No end to learning

Tapiwa Kamuruko was barely 17 years old when he fought in the Zimbabwean guerrilla war against the British colonial establishment in Zimbabwe. That was way back in the late 70s. When Zimbabwe was granted independence and Robert Mugabe’s ZANU/PF won the election in 1980, Tapiwa, together with other guerrilla fighters was disbanded from the force.
His only option was to go back to school. Since then, he has never stopped studying. Even when he has held various posts of both national and international stature, he has not stopped attending school.
“I have tried the delicate balance of working and studying,” he said, adding that his boss was particularly very considerate as he often granted him study leaves.
Courtesy of his unending penchant for learning, the Mass Communication department at Makerere University could be on its way to produce a first international PhD student through him. A Zimbabwean citizen, he currently resides in Germany where he works with the UN Volunteers that is administered by UNPD as the Deputy Chief, Africa region.
He enrolled for an undergraduate degree course in Development Studies at the University of Zimbabwe in 1983, before pursuing a diploma in Mass Communication and another course specialising in communication at the same university. Later, a working stint as the head of a unit in the Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications inspired an opportunity for studying in Uganda.
His former Minister at the Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, Dr. Nathan Shamuyarira, gave a mention of Makerere University as a favourite destination of study, despite being an alumnus of Dar-es-Salaam University. The mention of Makerere University first, over Dar University as a hot spot for higher education spurred Tapiwa’s interest in studying at Makerere University.
“Makerere has a historical tradition in higher education,” Tapiwa acknowledged. “Most of our leaders have passed through the university.” Better still, he had the options of undertaking his PhD studies in Australia and the United Kingdom, where he was offered partial scholarships but opted for Makerere University. He pays approximately US $2000 as tuition each academic year.
Despite his decision to pursue his PhD at Makerere University, Mass Communication department, he still considers Zimbabwean universities as some of the best in Africa in terms of teaching and research. Most of them have links to industries. Its graduates are in high demand throughout the world.
He also worked with the National news agencies in Zimbabwe, especially in the research confines. One of the researches he did on the feasibility of community media led to the setting up of various community newspapers. This project, funded by Friedrich Naumann Foundation, was as an appreciation of media in community development.
In the early 90s, he pursued a Masters degree at Leicester University in the United Kingdom on full scholarship. After his second Masters’ degree at the university of Malmo in Sweden in 2001-2002, where he studied Communication for Development, the UNDP, an organisation he works for, sent him to Indonesia for a professional programme he confesses was one of the most difficult during his study epoch. A number of professors from the universities of Harvard, Columbia and London School of Economics tutored them in the course of their study in Indonesia. However, many of the students dropped out of the professional course.
Having been in Uganda for about two years, he thinks of country as one of the promising media environments, compared to many countries including Zimbabwe.
“Am extremely impressed about Uganda,” he said, considering the enormous number of FM and TV stations in the country. “I think Uganda has one of the most promising media environments in Africa,” he added, basing on his comparative media studies in different countries like Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria and Uganda itself.
As the former head of UNDP’s governance project in human rights in Uganda, he says he didn’t face any major challenges. With active participation from local leaders, group volunteers and the community members, he was able to implement civic education programmes on human rights in areas like Karamoja and Bundibugyo.
The research for his PhD thesis pivots on ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and Development, with a focus on Uganda and Zimbabwe. He looks at ICT as the soul of social and economic development in any society. The trend and pattern of its usage and consumption, especially by various sections of the community could be a limelight to the unexplored opportunities that could positively transform community members. In Uganda, he is focusing on Nakaseke Telecentre in Luwero as the case study for his thesis.
Comparatively, but ironically, Zimbabwe with the second highest literacy rate at 90.7% after Tunisia, has an unemployment rate of 80%. However, by the time Tapiwa left Zimbabwe in the early eighties, his country was a beacon of hope and a food basket of Africa. But, the academic, professional and work pursuits summarise him into a well travelled man, locally and internationally.

Joshua Masinde