Innocent Kakama, aged 33, recently graduated from university. But his journey from a Mbarara High School cook who revised with students he prepared meals for – skipping classes – makes for an inspirational story.
Now a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Statistics graduate, Kakama’s graduation from Bishop Stuart University (BSU) based in the city of Mbarara won a mention in the institution’s online highlights on the event. For its 20th graduation ceremony, BSU said Innocent Kakama “one of the most resilient graduates.”
“Kakama lost hope after his primary seven and went for a certificate in mechanics, but diverted to looking after cows and later worked as a cook at Mbarara High School,” the institution further said of Innocent Kakama.
“He revised with S.4 in his free time and studied only S.6, then A-level for two years. On 25th Oct. 2024 during Bishop Stuart University’s Graduation Ceremony, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Statistics (2nd class upper).”
Innocent Kakama is an Old Boy of Mbarara High School, a prestigious school in western Uganda. Given his humble background, Kakama would never have gotten even near the school gate.
But having found a job as a cook there, he showed interest in learning. Years before joining Mbarara High School, he had successfully completed his primary education, sitting his Primary Leaving Examinations in 2004.
He had tried his hands at other jobs: a mechanic, a shamba boy, a herdsboy and a houseboy. It was not until 2014 that he joined Mbarara High School as a cook.
It was the right place for his dream of education pursuit. Slowly, he started taking part in discussion groups with candidates preparing for their Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations.
Feeling ready to test his faith, in 2017, he asked the school to allow him sit promotional examinations prepared by an education unit of the Anglican Ankole Diocese.
In that class of Senior Three candidates, Innocent Kakama emerged number 364 out of 366. His performance prompted Mbarara High School to make a decision on his education: he would be a student but would keep doing his cooking duties.
He would score aggregate 47 in eight subjects in UCE when assessment body Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) finally released results from the O-level national exams administered in 2018.
Still instrumental in Innocent Kakama’s education journey, Mbarara High School offered him a bursary to enable him do his A-levels.
He scored 11 points in History, Entrepreneurship, Economics, and Sub Mathematics in the 2020 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
Still facing financial struggles, Ankole Bishop Fredrick Sheldon Mwesigwa, the Palle Moeller Foundation, and Mbarara High School alumni would come to Innocent Kakama’s rescue, sponsoring his university education.
He bagged a second-class upper in Bachelor of Science in Economics and Statistics and now has his eyes on furthering his studies – and on a career as an economist and statistician.
You can see the lists of Uganda’s best performing O-level, A-level schools and universities Here, There, and Over There.
Read the profile of new Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary Kedrace Turyagyenda Here.
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