Uganda: Speaker to graduands: Embrace innovation and enterprise

Practical innovation, integrity and enterprise job creation and not just paper qualifications are critical for the job market, the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Marksons Oboth, has advised Ugandan students. The Speaker made the call while addressing attendees at the 16th graduation ceremony of Makerere Business Institute (MBI) at its campus in Makerere on Friday, 21 August 2026 where 564 students graduated with diplomas and certificates in Journalism, ICT, Business and Finance. As it marked its 33 years of service, the Speaker used the occasion to address key challenges in Uganda’s education sector, workforce readiness, and the growing social vulnerabilities affecting young people. “Today you receive a certificate; tomorrow the world will ask what you can do with it. Education must, therefore, give us more than documents. It must give us skills, character and the courage to create opportunities,” he told the graduands. Oboth told the gathering, which was also graced by former Makerere University Chancellor, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, that the role of tertiary education in an evolving national and global economy is to provide true learning that goes far beyond academic credentials. The S