Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) was originally established as a non-profit Community University in 2005 and issued an operational License by National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). MMU was held in Trust by a Board of Trustees on behalf of the community. Thereafter, NCHE recommended the grant of a Charter to MMU, and H.E. the President of the Republic of Uganda granted the same in 2018. This is after the University had demonstrated high quality in staffing, teaching and learning, and research output.
MMU was taken over by the Government of the Republic of Uganda in July 2022, and to facilitate the takeover, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between the Government and the Board of Trustees of MMU on 13th January 2022. The Statutory Instrument (S.I) for establishing the University, was published in the Uganda Gazette under Vol. CXV S.I, No. 2 of 2022, on 14th January 2022. The Public University then commenced operations on 1st July 2022.