Few indigenous Ugandans can match Mariam Luyombo’s record when it comes to investment in the education sector.
A teacher by training, Luyombo and her husband Abbas Luyombo are successful business people who manage various business ventures.
However, it is their schools that have made them prominent, particularly Mariam who runs and founded them.
The investment in schools started in 1991 when Mariam founded Taibah High School Kampala. She subsequently founded Silver Spoon Daycare Center Kampala in 1996, Taibah Junior School Entebbe Road in 1998, and Taibah College School Entebbe Road in 2000.
Records from Uganda Revenue Authority show that in 2021, Taibah International Schools had a turnover of Shs 13 billion while the total assets in the same year stood at Shs 20 billion. In the same year, 2021, Taibah Intrenational Schools was ranked 54th among the top taxpayers in Uganda.
The Taibah International Schools are majorly known for disrupting the education space by revolting against traditional rote learning that puts emphasis on just passing national exams. They champion educational innovation in order to truly prepare students for the 21st century.
Humble start
Energy Ministry Orders UEDCL Board to Investigate Top Management Over Performance GapsThis remarkable journey owes a lot to Mariam Luyombo, a teacher by training who had a humble start.
Mariam Luyombo attended Mount Saint Mary’s College, Namagunga for high school in the late 1970s. She earned bachelor’s degree in Education from Makerere University in 1985.
After her degree, started working as secondary school teacher at Makerere College School between 1987-1988. In 1988, she joined St. Joseph’s Secondary School Nsambya where she served as deputy headmistress until 1990 when she left to start her business.
She holds a master’s degrees from Makerere University I which she obtained in 1997.
Currently, Mariam Luyombo divides her time between Uganda and Canada, where she moved to in 2006. Her entrepreneurial spirit has followed her to Canada where she runs a popular grocery store Chakula Tamu that sells organic food especially matooke from Uganda.
She started with a customer base of only Ugandans in Ontario but she now serves Kenyans, Indians, Tanzanians, Rwandese, Congolese, Canadians, Burundians and more. The matooke is grown from Kasese
She says over the years Chakula Tamu has become more than a place you buy food.
“People come here to socialize, to share with us, to share with one another, to share recipes. It’s more than just a grocery store,” she says.
Mariam Luyombo has been recognized for her entrepreneurial efforts.
She has served on several boards including The Presidential Investor Round Table where she advised how to stimulate investments in private education. She has received a number of prestigious awards in education innovation and entrepreneurship. She has been nominated as one of Africa’s Most Influential Women by CEO Global.
