Hon. Steven Masiga, the spokesperson of the Bamasaba Cultural Institution, a thesis reviewer and an interdisciplinary scholar specialising in Law, Education and Administration, has told this publication that a good thesis is automatic employment in itself. He says scholars undertaking advanced studies at Master’s and PhD levels, as well as postdoctoral studies, must publish or perish.
Masiga says that, so far, he has reviewed several theses and found those of Dr Paul Mwambu, a Commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Prime Minister of the Bamasaba Cultural Institution, and Dr William Ruto, the current President of Kenya, to be theses with immense academic potential that no serious scholar should gloss over because of the academic value they hold.
Both Dr Paul Mwambu and Dr William Ruto are scientists who studied the same course during the same period but at different universities. However, as science scholars, they rubbed shoulders at several conferences across universities in Eastern Africa.
Paul Mwambu, besides the plethora of qualifications he holds, numbering over six degrees, undertook his studies in Zoology and Botany at Makerere University. His MSc thesis was rated by the World Bank as the best in the history of academic studies, especially in the fields of Zoology and Botany. His MSc thesis has attracted immense citations from both postgraduate and undergraduate academic communities.
Paul Mwambu’s scholarly investigations in the fields of Zoology and Botany were an attempt to establish the role of farmers in implementing Government- and World Bank-funded programmes deliberately designed to address poverty issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.
His MSc thesis, just like his PhD thesis, made substantial contributions to the fields of Zoology and Botany as disciplines. He demonstrated the ability to gather, filter and synthesise complex academic fields, something hitherto never demonstrated by any scholar on the African continent, Masiga says.
His MSc thesis was titled “An Assessment of Farmer Involvement in NAADS Implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Uganda.”
The research was basically non-doctrinal and attempted to establish the role of beneficiaries in World Bank- and Government-funded programmes designed to alleviate poverty and address other fiscal indicators in Africa and beyond. He formulated deliberate research hypotheses to test several existing hypothetical situations and convert them into theoretical knowledge that future scholars could rely on in their studies.
Meanwhile, Dr William Ruto, who completed his MSc in the same field and later pursued his PhD studies, had a thesis that was specifically targeted. He investigated the influence of anthropogenic activities on land, focusing on Saiwa Swamp in Trans Nzoia, while also examining such influences on human activities and land use.
Dr Mwambu, because of his excellent Magna Cum Laude thesis, was recruited from Government service to undertake World Bank assignments in several African countries. After his contract expired, the World Bank paid him Shs1 billion as a token of appreciation, in addition to his monthly or formal contractual payments.
Dr Ruto worked with several schools as a world-class teacher in the early 1990s before President Moi identified him for deployment, after which he joined politics.
Masiga says both Dr Paul Mwambu and Dr William Ruto used hypothesis testing during their scholarly investigations, alongside research questions. The hypothetical assumptions allowed them to make specific and educated predictions about the studies at hand and helped delimit or narrow their investigations, since research questions are always vaguely broad.
“Ugandan universities must at all times encourage students to publish their Master’s and PhD theses. As a scholar and thesis reviewer, I believe a student who has not published should not be allowed to graduate because they have not communicated with the outside world or demonstrated their potential to employers as serious scholars. Any university that does not help students publish should be totally avoided,” Masiga says.
Steven Masiga holds a BA in Education (Makerere University), a Master’s in Administration, an LLB and an LLM. He is also a PhD candidate.
Tel: 0782231577.
