Remember him?: Makerere's Henry Suubi Kiyimba talks graduation, love life

In August 2009, photos of Kiyimba carrying his suitcase, a black backpack and a ‘Ousofia’ shopping bag to his hall of residence enlisted a rollercoaster of emotions online.

The then 20 year old freshman was trolled and mocked on one hand by mostly fellow students; but along with the ridicule came a life changing string of blessings in the form of emotional and financial support from a number of well wishers.

Looking back at the time today, Kiyimba recollects enjoying the new found fame, but only briefly before he realized he needed to focus on his education.

“The first year was quite a distruction for me. I got a lot of material support, there was no struggle for me financially. And then at some point I started to be treated like a celebrity,” Kiyimba told Extra Digest in an interview.

“At this point I had to make a decision to stop my mind from getting corrupted. So I stepped away from social media to focus on my studies. You know, we are in a generation which thinks there is no life offline, but people do have life off social media.”

Kiyimba, following the blow-up, received a scholarship for a course in Education. Later on however, he decided to change to Mechanical Engineering. He’s now in his 4th and final year. 

He looks forward to his graduation, and wants to prove the naysayers, including some of his family members wrong.

“There was so much negativity, especially when I decided to do Engineering. Many people didn't think that I was good enough, and also given the fact that mechanical engineering is considered to be the hardest course at the School of Engineering. But I picked what I needed to do and did it and ignored everything else as background noise.”

Struggles

Despite the blissful start, it was not always an easy sail especially in the years that followed, as financial support started to dry out at the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic.

“Covid affected every and so, I couldn't say that those who promised me failed to fulfill. I just had to adjust to the new situation and be frugal with the expenditure on meals and other essentials.”

Nonetheless, Kiyimba is proud to have completed the three years so far without a retake, and expects none in the final one.

Despite having a poor social life, a non-drinker and introvert, he also confirmed in the interview that he has managed to find himself a lover at the university, but was not keen on sharing details.

“Makerere University is a place where you will find people from all walks of time; it’s a good place to socialize and you do have time to pick out someone and study them well and build a relationship,” he said.

Kiyimba has majored in electric automobile and renewable energy systems, and hopes to land himself a good job within the two industries which are in their budding stages in the country.