What is the IUIU Alumni Association (IUIUAA)?

IUIU-AA is the umbrella organisation that seeks to bring together all the people that went through and completed at least a course of study at Islamic University In Uganda. The idea of re-establishing this association (this is the second effort) was mooted at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak as a way to reach out to our colleagues and see how best we support each other through the crisis, as well as find a way to support our dear University that، in large part, made us who we are individually and collectively.

IUIUAA Leadership?

At the start of the pandemic, it was not possible to call a physical meeting to elect leaders. We had a series of virtual meetings which culminated into a general membership that elected an interim leadership with a clear mandate to remobilise the members, write up a constitution, register the Association with Uganda government authorities, open bank accounts and establish the association website (iuiuaa.org;), Twitter (@iuiu_alumni), Facebook, etc. Most of these have so far been achieved, and available on request. The leadership is supported by an IUIU Alumni Administrator who was being paid for by the Association. The leadership meets once a month virtually.

IUIU alumni Association Independence.

IUIU-AA is an independent body but works collaboratively with other stake holders including IUIU administration to achieve its objectives. To IUIU Administration credit, they have been extremely supportive and we have held a series of meetings with them to inform them of our presence and objectives. They currently offer us an office space at IUIU Liaison Office, King Fahd Plaza, where our IUIU Alumni Administrator is based.

Mobilisation

We are doing our best to mobilise our membership via WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and all other media outlets. We ask that all members forward our leaflets and literature/messages to all individual WhatsApp or Facebook groups and contacts etc.

IUIU Alumni Day.

When we met with IUIU Administration in June 2021, we asked for a Day to be recognised in IUIU Calendar and so they agreed that 10th February (which is the Day of IUIU’s founding) will now be established as IUIU Alumni Day annually and they agreed for us to plan our activities as/how/when we want them.

The Dinner.

The idea of the dinner was mooted as part of our efforts at mobilising our general membership for purposes already mentioned. The IUIU Alumni Executive appoints an organising committee to plan and execute this and this committee meets regularly for this purpose.

10/02 this year fell on a Thursday and so we thought it best to move the dinner to a Saturday to accommodate people who might otherwise be busy during the week. However, we had a series of activities during the entire week beginning 7/2/2022, which culminated into the grand dinner on Saturday 12/02/2022 at Hotel Africana. We also launched a Scholarship Fund and currently has two students sponsored at IUIU. We are grateful to all who contribute to this Fund and we appeal to all of you to join this effort. Contributions can be deposited on our account with DFCU.

Date/Venue of the Dinner for Feb 2023.

The Organising Committe which was appointed and is led by Chairman Adnan Kawoya deliberated at length about venue with suggestions about using either a hotel environment or our own IUIU campuses. The modalities and complexities of travel, etc were discussed and members agreed on IUIU Female Campus, Kabojja as a more acceptable venue in view of planned launch of Hostel Construction as part of the activities for this Dinner. This will be our Project as IUIU Alumni and we are grateful to IUIU Administration who have offered us land at Kabojja to construct this hostel.

Cost of dinner.

The Organising Committee has agreed to 4 categories of tickets, details are already published. As executive, we urge all of you to buy as many tickets as you can. Even those in Diaspora who may not attend the dinner, buying the ticket will help with both organisation of dinner and also as part of the Fundraising effort for the Hostel Project.

Activities planned.

Building on modest successes for last dinner, we plan to have a series of activities we are planning for this Day and for the entire week. Some of the activities we plan include the Medical Camp in which our colleagues from the Habib Medical Foundation will showcase their work as well as provide medical services for both the occasion and to the public such as medical consultation and check-ups including blood glucose monitoring, blood pressure monitoring, blood testing, public health promotion, etc. We also plan career guidance activities, tree planting (in partnership with National Forests Authority) etc. As already mentioned, we will also launch our IUIU Alumni Investment Club and Female Hostel Construction at IUIU Kabojja Campus.

Guests.

The Organising Committee will in due course confirm Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker. We will also have other distinguished speeches from our own, details to follow.

I hope I have answered questions about who were and our mission. Kindly buy the tickets to support what we were doing. If unable to attend or to buy, please do not discourage others; in the end it will be for the betterment of our membership if we manage to mobilise ourselves fully.

Mr. Mousa S Kato,
Executive Secretary, IUIU Alumni Association