By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus - The overall consensus from Law students and other people at KIU is that Osiya Moses Kayz, the immediate past president for the KIU Law Society, is such a great leader. Inspired by the willingness to lead by example Osiya managed to transform the KIU Law Society to the level that everyone else including non-law students started admiring it.

When he chose to run for Law society President, Osiya was welcomed by a mixture of reactions from students. Whereas most Law students welcomed him as their messiah, the rest of the students thought he had downplayed his potential. They wondered why he chose law society presidency, and not that of the Guild Union. He based his decision on his strong desire to manage learned individuals and to transform the law society.

‘’The moment I stepped at KIU, I found out, I needed to change society. There is this saying that 'if you want to change a society, you must lead it.' I knew going for guild president would be too hectic for me yet I saw a vacuum in the Law Society and I really wanted to manage learned friends other than managing the whole university. That’s how I ended serving the Law Society,’’ Osiya explains.

He adds that the Law Society had many chances of exposing him professionally than the Guild Union. Using the slogan ‘’Are you aware’’ and an abbreviation of his name (O M K), Osiya Moses Kayz became a song all over KIU during his campaigns. This ensured his victory against his strongest competitor, Cyprian Kamuntu (CK) to become president of Law Society in February 2019.

While in leadership, Osiya organized one of the most memorable law weeks in the most recent history of KIU. It attracted members of the KIU administration, several students, prominent external individuals, and the neighborhood of the university. The week involved activities like blood donation, legal aid, community service, law run among others. He says this was his best achievement.

‘’My major highlight is Law week. It invited all the society around; it invited all the administrators. This brought the law society and the administration closer. The law week had lost glory and bringing it back to light made us feel happy. This was a major success because it attracted and engaged the administration which supports the law week tremendously,’’ he said.

Another project that Osiya is proud of during his leadership tenure is Daniel Rugero’s story. Daniel, a first-year law student had broken his entire limb after falling off the sixth floor of Elite Hostel. His father was traumatized and needed assistance from the university through the president law society.

Osiya mobilised his cabinet and students to organize a car wash in order to contribute towards a 13 million hospital bill.

‘’We organized a car wash in the names of Rugero Daniel. Trust me it was a very successful event much as some people thought we were just going to squander the money. That was not the fact. We collected 2.4 million Uganda shillings after which we publicized all the accountability on all university notice boards. We called Rugero Daniel’s father and handed the money to him in front of everyone,’’ Osiya narrated.

Other achievements during his reign include the 11th Interuniversity Human Rights Competition 2020 held in Fort portal (between 17th and18th September 2020) during the lockdown where KIU scooped awards for the 1st runners-up the best oralist award given to Mr. Kennedy Kushaba, a finalist. Also included are KIU’s participation in the Uganda Law Society Run in June 2019, and the Uganda Law Society Pro-bono Project held in July 2019 among others.

However, his term of office faced a number of challenges. Limited financial resources, limited coordination between the students' body and the administration, and negative perceptions among others were the key challenges Osiya highlights during his term of office.

He attributes his success to the cooperation, love, and generosity of KIU students whom he says are highly flexible, knowledgeable, talented, and manageable. He also commends  Mrs. Nina Nayer, Ms. Ece Topologlu, Mrs. Ayse Sedef Yavuzalp, Mr. Melih Ulueren and Mr. Huseyin Atmaca for contributing towards the transformation of his personality.

Osiya urges students to always be joyful so that their brains can work at ease. He also encourages them to appreciate the available resources and use them effectively for the best.

Who Is Osiya Moses Kayz?

He is a fourth-year law student at KIU. He believes and trusts himself more than anything else. One thing so unique about Osiya is that he has no role model.

Osiya was born in Koboko District. He went to St. John Secondary School, Jinja and Masuliita Secondary School, Wakiso for O and A’ levels respectively before being employed at the Turkish Embassy from where he joined KIU following an inquiry into his education credentials.

"My academic qualification as a head of administration was lacking hence there was no contract renewal unless I got the necessary academic documents thus how I ended up enrolling for a Bachelor of Laws in January 2017,’’ he narrated.

He is all for female empowerment in workspaces. He believes that ladies not only produce generations but also possess a high level of integrity and honesty.

"I have seen ladies do tremendously well in leadership especially those I have served with or nearer,’’ Osiya admits.

Despite looking forward to joining active national politics in the near future, Osiya is a promising businessman. He owns a dry cleaning and laundry company among other small businesses.

Osiya commends KIU for giving him a chance to explore his potential. He plans to invest some more years in education so that he can advance his dream of leading society.