By Frank Kamuntu | Mr Swift
Victoria University Vice Chancellor Prof. Lawrence Muganga has paid an emotional tribute to the late businessman Rajiv Ruparelia, crediting him with providing the vision, courage and conviction that propelled the institution from a modest university with 180 students into one of Uganda’s rapidly growing higher education institutions.
Addressing the university’s 10th Graduation Ceremony at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Monday, Muganga said Rajiv’s belief in Victoria University, particularly during its challenging early years, laid the foundation for its remarkable growth and ambitious plans for the future.
Speaking through the university’s Chancellor, Muganga recalled that when his path crossed with Rajiv in 2020, the businessman could see possibilities that others had yet to recognise.
“I have told this hall that Victoria University said yes before anyone else did. I have not told you who taught us the word,” Muganga said, before identifying Rajiv as the man who inspired the university’s ambitious journey.
“When the rest of us could see a building with 180 students, he could see this. His eyes were always on where this university was meant to be, long before the rest of us could find it on the map,” he added.
Muganga described Rajiv as a visionary whose confidence in the institution and its people helped sustain its ambitions during difficult moments, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
According to the Vice Chancellor, Rajiv did not simply encourage the university to survive the difficult period but challenged its leadership to look beyond the immediate challenges and pursue a better future.
“He held our hands through the hardest seasons. When the world shut in 2020, he did not ask us to survive. He asked us to look for better days. To work for them. To walk towards them. And because he asked, we did,” Muganga said.
He credited Rajiv’s leadership philosophy, which he summarised as acting fearlessly and with conviction, with helping the university develop the confidence to pursue an ambitious transformation agenda.
“He chose to believe that a small team in Kampala could build a Victoria University that would be the envy of Africa. And perhaps the world,” Muganga said.
The Vice Chancellor also remembered Rajiv beyond his business and institutional achievements, describing him as a son, brother, friend, father and uncle whose influence extended to many young people.
“Rajiv, I know you see what is happening today. We love you. We celebrate you. We cherish you. We are grateful that you selflessly lived a life that made Victoria University what it is. We will always remember you. We will always honour you,” Muganga said.
The tribute came as the university celebrated a decade of academic milestones, with Muganga using the occasion to demonstrate how the institution’s growth reflected the ambition Rajiv had championed.
Looking ahead, Muganga announced that Victoria University planned to begin construction of a new campus in Naguru, Kampala, from January 2027. The proposed development will be designed for technology-driven learning and will include a state-of-the-art teaching hospital to support the university’s planned medical school.
Muganga also urged the government, parents, employers and educational institutions to embrace artificial intelligence, arguing that technological adoption would be critical to Uganda’s ambition of achieving a tenfold expansion of its economy.