Deputy Inspector General of Government Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria has urged graduates to uphold integrity and resist corruption in their professional careers.
Speaking at the university’s 10th graduation ceremony on Friday, where 542 students received their degrees (319 females and 223 males), Dr. Okiria emphasised the importance of values like service, creativity, responsibility, and teamwork.
“As the Chancellor rightly charged you to be ready to face issues like corruption and community responsibility, he believed that passing exams was not the only thing, but that it is an assurance of the best script of values, service, creativity, responsibility, integrity, and professional teamwork,” she said.
Dr. Okiria encouraged graduates to be “pilgrims of integrity” and “pilgrims of social responsibility,” leveraging their skills and knowledge to drive innovation and solutions for Uganda.
“Be the generation that elevates the national conversation about transaction into transformation,” she added.
Msgr Charles Kasibante, who led the mass, urged graduates to avoid corruption in their workplaces.
The Chancellor of University of Kisubi, Br. Casio Aizire, also stressed the need for graduates to serve with excellence and maintain integrity.
“Let the UNIK script be a beacon of hope, showing that quality and ethical service can and must triumph over the corrosion force of corruption that drains our national resources and destroys the quality of public life,” he said.
“We commission you today to be anti-corruption agents by virtue of your professionalism, you must reject the cynical notion that success requires compromise,” Br. Aizire added.
Vice Chancellor Br. Dr. Deogratias Mugema highlighted the university’s innovations, including a solar-powered tricycle and an eco-bike, part of its e-mobility initiatives.
The university has also applied for patents to protect its innovations, Dr. Mugema said.
Among the graduates honored was the late Consolate Apio, a victim of the October 22 car crash on the Kampala-Gulu highway, who received a posthumous Master of Science in Clinical and Psychological Counselling.