Namilyango College

Last updated
Namilyango College
Location
Namilyango College
,
Coordinates 0°20′19″N32°43′02″E / 0.33861°N 32.71722°E / 0.33861; 32.71722
Information
Type Public middle school and high school (13-19)
Motto"Nisi Dominus" (If not the Lord, [it is] in vain)
Religious affiliation(s) Catholic Church
EstablishedMarch 23, 1902;122 years ago (1902-03-23) [1]
Founder Bishop Henry Hanlon [2]
HeadteacherConstantine Mpuuga
Number of students1,010 (2014)
Houses13
Colour(s)Green and Yellow
Athletics Rugby, football, track, tennis, volleyball, basketball
Nickname "NGO"
"The College"
"Anchors"
Rivals St. Mary's College Kisubi
PublicationThe Anchor
AlumniNgonians
Website Homepage

Namilyango College is a boys-only boarding secondary school located in Mukono District in the Central Region of Uganda, whose history and excellence in sports and academics have made it one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda. [3] It is Uganda's oldest secondary school, founded in 1902 by the Catholic Mill Hill Fathers. [4]

Contents

Location

The school campus is situated on Namilyango Hill, approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi), by road, southwest of Mukono Town, the district headquarters, [5] and about 4 kilometres (2 mi), by road, south of the township of Seeta, the nearest trading center. [6] The college lies approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi), by road, east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. [7] The coordinates of Namilyango College are:0°20'19.0"N, 32°43'02.0"E (Latitude:0.338611; Longitude:32.717222). [8]

History

The school was founded in March 1902 by the Mill Hill Fathers, a London-based Catholic missionary society, to educate the sons of Catholic chiefs. [4] [9] At the time, the Mill Hill Missionaries' approach to education for locals was guided by their objective of training local catechists and, eventually, local priests. [10] The first students at Namilyango were being trained to become, first and foremost, catechists; those who were considered unfit for that vocation would be sent away or, if they were of good character, educated further so they could be taken on as clerks in the colonial government. [9]

Reputation

Namilyango College is one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda, owing to its history, influence, excellent academic performance and dominance in sports. It is the oldest secondary school and the first college in Uganda, and for long was the best school in boxing until the sport was stopped in the school in the early 1990s.

Rugby is the biggest sport in the College. Namilyango has won the national schools' rugby title more than any other school, and has sent numerous players to the national team. Namilyango College was a pioneer in Information Technology in Ugandan schools, building one of the first computer labs. [11]

Relations with other Schools

Over the years a tradition of Namilyango College has been the rivalries with fellow prestigious schools, in academics, sports and socialising. The rivals have included, in decreasing order of rivalry: St. Mary's College Kisubi, King's College Budo and Busoga College Mwiri.

In recent times the fiercest rivalries have been with Budo and SMACK (Kisubi), as all three institutions field strong teams in the Rugby and field hockey disciplines. In the post-covid era, Namilyango has won two Central Schools' Rugby championships (2022 and 2024) and the rugby title at the 2022 Federation of East African Schools' Sports Association (FEASSA). Budo has won the rugby title at the Uganda Secondary Schools' Sports Association (USSSA) twice (2023 and 2024), and Kisubi won the rugby title at the 2023 FEASSA Games.

Over the years, the school has maintained cordial relations with schools like: Mount Saint Mary's College Namagunga, Trinity College Nabbingo, Nabisunsa Girls Secondary School and Gayaza High School. [12] The school organises social evenings (in modern times referred to as sosh), the equivalent to the American high school prom, with one of the aforementioned girls' schools. Sosh is preserved for the Form Six students, with the College hosting in the first term while the corresponding girls' school hosted in second term. In years gone by, a Form Six class had the liberty to host two social gatherings for two different schools.

Houses of residence

The college has twelve residential houses and a hostel. The "O" Level students reside in the residential houses while the "A" Level students reside in Minderop Hostel, named after Father James Minderop, the first headmaster of the college. The twelve O'Level residential houses are: [13]

House name and Colours [14]
Minderop – N/A
Biermans – Yellow 
Billington – Green 
Campling – Red 
Doyle – Purple 
Hanlon – Navy Blue 
Kiwanuka – Maroon 
Kuipers – White 
McKee – Orange 
Mukasa – Black 
Reesinck – Blue 
Heweston – N/A  
Charles Lwanga – N/A  


  1. Biermans House - Named after Bishop John Biermans (MHM), Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1912 - 1924
  2. Billington House - Named after Bishop Vincent Billington (MHM) (1904 - 1976), Bishop of Kampala 1953 - 1965
  3. Campling House - Named after Bishop John William Campling (MHM), Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1925 - 1937
  4. Doyle House - Named after Rev. Fr. Captain Bernard Doyle (MHM), the longest serving Headmaster (19 years) of the College
  5. Hanlon House - "House of Lords", named after Bishop Henry Hanlon (MHM) 1862 - 1937, Vicar Apostolic of Upper Nile 1894 - 1911
  6. Kiwanuka House - Named after Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka, the first native African to be appointed Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in East Africa
  7. Kuipers House - Named after Father Bernard Kuipers (MHM), served the College for 30 years as teacher, Headmaster, and Chaplain
  8. McKee House - Named after Father Kevin McKee (MHM), a teacher at the College
  9. Mukasa House - Named after Mr. Noah Mukasa, a former Biology teacher at the College
  10. Reesinck House - Named after Bishop John Reesinck (MHM), Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1938 - 1950
  11. Heweston House - Named after Fr. Henry Heweston, former headmasters of the school. [1]
  12. Charles Lwanga House - Named after one of the Uganda Martyrs [15]

Notable alumni

The Namilyango College Old Boys Association (NACOBA) was formed in 1939, with a helping hand from the then Head Master, Fr. Bernard Doyle. Former students of Namilyango College are called "Old Ngonians", and include a prime minister, a Chief Justice, cabinet ministers, clergymen, members of the royal family of Buganda, judges, lawyers, academics, and sportsmen. Some of the prominent alumni of the school include:

Royals

Politics

Law

Civil service

Academia

Writers

Other

See also

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References

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  2. Kavuma-Kaggwa (9 June 2017). "Namilyango College celebrates 115 years of great service". New Vision . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. Tegulle, Gawaya (23 March 2012). "Namilyango College: 110 Years of Excellence". Daily Monitor . Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 Paige, John Rhodes (2000-11-01). Preserving Order Amid Chaos: The Survival of Schools in Uganda, 1971-1986. Berghahn Books. p. 34. ISBN   9781782388814.
  5. "Distance Between Namilyango College School, Uganda And Mukono Town, Uganda" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. "Road Distance Between Seeta, Uganda And Namilyango College School, Uganda" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  7. "Road Distance Between Post Office Building, Kampala Road, Kampala, Uganda and Namilyango College School, Uganda" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  8. "Location of Namilyango College At Google Maps" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Namilyango College Logbook of 1902 - NACOBA". www.nacoba.ug. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  10. "Part 7: The African Mission – Mill Hill Missionaries" . Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  11. Nsubuga, Henry; Semakula, John (17 July 2013). "Muguluma: Namilyango's Pillar". New Vision . Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  12. "Trinitus Anchor: Namilyango College Hosts Trinity College Nabbingo For A Social Afternoon". Namilyango College. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  13. Gale, H.P. "Uganda and the Mill Hill Fathers" London: Macmillan, 1959
  14. https://nacoba.ug/history-of-the-student-houses-dormitories-at-namilyango-college/
  15. Tegulle, Gawaya (23 March 2012). "Namilyango College: 110 years of excellence". Daily Monitor . Kampala. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  16. Mugagga, Robert (25 April 2013). "Just Writing: Enigmatic prince Wasajja finds his princess at last". The Observer (Uganda) . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  17. Tegulle, Gawaya (23 March 2012). "Namilyango College: 110 years of excellence". Daily Monitor . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  18. Mwesigye, Shifa (19 May 2010). "BODY 2 SOUL: Village boy who taught self to be East Africa's best". The Observer (Uganda) . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  19. Sulaiman Kakaire (6 March 2015). "Who is Justice Bart Katureebe?". The Observer (Uganda) . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  20. Kajoba, Nicholas (29 April 2007). "Namilyango is 105 years". New Vision . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  21. Butagira, Tabu (23 June 2018). "Former Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons, Joseph Etima is dead". Daily Monitor . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  22. "Chronological Order of Makerere University Principals And Vice Chancellors 1970 - 2012". Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  23. Mugagga, Robert (1 September 2012). "Professor Nambooze: Academic success that changed the region's history". Daily Monitor . Kampala. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  24. Batte, Edgar (9 May 2014). "'I was predictably unpredictable' -Dr Peregrine Kibuuka". Daily Monitor . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  25. Monitor Reporter (23 November 2015). "Ex-Namilyango headmaster Kibuuka in need of operation". Daily Monitor . Kampala. Retrieved 23 June 2018.

Further reading