Dr.Kizza Besigye and his super star darling Winnie Byanyima are beaming with uncontrollable excitement after their elder son Anslem Kizza being offered a fully-funded PhD programme from University of Oxford and Columbia University.
Anslem Kizza's mother Winnie Byanyima, who also serves as the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) revealed the blissful news about the development through her official X (previously known as Twitter) handle.
"With offers of a fully-funded PhD programme from ?@UniofOxford [,] @UofC? and @Columbia [,] @akbesigye? has today accepted the offer from @Columbia," she posted. "Tough decision to say bye to beloved @UofC? & turn down Oxford. All the best AKB. Proud Mum," super excited Byanyima posted on Tuesday morning, April 16.
Columbia University, officially Columbia University in the City of New York, is a private university in New York City, United States. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States. It is part of the Ivy League.
A research university, its efforts include the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and accelerator laboratories with Big Tech firms such as Amazon and IBM.
Important to note is that in 2021, Anslem was also awarded scholarships at the University of Oxford and the University of Chicago.
Diving into the comments section, one of Byanyima's followers posed a question:
How do people get hands-on these kings of scholarships, because we be [sic] hunting for them on the Internet and other platforms but all in vain, please madam acknowledge and please if you gat [sic] one for an undergraduate, I am here and willing to relocate?
Byanyima was quick to respond and she stated that:
He applied to the universities directly, submitted his PhD draft proposal, samples of his writing, including a summary of his Master's thesis, etc., and submitted within the timelines set. He was then shortlisted and interviewed. Good luck to you. Keep trying.
Byanyima and former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Besigye have been man and wife since 1999.
Anselm is their only known child together.In 2023, Anselm graduated with a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, USA. According to his mother, he performed excellently in all his subjects.
“Anselm got As in all his subjects,” she tweeted.
