Makerere student who lost fingers to teargas canister graduates

Richard Ssebuganda, a Makerere University student who lost three fingers on his right hand when a teargas canister exploded in his Lumumba Hall room, is among the 12,913 graduates receiving degrees at the ongoing 74th graduation ceremony in Kampala.

Ssebuganda graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from the College of Health Sciences. He joined Makerere University with all his fingers but faced a life-altering incident in February 2022 during a protest led by the former Guild president, Shamim Nambassa.

“I want to do medicine and law because my dream is to become a medical lawyer,” Ssebuganda told KFM shortly after graduating on Tuesday.

The protest, aimed at ending online lectures, escalated into a confrontation with the police, who fired tear gas and live bullets into students’ halls of residence. Ssebuganda was in his third year pursuing Medicine and Surgery when the incident occurred.

Written by Barbra Anyait