The Director of the IUIU Female Campus, Prof. Madinah Nabukeera Ssebyala, welcomed the new culinary academy and expressed appreciation to the Turkish Government and TIKA for their continued support, saying it has transformed the lives of hundreds of students.
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has commissioned a state-of-the-art Culinary Arts Academy at the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) Female Campus in Kabojja, in a move aimed at strengthening vocational education and empowering female students with practical skills.
The academy, officially inaugurated on 23 July 2026, is equipped with modern gastronomy equipment, refrigerators, and deep freezers to provide hands-on culinary training for students pursuing hospitality and related fields. The project forms part of TIKA’s growing development portfolio in Uganda, which now stands at 128 completed projects.
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, the Rector of IUIU, Prof. Ismail Simbwa Gyagenda, commended TIKA and the Government of Türkiye for their continued partnership with the university. He noted that IUIU has signed several Memoranda of Understanding with Turkish institutions, including the SENA Foundation, to strengthen academic collaboration.
“This academy is more than a workshop; it is a bridge connecting academic knowledge with practical expertise,” Prof. Gyagenda said, adding that the facility will enhance students’ employability and entrepreneurial skills.
TIKA Country Director Murat Cetin said the project was implemented under the agency’s vocational empowerment programme and thanked the university management for its cooperation throughout the project. He noted that TIKA operates more than 62 coordination offices across the world, delivering development initiatives in education, health, and vocational training.
Türkiye’s Ambassador to Uganda, H.E. Mehmet Fatih Ak, described development cooperation as a key pillar of the strong bilateral relations between Türkiye and Uganda. He reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Uganda’s human resource development through investments in education, vocational training, and entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, the Director of the IUIU Female Campus, Prof. Madinah Nabukeera Ssebyala, welcomed the new culinary academy and expressed appreciation to the Turkish Government and TIKA for their continued support, saying it has transformed the lives of hundreds of students.
However, Prof. Ssebyala also highlighted several pressing infrastructure needs at the campus, calling for support to renovate student residential halls and establish fully equipped science laboratories for Biology, Chemistry, Public Health, Nursing, and Midwifery.
She noted that the additional facilities would strengthen practical learning and enable the university to produce more qualified professionals to meet Uganda’s growing healthcare and development needs.
The commissioning of the Culinary Arts Academy is expected to boost vocational education at IUIU while further strengthening the long-standing partnership between Uganda and Türkiye in education and capacity building.
