universities. More significantly, of the four Universities have pledged to remain committed to support the objectives of the Institute.

4. Future Directions

4.1 Strategic Plan

The East African Uongozi Institute has prepared a Strategic Plan covering the period 1997- 2001. The Institute has four related components, namely,

4.2 Components of the East African Uongozi Institute

The components of the EAUI have the following intermediate objectives peculiar to each of them:

1. Component A: The Uongozi School (UOS)

This component will handle all activities relating to the organization and conducting of the annual leadership training programmes. It will be known as the Uongozi School of EAUI.

2. Component B: Research, Publications and Documentation (RPD)

The RPD will be responsible for organizing and conducting research, ensuring publication of research findings, and proper documentation and distribution of relevant literature to facilitate the annual training programmes. Emphasis will be on two types of research, namely leadership-related research and research on the "burning issues" of the day which include issues related to East African co-operation, as will be defined by the Project Steering Committee.

3. Component C: Networking, and Information Dissemination(NID)

This will be responsible for creating an "East African constituency," of people concerned with the leadership factor. These actors, to be considered as the "stakeholders" of EAUI, will be identified from such different sectors as the East African Co-operation Secretariat, government agencies, the business, academic, and voluntary/NGO sectors. This component will attempt to link these stakeholders through various ways, including seminars, workshops, conferences, and distribution of EAUI newsletters and bulletins.

4. Component D: Advisory and Follow-up Training Services (AFTS)

AFTS will be responsible for organizing and conducting follow-up training courses for mid-career public servants and leaders who will include former EAUI graduates and other interested persons. The component will also respond to specific requests from any of the major stakeholders, e.g. learning institutions, the civil service, the East African Co-operation, voluntary sector groups, etc. The requests from stakeholders may take different forms, e.g. advice on a specific issue, mounting a specialized leadership training courses for particular groups, conducting research on a specified issues, etc. It is believed that AFTS has the potential for becoming a source of funding for EAUI through the sale of professional services.

With regard to the activities of the Uongozi School, the following recommendations were made:

5. Assumptions, Risks and Sustainability

The East African Uongozi Institute project rests on the following four assumptions:

The third and the fourth assumptions stated above also spell out three potential risks which may face the project. These are:

The purpose of spelling out assumptions and risks is to "sensitize" those involved so that they are constantly aware of the huddles which the project may face. Indeed, effective management of the risks itself is an important aspect of the leadership training programme of the EAUI project.

As mentioned above, one potential risk is that the project might continue to depend on external resources beyond the period 1997 - 2001. It is therefore important that ways of making the project financially self-supporting are conceived at the beginning. The following sources and strategies are envisaged in this regard:

6. Synergy Strategies

The East African Uongozi Institute cherishes the idea of working out a synergy. Co-operation may be achieved as follows:

The Co-operation Between the EAUI and UCLA

Edmond J. Keller

The New African Initiative (NAI) was seen in the context of emerging publications and efforts of African scholars who have demonstrated commitment in articulating the African voice - a voice that is engaging the process of globalization. Just to name a few examples: the works of Tandika Mukandawire when he was with CODESRIA, and Jonathan Moyo's multi-media project, "The Making of New Africa". Africans want to engage the process of globalization rather than ignoring it, or running away from it. That is what the New Africa initiative is all about and coincides with the Ford Foundation's efforts in the past two years.

In the United States, the Ford Foundation has been funding university projects that address cross-border and cross-cultural concerns and build bridges to fill gaps among the various disciplines. That seems to be how UCLA came into this particular picture. UCLA was already doing some collaborative work with the Universities of Dar es Selam and Nairobi which helped it to be familiar with such initiatives.

UCLA has a couple of grants from the Ford Foundation. One of them is to work with this synergy workshop to help develop and disseminate information about the "New Africa Initiative" in the United States. In this area, we have worked with Dr. Teka on the first synergy workshop. We also hosted around table where a number of participants were represented at the last African Studies Association Conference. We had presentations from Dr. Mukandla, Dr. Somjee, myself, Assumta Oturu all of whom informed their American audience about what was going on with the NAI.

UCLA became involved in the synergy workshop on the Uongozi Institute earlier. We were invited by the Program Officer of the Ford Foundation to think about situating UCLA as part of the NAI. During the early stages of the initiation of the Uongozi School, UCLA provided education materials, and other kinds of educational resources, computer hardware and software and books. It also undertook the production of recruitment materials, and involved in the recruitment of students from the United States who were encouraged to have first hand experience by living in Africa and interacting with Africans. UCLA hopes that by making such interactions, misconceptions and stereotypes could be overcome. The Uongozi Institute serves the purpose of breaking down those barriers. UCLA also agreed to identify placement opportunities for Uongozi fellows once they complete their training at the EAUI. In this regard, places where some students can be put were identified in the United States or in Africa.

UCLA has a multi-year national summit on Africa, which is broken down into regional summits. Two of such gatherings have been held so far and there remain an additional six to be convened in the coming few years. UCLA is funded by the Ford Foundation to organize public education forums which are used to familiarize the African voice to the American context. The whole idea of doing this is to build a constituency for Africa.

U.S. policy towards Africa has three components:

Bearing in mind the fact that trade and investment can not be promoted in the absence of the other two, our public forums concentrate on the mutuality of the three areas. The idea of underscoring the three components of U.S. policy is to get American citizens who are not aquatinted with the African reality got informed. It is believed that if they are informed, they will try to positively influence U.S. policy on Africa.

UCLA's involvement with the three African Universities and all those participating in the NAI is a milestone in international collaboration. This is in line with what the Ford Foundation wanted to accomplish when undertakings in this regard were initiated few years back. The achievements registered until now have proved that the goals stated are realizable.

Discussion and Exchange of Views (EAUI)

The participants raised a number of points during the session that accompanied the presentation on the East African Uongozi Institute (EAUI). These included the adopted strategies for running activities, the anticipated opportunities accruing from the program components, and the results expected from the venture.

With regard to the program aspects, it was envisaged that the strategies designed to facilitate undertakings will focus on lectures, debates, and training on scientific inquiry and interactive learning. The programs are also expected to incorporate internship exercises based on field visits that are aimed at providing students with a practical understanding and appreciation of the underlying objectives of the Institute.

It was hoped that the launching of the project could avail opportunities in terms of supplementing existing university curriculum, promoting practical (out-of-class) training, offering a forum for trainees through which they can interact with policy makers, civic leaders and prominent intellectuals.

The participants expressed their belief that the programs of EAUI could result in grooming a new brand of imaginative and dynamic leaders, and generate research outputs that could serve as a basis for policy debates.

During the discussion session, participants appreciated the support provided and the pledges made to facilitate endeavors on the part of the Vice Chancellors of the co-operating Universities and the Chief Executive of the East African Secretariat. One participant suggested that the curriculum of the EAUI should give more room for interactions among students and means and ways of inviting young leaders to brief trainees on difficulties to be encountered when disposing leadership functions. It was also proposed that training components must include developing skills that could help in using modern information technology and the crafts of multi-media (films, novels, plays...).

Questions on a variety of concerns like the compatibility of EAUI training sessions with a typical university system, plans for including trainees outside universities, and possibilities for including students from other African countries outside East Africa were raised. Explanation on why a large number (25%) of students from the United States were enrolled in the EAUI training programs. Resource persons and the concerned individuals responded to the queries in a satisfactory manner.

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