Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Ugandan scientists visit UFS traditional medicine expert for benchmarking

29 July 2022 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa, Director of Pharmacology at the University of the Free State (UFS), played host to academics from the Busitema University in Uganda for benchmarking on traditional medicine and to establish collaboration between the two institutions.

Prof Paul Waako, Vice-Chancellor of the Busitema University – who was part of the visiting party – and Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, signed a collaboration agreement that enables the two institutions to work together and to get involved in the exchange of expertise as part of the collaboration.

Dr Samuel Baker Obakiro, Lecturer of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Head of the Department of Pharmacology, and Dr Richard Oriko Owor, a natural products chemist, accompanied Prof Waako on the visit to the UFS from 18 to 21 July, during which they undertook tours of various departments and laboratories, including Pharmacology, Virology, Chemistry, Genetics, Physics, Microbiology, and others. They also visited FARMOVS.

Establishing collaboration

Uganda – through their Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation – has a national drive to ensure that science contributes to socio-economic development through their major national agenda, which promotes local production, reduces importation, and increases exportation of goods. Dr Monica Musenero Masanza, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, wants to ensure that the capacity of Ugandan scientists to conduct applied research will promote national development and reduce poverty.

Prof Waako said they came to the UFS to establish collaboration, as universities have an obligation to ensure that science improves the socio-economic situation in Africa. They would like to work with the UFS to ensure that science strengthens science in order to serve the people.

“Currently, one of the biggest challenges is the local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, and that is why we came to the Department of Pharmacology. We need to come together as African universities and use all the existing capacities to transform the lives of our people.”

“African traditional medicine has a lot to offer, and a lot of research has been done, but we have not been able to take it to the level of final commercialisable products. This is the reason of us coming here, we want to create that link to ensure that the science – which has already been identified and established – is able to move to product production,” says Prof Waako.

At the right place

They decided to visit the UFS after meeting Prof Matsabisa during his visit to their country’s universities as part of the WHO team.

According to Dr Obakiro, when walking down the corridors of the department, they can see that they are in the right place. “We are also looking at mentorship, as our university is still very young. I am happy and privileged to be here. We cannot succeed on our journey if we do not stand on your shoulders.”

Dr Obakiro said they are also looking at how to set up partnerships between academia and industry, as well as collaboration between the different academic departments, such as pharmacology, chemistry, microbiology, and virology, and how these collaborative initiatives can be effective and efficient to drive their agenda.

In welcoming the colleagues from West Africa, Prof Matsabisa said, “Let’s find a way to crawl together and eventually run together. If you want to move into drug discovery and development, no single scientist can do it alone, it is a multidisciplinary approach. It is a team effort with a shared vision. We have some experience that we can share with you, but we are not perfect, and I think we can learn together.”

News Archive

SA cannot sustain momentum - Boesak

2010-09-02

Photo: Stephen Collett

South Africa finds it increasingly difficult to live up to the challenges facing it as a nation because of its failure to meet its democratic ideals and possibilities, peace and lack of self-belief.

This was according to renowned cleric and former political activist, Dr Allan Boesak, who recently delivered the CR Swart Memorial Lecture, the oldest memorial lecture at the University of the Free State (UFS). His lecture was on the topic Creating moments, sustaining momentum.

He said South Africa had plenty of opportunities to show the whole world what was possible if all the people of this country joined hands and worked together to build a truly united society. However, he said, the country somehow invariably contrived to find its way out of these wonderful possibilities.

He cited events of historical significance like Codesa, the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first democratic president of South Africa, the assassination of South African Communist Party leader, Chris Hani; and the rugby and soccer world cups.
To drive his point home about this dismal failure of the country to “sustain momentum”, he alluded to the current public servants’ strike that is gradually crippling public service.

“The public servants’ strike was neither unexpected nor is it completely unjustifiable. Most of us have understanding for the frustration of teachers and health workers. Their demands resonate with most of us, and I think that it is scandalous of SACP fat cats to tell workers to “stop crying like babies,” he said.

He also added to the criticism of the much-maligned decision of the government to spend billions of taxpayers’ money to purchase weapons when there was “no discernible military threat” to the country. He said the greatest threat to the security of the country was poverty, inequality and social cohesion.

“As for the argument that arms sales bring in foreign exchange – how can we be instrumental in killing the poor elsewhere with the intention of feeding our poor, and then our ill-gained profits feed only the already well-fed?” he asked.
“Can we see the hopeless contradiction, the total impossibility of being both the apostle of peace and a merchant of death?”

He also lambasted the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy of the government which he said benefited only those connected to the political aristocracy.

“It couples with the unashamed, in-your-face display of wealth by the privileged elite in this country, the crass materialism of the so-called “bling generation”, and the casual carelessness with which promises to the poor are given and treated. It is only the public symptom of the deep-seated scorn our political elites feel for the poor,” he said.

He said the government’s disdain to the poor was “setting fire to our future”.

“The anger of people on the ground can no longer be denied or ignored, and little by little, the leadership articulating and directing this anger is being estranged from politically elected leadership, and even more disturbing, from our democratic processes,” he said.

He concluded that the country’s difficulty in dealing with race and racism was putting the reconciliation process kick-started by Mandela just over a decade ago, under a threat.

Complete Lecture

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept