UCU Digital Institutional Repository(UCUDIR)
Welcome to the Uganda Christian University Digital Institutional Repositoy (UCUDIR). This is the University's official Institutional Repository. It aims to collect, preserve and showcase the intellectual output of staff and students of UCU. This growing collection of research includes peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, working papers, theses, and more.
- The Repository ingests documents, audio, video, datasets and their corresponding Dublin Core metadata
- The aim is to open up this content to local and global audiences, with have optimized well for Google Scholar so your items here shows up on Google Scholar searches
- we also issue permanent urls and trustworthy identifiers, including optional integrations with handle.net and DataCite DOI
Not Registered? click here to Register or or if already registered: Click To submit your Item ::For more information visit any UCU Library branch
Communities in UCUDIR
Select a community to browse its collections.
- Items in this community present a concise summary of information that can help readers understand, and likely make decisions about, government policies.
- This is a collection of Masters and Doctoral theses and dissertations submitted in electronic format to the Uganda Christian University.
Recent Submissions
Environmental stewardship by the Church of Uganda in the Albertine region: a case of Bunyoro- Kitara diocese
(Uganda Christian University, 2026-10-06) Irumba, Eleazar
The topic of study was environmental stewardship by the church of Uganda in the Albertine region: a case of Bunyoro Kitara diocese. There is an increasing focus on environmental management in the Albertine region, especially in the call to have the church collaborate with the government in addressing environmental degradation. Church traditions have ethical responsibilities for managing the environment and all creation. The Bible asserts that the Church is scripturally duty-bound to fulfill its mandate to value and treat creation with respect. Air, water, and soils pollution in the Albertine region are because of industrialization and urbanization which release toxic gases to the environment, and this generally is dangerous to human health and the environment. NEMA (2024) indicates that increased deforestation, industrialization due to oil drilling, wetland destruction, poor soil conservation, dumping of industrial waste at the shores of lake albert, has led to the increased pollution of the Albertine areas and the destruction of natural habitant of wildlife hence poses a serious threat to the environment. The purpose of this study is to explore the Theological and Ethical practices for effective environmental stewardship in the Albertine region. The study was guided by the following specific objectives; to investigate the current factors responsible for Environmental Degradation in the Albertine Region, To examine the role played by Church of Uganda in Environmental Stewardship in the Albertine Region, to establish the relationship of Religious Teachings and Ethical Practices in Environmental Stewardship in the Albertine Region and to explore the theological practices that the church can use to enhance environmental stewardship in the Albertine Region. Methodologically, Hermeneutical and phenome logical approaches were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data using interviews, focus group discussions, observations and a mixed survey. The research participants were mainly church leaders, community leaders, civil servants and the Christians in Bunyoro Kitara Diocese. During the survey, 200 participants were randomly sampled, and 170 participants responded to the survey. The study applied random sampling strategy and purposive. Majority of the respondents asserted that urbanization, population growth, and economic expansion were the major factors for environmental degradation. The study revealed that the church organizes environmental sensitization programs, provides leadership to the people by taking responsibility for the environment and church teachings are centered on environmental conservation and management. This study provides knowledge to the researchers, government and other international development organizations on the critical role in safeguarding the environment from degradation and other negative environmental consequences. The principal contribution of this study is the development of a contextual Anglican theological framework for environmental stewardship that integrates ecclesial participation, ecological diakonia, biblical stewardship, and environmental ethics with empirical evidence from the Albertine Region. The Church of Uganda is encouraged to use the religious teachings to develop policies and programs that promote sustainable population growth and environmental management, invest in comprehensive theological training on environmental stewardship for its clergy and lay leaders, prioritize the integration of ecological diakonia in its spiritual teachings, Interdenominational collaboration in environmental stewardship should be strengthened to harness the collective power of the Christian community in the region. This study highlights the pressing need for a balanced and integrated approach to urbanization, population growth, economic expansion and environmental stewardship, particularly in the Albertine Region
The role of traditional pottery production in sustainable community development in Uganda: (A case study of the Ankole sub-region)
(International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 2026-08-25) Mwesiga, Dickson
Traditional pottery production is a significant but not broadly researched area in sustainable community development in Uganda, especially in rural areas where the economy is generally based on the crafts industry. This study aimed at the investigating socio-economic, cultural, and environmental impacts of traditional pottery production in sustainable community development in the Ankole Sub-Region, Western Uganda. The study was guided by the sustainable livelihood framework and the perspectives of culture-based development. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional case study design. This study used a sample size of 20 respondents, comprising 8 master potters, 4 long-term traders, 2 elders, 4 clay extractors, and 2 transporters. The researcher used a multistage sampling technique in areas with concentrated, accessible pottery activity in the Ankole sub-region. Semi-structured interviews and observations, together with structured interviews, were employed in data collection. Thematic data analysis, as described by Braun and Clarke (2006), was employed in analyzing the qualitative data, while descriptive statistics summarized the basic livelihood and production data. The findings showed that traditional pottery-making is an important economic activity for diversifying income and minimize poverty level by empowering women economically, passing on skills to the next generation, preserving cultural identity, heritage, and improve community ties through working together, and helping the development of the circular economy through the availability of local resources such as clay and organic matter for firing, and the simple technology for pottery-making. However, the sustainability of the traditional pottery is also limited by factors such as less access to the market, insufficient production facilities and modern kilns, reduced access to suitable clay materials, health risks from inhaling smoke and dust, and less institutional backing for the value steam. These findings also confirm previous evidence suggesting that pottery production results in employment and alleviates poverty in Ankole, while also emphasizing environmental and technical concerns related to production methods. The study concludes that enhancing pottery value steams through technological innovations, collaborative marketing strategies, heritage tourism partnerships, and targeted support from local government can promote sustainable community development outcomes aligned with Uganda’s national development goals and the increasing recognition of crafts within Uganda’s
creative economy.
Understanding characterization: the young adult character in the prose fiction of selected Ugandan female authors
(International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 2025-12-04) Alice Jossy Kyobutungi
This article explores the details of characterisation, particularly that of the young adult character in the prose fiction of selected Ugandan female authors, through a thorough reading of Barbara Kimenye, Mary Karooro Okurut and Glaydah Namukasa's novels and short stories. This study positions the texts within the broader literary analytical realm of the fundamental analytical framework of characterisation. Drawing from the archetypal critical theory and young adult studies, the work locates young adult protagonists as they navigate life's complexities, expectations, and their own personal perceptions about family, peers at school, teachers, and other people in their lives. Different characters are studied from their different settings accorded to them by the different writers; the schools, street environments, and later a university setting, all of which offer adolescents spaces to discover who they are. They rebel, they bond, they conflict, and they grow even as they negotiate their spaces in a world that is dominated by adults. The study highlights the physique of characters, their actions, their reactions and narrative voice, which reflect their agency and their search for identity. This analysis of characterisation of the young adult in female-authored prose fictional works stresses the role of Ugandan literature in increasing worldwide understanding of the young adult character in prose fiction.
For the young adult, autonomy is a dream: tracing the power dynamics in Ugandan literature
(Annals of Language and Literature, 2021) Alice Jossy Kyobutungi Tumwesigye
Age stereotype and its impact on literature is a factor that has not been sufficiently researched especially in Uganda. This article uses the postcolonial theory to reveal that the young adult demographic category is pushed to the periphery in literature as it is in life. It is part of a research done on representations of the
young adult in the fiction of selected Ugandan women writers; where the third objective in the bigger study investigates the power dynamic in literature. The article is a projection of a documentary study that uses critical analysis to explore how young adult characters are denied power in literature. It proposes that since literature has had a positive effect on society by reducing marginality in other aspects, it can do the same in the aspect of young adult power. The study confirms that writers (who target the young adult audience) by portraying young adult characters positively are likely to eventually influence such readers by making them aware of their peripheral positions and subsequently contributing towards redressing the problem of age stereotype. The novel Voice of a Dream by Glydah Namukasa (2006) is the core of the analysis.
Hybrid voices and embodied politics: Gender, performativity, and postcolonial negotiation in Mary Karooro Okurut’s ‘The Invisible Weevil’ and ‘Child of a Delegate’
(Centre for Democracy, Research and Development, 2026) Alice Jossy Kyobutungi Tumwesigye
This chapter explores gender-based challenges and opportunities in African cultural expression through a comparative analysis of Mary Karooro Okurut’s The Invisible Weevil and Child of a Delegate, drawing on feminist performance theory, postcolonial performativity, and hybridity. Although these texts are prose narratives, they are deeply performative in their narrative strategies, dialogic structures, and representations of embodied social practices such as political spectacle, ritualised speech, and gendered public performance. The chapter deploys mobilizes Homi Bhabha’s notion of hybridity to analyse how Okurut’s narratives operate within liminal postcolonial spaces where traditional gender norms intersect with modern political and social institutions. In The Invisible Weevil, gendered political participation becomes a contested arena where women navigate corruption, patriarchy, and civic agency, while Child of a Delegate foregrounds intergenerational and socio-political performances of power, masculinity, and femininity within postcolonial governance structures. Although music and dance are not foregrounded as theatrical devices, the novels encode performative cultural practices, rituals, political rallies, and communal gatherings that function as narrative performances of identity and power. These narrative performances contribute to African heritage discourses by illustrating how gender is enacted and contested within everyday socio-cultural spectacles. Ultimately, the chapter argues that Okurut’s fiction constructs the postcolonial public sphere as a performative stage where gendered identities are continually negotiated and reimagined. By bridging literary studies with performance and cultural studies, the chapter contributes to interdisciplinary debates on gender, power, and performativity.