By Prof. Susan Nalugwa Kiguli
Hill of history and hill of the future
Age rises upon you
A crown on your head
Which the radiance of experience
Has enthroned over years
Speaking of struggle and triumph
As you build for the future.
Age rises upon you
Revealing capacity
To shape visions
With independent thinkers
And perceptive philosophers
As you build for the future.
Age rises upon you
Publishing youthful dreams
Which have walked through
A century of raising you as
a lighthouse of growing nations
Building for the future.
Hill of ideas; hill of action
Wrestling with questions
Probing answers
Pursuing a foresighted future
Seeking to become a place
In harmony with yourself
With your people
As you build for the future.
Powerhouse of brains
That has offered a space to sit
A host of innovations among them:
Makerere Institute of Social Research
Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute
Medical School Research Programmes
The School of Women and Gender Studies
Department of Literature
And the army of writers and activists
That have taken the world stage
I will not announce names
I fear to mention names
For the whole assembly of eminence
Parades before my eyes
Like a city of lights
Set upon a hill.
Hill of intellect; hill of stories
This hill that aspires to lift
The profile and power
Of tender talent
To harness the yearning
Of forging a nation
Of reaching out
Of communing with nations
From the standing of all voices
Rising on this revered hill
Through the years
Aware of its world
And the world beyond its own
Grappling to build institutions
For Uganda, for Africa.
This hill is alive with
The said and unsaid
Fears and hopes
Grief and joy
This hill lives
A hive of constant change
This hill builds for the future.
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