Waswa Balunywa

Balunywa was born in Kasolo Village, Bulamagi County, in Iganga District, on 3 December 1955.[3]

He attended Mwiri Primary School for his elementary schooling. He transferred to Jinja College for his O-Level education and studied at Namasagali College, for his A-Level studies.[3]

Balunywa holds a Bachelors of Commerce degree obtained in 1979 from the University of Delhi in India. He also has a Master of Business Administration, also awarded by the same university in 1981.[4] His Doctor of Philosophy in Entrepreneurship was awarded in 2009, by the University of Stirling, in the United Kingdom.[5]

Balunywa started his academic career as lecturer in 1983, in the then Department of Commerce at Makerere University. In 1987, he was appointed a senior lecturer in the Department of Accounting, Banking and Finance, also at Makerere, serving there from 1987 until 1990.[3]

He then served as Dean Faculty of Commerce, Makerere University from 1991 to 1998. In 1997, he was instrumental in the creation of Makerere University Business School (MUBS). MUBS was created in 1997 by the merger of the former faculty of Commerce at Makerere University and the then National College of Business Studies, Nakawa. Prof. Balunywa headed MUBS at its inception in 1997 as the school's first Director. In 1998, the position of Director was changed to Principal.[6] In June 2018, Waswa Balunywa began another three-year term as the Principal of MUBS.[1]

Balunywa has a profound love for nature. He notes that he loves the view of water, to hear birds sing, to see beautiful flowers, and to have green all around him. He chose to have his home by the lakeside in Entebbe to fulfill one of his childhood dreams. Waswa Balunywa also prides himself in occasionally hosting the Crested Crane (one of Uganda's national treasures) at his home garden. "Now and again I also host the national treasure, the Crested Crane in my garden, they come and go. I don’t know why they pay me a visit. They arrive at 7am and leave at 6:15pm when visiting." He said. [7]

Balunywa also cites wrestling as one of his biggest interests. Being one of the privileged Ugandans in the 1960s to have access to television, Balunywa picked up an interest in wrestling. Having initially lost interest in watching the game in the early 1970s, he regained interest in the late 1970s. He fondly remembers great wrestlers like Larry Zabisko, David Smith, Sean Micheals, Hulk Hogan, Vince Mcmahon and Andre the Giant among others.[8] Balunywa also has a great interest in yoga. He says even though it is not a sport as such, it involves doing some exercises and meditation.[9]

Teaching is one of Professor Balunywa's major interests. He notes that while his family is full of teachers including his father, he didn't think of teaching as a profession until his graduate school days. His interest in teaching was inspired by Professor LM Jhori, his lecturer of Marketing at the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) at the University of Delhi. "Johri sat on a desk, taught and made marketing so easy, made the teaching profession so simple and so likeable that I there and then fell in love with the great teaching profession." Professor Balunywa recalled. [10]

Several quotes are attributed to Professor Balunywa. A Facebook page (Prof Balunywa Quotes and Sayings) is dedicated to publishing his quotes. Below are some of his famous quotes:

• "Irrespective of your current disagreement with a person who once assisted you to succeed, don't make negative destructive remarks about them. Respect them."
• "Save your planet, dispose off plastic bags and bottles safely"
• "Greatness in leadership is through passion for others and enabling them to succeed"
• "Positive thinkers attempt to find solutions to problems. Negative thinkers on the other hand create additional problems to every problem."
• "If you don't believe that you are good enough to do stuff, you will never do it. Optimism builds confidence, be optimistic you get it done."
• "Listening enables you to take better decisions."
• "Positive emotions are critical in emotional intelligence as they impact positivity on quality of our relationships and lives."
• "Don't aspire to be other people, model and craft your own path. You will make it."
• "Seek autonomy in doing things and this is how you will become more creative in what you are doing."
• "Success of a team depends on the culture of the team."
• "If you want to be a good communicator, you must be able to build your executive presence."
• "The knowledge you acquire from time to time improves your ability to succeed."
• "Keep your dream alive, and renew them. But make sure they turn into results not nightmares. No matter what age"
• "Effectiveness in leadership comes from understanding the cause of Conflict among other things and managing to resolve them."
• "You need power and influence to start and do things continously. But you need focus and discipline to achieve."
• "If you want to nurture something, you must put rules in place that you can't break but, rules create inertia."
• "There is no amount of political talk that will help cities to grow. Our new cities must develop businesses to be able to grow."
• "We need to recognize that change is taking place due to coronavirus pandemic coupled by change in technology, this will greatly change careers."
• "Do not become obsolete, continuously seek to know."
• "Politeness appears a major weakness among people and yet it is one of the greatest inner strength that people have. Learn to be polite."
• "Be positive in life, but remember, something will always go wrong. Be prepared for it and seek ways to overcome it and move on. That is life."
• "Every painful experience gives you a lesson but not everybody learns. Only wise people learn and change for the better with that experience."
• "Many of us deny getting involved into conflict. Conflict is inevitable, it can happen at anytime and it is part of our life."
• "Envy is the price of success."
• "Listen more to vulnerable people, it improves your understanding of the world."
• "In this world, we have friends and acquaintances. Many come and go, you may lose some but the best gift a friend can give is honestly."
• "Besides yourself, only God knows what is on your mind and in your heart. If you have to say something to anybody, make sure it will achieve your objectives. And also build better relationships otherwise, you are better off keeping silent."
• "Focus on what you have rather than constantly checking what is missing on your plate. Make your plate greener and be grateful."
• "Those who criticize you without providing an alternative to your thoughts are trying to hurt you and break your will. They can't be like you, so they want to bring you to their level. Be tolerant because they help you to improve should there be fault in your thinking and actions."
• "It takes time to know the thinking and emotions of other people and when you do, use your own emotions to manage them."
• "Say no to drugs, life can take you higher than drugs."
• "You must be able to change with the changing conditions to be able to fit in a changing environment."
• "If you want to address the challenges of poverty, you have to first of all address the challenges that girls in this country are facing."
• "Distance yourself from the people who lie to you, disrespect you, use you, put you down and abuse you."
• "Life can at times be like a war, the best way to win a war is not to fight one but when you have to hit very hard."
• "When you seek power, you must seek it to use it for a purpose."
• "Practice social distancing, stay at home, wash your hands, stay at home while the storm lasts."
• "One way to really keep control of things is to control yourself."
• "Legacy will be real if you have people who believe in your ideas."
• "Staying calm and positive enables you to take the right decision."
• "Seek to learn from successful people rather than envy them negatively and or pull them down."
• "Every objective has got a constraint."
• "Tomorrow will look like today, knowing that takes you to the realities of leadership."

Balunywa served on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Uganda, the country's central bank and national banking regulator, from 2001 until 2012.[11] He was the serving board chairman of Uganda Airlines, at the time of its liquidation in 2001.[11][12] Balunywa is the Patron of the Balunywa Foundation in memory of his late father who disappeared under mysterious circumstances during Idi Amin's regime. The foundation focuses on helping needy youth and women in obtaining vocational skills for self sustenance.[13]

• Professor Waswa Balunywa Official website
• Balunywa Foundation Official Website
• Makerere University Business School Official Website
• Makerere University Official Website
• Makerere University Business School To Award Own Degrees