Oboth (C) being received on arrival at Kyambogo University
Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth has invited Uganda’s researchers to petition Parliament with evidence of where science fails to reach policy, pledging that the House will find the causes, assign responsibility and pursue accountability.
“We would want to be petitioned and shown where the disconnect is, so that we can address it,” Oboth said.
He made the call at Kyambogo University on Thursday, 12 November 2026 where he was a keynote speaker at the Science Meets Parliament, a dialogue organised by the AgriFoSe2030 Uganda Hub.
The dialogue is being held under the theme, ‘Strengthening the Interface between Science, Policy and Practice for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in Uganda’.
Oboth said Uganda does not lack policies, expertise or research institutions but that it lacks an understanding of why research, policy, resource allocation and implementation fail to connect.
“We have many think tanks. Perhaps it is time to develop action tanks,” he said urging scientists to package findings as actionable policy proposals rather than academic conclusions. The Speaker committed to working through parliamentary committees, using Parliament’s oversight, budget and legislative powers to examine, prevent and fix the bottlenecks.
Vice Chancellor Eli Katunguka said the university started an internal research grant scheme around 2018 with Shs1 billion of its own revenue adding that, this year the government added Shs3 billion.
The Vice-Chancellor also said public universities are staffed at only 34 to 35 per cent of their requirement adding that, Kyambogo struggles to keep engineers with PhDs, who earn more in the private sector.
He proposed a parliamentary science-policy dialogue platform and a centre of excellence for science translation at Kyambogo.
Prof. Elisabeth Rajala, Programme Director of AgriFoSe2030 said the programme, led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and funded by Sida, marks 10 years this year. It has three regional hubs in Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe, with the Uganda hub co-managed by Kyambogo and Gulu universities.
“Too often, knowledge remains in scientific publications rather than reaching policymakers, farmers and communities,” she said adding that, ‘It is when knowledge is shared, understood and put into practice that it makes a difference’-Ug. Parliament. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
