The Uganda Management Institute (UMI) started in October 7, 1969 as a Management Development Institute (MDI), then known as the Institute of Public Administration. The Institute was mandated to conduct intensive in-service training to quickly develop management capacity in the public service. It has gone through various transformations to what it is right now.
In 2004, UMI was elevated to a Degree-Granting Institution by an act of Parliament. However, UMI remained an MDI. What this means is that it was able to grant degrees while continuing with its mandate of offering short courses leading to the award of certificates and diplomas. With these two mandates, UMI was then restructured into four schools; the School of Business and Management; the School of Civil Service, Public Administration and Governance; the School of Distance Learning & Information Technology as well as the School of Management Sciences. Today, UMI is geared towards the fourth industrial revolution and our anchor point is to be a Research Led University.