Makerere University has officially launched construction of a Shs96.6 billion facility for its College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), marking a major infrastructure milestone for one of the institution’s fastest-growing colleges.
The university handed over the construction site to Roko Construction Ltd during a ceremony held on September 4. The new building, spanning 15,000 square metres, will be funded by the government and will house teaching spaces, research facilities, and graduate training areas for CoBAMS.
Speaking at the handover, Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe described the occasion as a defining moment in the university’s history. He traced CoBAMS’ origins back to its split from the former Faculty of Social Sciences, noting that the college has since expanded into one of Makerere’s largest, with growing student numbers straining its current, scattered facilities.
Nawangwe said the consolidated complex would finally give the college a unified home suited to its scale, adding that with its expanding roster of programmes and consistently high demand among students, CoBAMS could soon overtake other colleges to become the university’s largest.
Roko Construction’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Koehler, addressed the company’s history of project delays directly, telling attendees that Roko had taken past criticism about slow delivery to heart. He committed the firm to balancing its reputation for quality workmanship with a firm focus on meeting agreed timelines for this project, while urging strong coordination between the university, the design consultant, and the contractor — particularly around prompt decision-making and steady funding flows.
Design Built for Longevity
Pius Muli, Managing Director of project consultant Symbion Uganda Limited, outlined the building’s scope, which will include administrative offices, academic facilities, and shared social and extracurricular spaces. He said Symbion had spent several months collaborating with university management to shape a design brief that reflects the college’s actual needs, and emphasized that sustainability was central to the plan so the facility would not become a costly maintenance burden in years to come.
Ambitions for Global Standing
CoBAMS Principal Prof. Edward Bbaale framed the project as a springboard for the college’s international reputation, expressing confidence that once finished, it would rank among the world’s leading centres for business, economics, and statistics education.
Nawangwe echoed that optimism, praising the architectural plans and suggesting that if construction matches the submitted designs, the project could reshape Makerere’s physical campus altogether.
