As Executive Director, Mutabanura directs the Cavendish University’s operational, financial, and administrative functions, instilling a customer-first mindset and a culture of delivering outstanding value.
The Executive Director for Cavendish University Uganda David Mutabanura has been awarded with the St. Mary’s College Kisubi Old Boys Association (SMACKOBA) Distinguished Alumni Achiever Award for 2025.
The prestigious award is given to individuals in recognition of their exemplification of the institution’s core values in professional and personal lives, serving as beacons of inspiration.
Mutabanura’s selection underscores a remarkable journey of leadership, integrity, and innovation that began in 1991 at St. Mary’s College Kisubi, a leading secondary school, renowned for its rich tradition, excellent academic performance and all round nurturing of its students, notable of whom have been three Vice Presidents of Uganda, four Prime Ministers of Buganda Kingdom, two Attorney Generals, a Speaker of Parliament, Cabinet ministers, judges, lawyers, entrepreneurs, renown creative artists and distinguished academics of every field.
The award was on 5th December 2025 presented to Mutabanura at this year’s SMACKOBA 2025 Alumni Awards Dinner at Hotel Africana, and the event was a gathering of the nation’s finest, celebrating a son of Kisubi whose life and work continue to inspire the fraternity and the wider community to strive for impactful, principled success.
The award committee highlighted Mutabanura’s profound commitment to leadership, integrity, professionalism and innovation, principles deeply ingrained during his formative years at SMACK and which have become the hallmark of a career spanning over two decades, influencing pivotal sectors across Uganda.
In appreciation, Mutabanura noted that to be recognised by the fraternity that laid his foundation is profoundly humbling and gratifying, adding, “the lessons in discipline, excellence and service learned from Kisubi have been a constant compass throughout my journey since then; that journey is a testament to versatile excellence.
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With an academic foundation anchored in business, science, technology and engineering obtained from the ESAMI Business School, Makerere University and the University of Leeds, Mutabanura has seamlessly bridged science and enterprise, worked and served at various levels in a multiplicity of sectors, including corporate organisations as well as the social sector.
His career trajectory reads like a map of Uganda’s key economic sectors, pioneering roles at Shell Uganda Ltd in Oil & Gas, strategic leadership at Nilecom Ltd in telecommunications, and groundbreaking execution at Farmers Creameries Limited in the Food industry. Today, at the helm of Cavendish University Uganda, he applies this rich tapestry of experience to shape the future of education.
As Executive Director, Mutabanura directs the Cavendish University’s operational, financial, and administrative functions, instilling a customer-first mindset and a culture of delivering outstanding value. Beyond administration, he is an educator at heart, having consulted for several institutions and shared his knowledge as a university lecturer in engineering and technology; his influence extends across the boardrooms of the nation.
Mutabanura leverages his skills in Business Strategy and Corporate Development for broad societal impact. This commitment to service is further mirrored in his role as Board Audit Chair for Uganda’s premier Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Kampala, and his induction into The Africa List, a prestigious community of leaders steering the continent’s growth.
And as a recent graduate of the Executive Leadership Programme of the International Association of Universities (2024-25), he continues to scale his leadership capacities, affirming his dedication to lifelong learning and effective higher education outcomes in employability, entrepreneurship, leadership development and societal impact.
“David embodies the ‘SMACK Boy’ ideal — excellence with humility, ambition with integrity,” remarked a senior member of SMACKOBA. “His path from a science student to a multifaceted executive leader, inspiring thousands along the way, makes him the perfect exemplar for this award. He is not just building businesses; he is building ecosystems and people.
