UNAS Council 2022-2025

PROF. GRACE BANTEBYA-KYOMUHENDO is a Women and Gender Studies Professor, A Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences, a distinguished social anthropologist, and a senior researcher advocating for gender equality and social transformation. She is a versatile Social Anthropologist with a wealth of experience in gender-focused research and evaluating multicountry development projects in the African region and beyond. She was contracted by Governments, Multilateral Agencies, Bilateral Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations and the private sector to design and evaluate the progress and impact of different country programmes. Prof. Bantebya is a senior consultant on gender and development issues on multicountry projects. The most recent work is “Transforming the Lives of Girls and Young Women in Uganda, Ethiopia, Viet Nam and Nepal. Strengthening Linkages Between Poverty Reduction Strategies and Child Protection Initiatives by both projects commissioned by the Overseas Development Institute (United Kingdom); Shame, Social Exclusion and the Effectiveness of Antipoverty Programmes supported by ESRC  and currently undertaking a follow-up project on “Does ‘shame-proofing’ antipoverty programmes improve their effectiveness:  Theory of change and impact policy evaluation in cross-national settings,  among others as detailed in the appended CV. She has published widely, including a book entitled “Women, Work and Domestic Virtue in Uganda”, which got an award from the African Studies Association and Elaine Chase and Bantebya Kyomuhendo 2014 The Shame of Poverty: Global Perspective Oxford University Press. Prof Bantebya is also a Fellow of the International Women’s Leadership Forum, an organization committed to promoting and supporting Women’s Leadership and governance. She is a member of several editorial boards both in Uganda and Abroad. Prof. Bantebya is the Principal Investigator (PI) on the “Whole University Approach: Kicking Sexual Harassment out of Higher Education Institutions in Uganda” (KISH Project).  

DR. MARY GORETTI NAKABUGO is the Executive Director of Uwezo Uganda, a not-for- profit organization working to promote equitable quality education in Uganda and beyond through research, learning assessments, innovations, partnerships, and partnerships advocacy. Previously she was Twaweza Country Lead and Regional Manager of Uwezo East Africa.  Her prior work experience has mainly been in higher education. She was Senior Lecturer of Higher Education Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Media at Makerere University, Uganda. She was a Research Fellow and Education Coordinator of the Irish-African Partnership for Research Capacity Building based at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. She was Visiting Professor at the Centre for the Study of International Cooperation in Education, Hiroshima University, Japan. Her other current roles include Chairperson of Kyambogo/University Council and Chairperson of Muteesa 1 Royal University Council. She is a Fellow and Vice President of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) and chairs its Standing Committee on Education. She is also Co-Chair of the Uganda Chapter, Board member and Secretary of the Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI). She is a member of the Advisory Group of the People’s Action for Learning (PAL.) Network. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research interests include assessment for learning, education and international development, teacher education, and curriculum development.  

PROF. JOHN DDUMBA-SSENTAMU., PhD., MA. Econ, BA. Econ., Prof. Ddumba-Ssentamu is a Ugandan economist, academic, banker, and a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences. Currently, he is a Professor of Economics at Makerere University. He served as Vice Chancellor of Makerere University (2012-2017) and as chairman of the board of Centenary Bank. He holds a PhD in Economics from Makerere University, a Masters in Economics from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Makerere University. He served Makerere University in various capacities, including Associate Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences (1993-1994), Head of Economics Department (1994-1998), Director, Makerere University Institute of Economics (1998-2004), Dean Faculty of Economics and Management (2004-2010), Member of Senate representing the School of Economics and Vice Chairman of the Change Management Committee. The selfless Professor has offered his services in various capacities to the International Community, including Chairman Academic Board, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Nairobi, Kenya (2002-2009); Chairman, Microfinance African Institution Network (MAIN) based in Lome, Togo. (2002- 2011); Member of Advisory Board, the Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA), Pretoria (2001-2008); Member of the Finance Commission of Caritas Internationalis based in the Vatican and Member of Editorial Advisory Board – Zambia Social Science Journal. He has influenced the positive trend of the economic sector as a Member of the Board of Management for Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) (1994- 2007), Member, Board of Directors, and Chairperson of Human Resource and Business Committee – Pride Microfinance Uganda Limited (Oct. 2000- Oct.2002) and as a Member and Treasurer of Uganda Economics Association. (1987 – 2005). Prof. Ddumba-Ssentamu has also made a lasting mark on Uganda’s education sector through his diligent service as Council Member and Vice Chairperson, Governing Council Kisubi Brothers University College, a position he has held since 2008. Caretaker Vice Chancellor Ndejje University Uganda (1999-2001); Council Member Muteesa I Royal University (2011-to date); Member, Board of Governors Rubaga Boys’ Senior Secondary School (1999 to date); and Member, Board of Governors Nkoni Senior Secondary School (2000-2002). He is an ardent researcher who has published in various local and international journals, including the African Review of Money, Finance, and Banking; and the African Journal of Economic Policy. He has also written several books, including ‘Basic Economics for East Africa: Concepts, Analysis and Applications’ which won the 2008 Fountain Award of Distinction for the Best-Selling Book. He was the Team leader of a committee that formulated the Makerere University Investment Policy that the University Council approved in 2006. Prof. Ddumba brings on board a wealth of experience in writing winning proposals. He wrote and won a funding proposal worth USD 6 Million to host a Regional MA (Economic Policy Management) Program sponsored by (ACBF) in Harare and the Government of Japan through the World Bank from 1998 to date. Under this program, students are drawn from Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Zambia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, Malawi, and Burundi. ACBF has funded three phases of four cohorts and has recently provided more funds for phase four to fund five cohorts from 2012- to 2017. He served as the Co-Chair of the UNAS Consensus Study entitled Mindset Shifts for Ownership of Our National Development: The Case of Domestic Financing in Uganda.

PROF. GRACE NDEEZI is the UNAS Treasurer and Council Member. She is a Paediatrics and Child Health professor at Makerere University of Health Sciences and a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS). She holds a PhD from Makerere University and the University of Bergen (joint). She is an active researcher, has 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has published on various topics in her field, mainly on Nutrition, HIV, Pneumonia, Malaria, Sickle cell anaemia, diarrhoeal diseases, neonatal Health and child health interventions such as immunization, breastfeeding and other common childhood diseases. She is a reviewer for several scientific journals and an editor of communication for better health digest. She has won competitive research grants such as Grand Challenges Canada, NIH and European Union. Most grants have involved collaborative research with institutions such as Tufts, University of Montpellier, University of Bergen, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the World Health Organization. She is an excellent teacher and clinician. She has supervised 28 Masters of Medicine dissertations to completion, supervising 4 PhD students and has examined PhD candidates since 2012. She has also taught HIV courses at the University of Bergen. She is a member of several committees at the College of Health Sciences, the Joint Clinical Research Centre, Uganda, and the Infectious Diseases Institute (Makerere University) Research Committees. She is committed to serving the wider community and has been an external examiner for Gulu, Mbarara, Nkozi and the University of Zimbabwe.  She has worked with committees of Uganda National Health Programs such as paediatric HIV, Malaria, and Newborn Health and also facilitated courses in Eritrea and Kenya.  

PROF. DAVID OKELLO OWINY is the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, Gulu University and a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences. He joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Makerere University in 1985, obtaining a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine Degree in 1989. He later received MSc from the same University in 1997, and a PhD in Animal Assisted Reproductive Technologies from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 2006. He has worked at Makerere University since 1992 and raised the teaching ranks from Assistant Lecturer to Assoc. Professor. Served as the Head of Department, Acting Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dean of the School of Biosecurity, Biotechnical and Laboratory Sciences, and a Deputy Director, Directorate of Research and Graduate Training, all in Makerere University. His specialization areas are Animal-Assisted Reproductive Technology (AART), particular spermatology, in vitro fertilization, gamete and embryo cryopreservation, embryo transfer, gamete and embryo micro-manipulation, and biodiversity conservation using AART, and also general veterinary practice. He has supervised many undergraduate, Masters and PhD students, published widely in refereed journals, and attended international and local conferences. Besides, he has held many administrative positions at Makerere University and participated in several community service programmes.

PROF. PAUL WAAKO is the second Vice Chancellor of Busitema University, a public University focusing on science and technology. Professor Waako is the Founder and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. He has the vast academic experience, having held various positions at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Makerere University, Uganda. In addition to obtaining a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, he was made a Senior Research Fellow at Queen Mary University, London and a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences. Professor Waako brings 24 years of professional experience to Busitema University. He has previously served as a consultant to several USAID-supported programs, and a member of the sevenman World Health Organization (WHO) – International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) joint task force for developing Clinical Pharmacology in Africa. Member of the task force for the establishment of Kabale University Medical School and has been Visiting Professor and External examiner at several Universities. He has also served on several national and international technical committees. These include the Pharmacovigilance and the Traditional and Complementary Medicines committees of the National Drug Authority, The Uganda Medicines Control Authority Bill drafting committee, the National task force for policy formulation on Traditional and Complementary Medicines, Ministry of Health task force for the development of a new Health Promotion Policy for Uganda and the East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ESCA) working group on Human resources for Health. Professor Waako spearheaded the development of an innovative health training curriculum at Busitema University Faculty of Health Sciences. The training program provides a vibrant Community-Based Education Research and Service (COBERS) program with students undergoing community placement for four weeks each academic year for the first three years of training. With COBERS, a strong team of preceptors has been trained to support students, and students gain skills in research proposal writing and linking theory to actual practice in the community.    

PROF. PHILIPPA M. MUSOKE qualified with a medical degree (MB Ch B) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in 1981. Her Paedriatic speciality training was obtained from Louisville, Kentucky and sub-speciality training in infectious diseases from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (1994). Her current appointment is Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University. In addition, she is the Principal site Investigator for the Makerere University-John Hopkins University clinical research site, Kampala, Uganda, in the NIH-supported IMPAACT Network. She is board certified in Paediatric infectious diseases and has conducted clinical trials in perinatal HIV prevention and childhood tuberculosis since 1995. More recently, she has implemented studies/programs for paediatric antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings. Her areas of research interest are prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission through breastfeeding, simplifying antiretroviral regimens for children from resource-limited settings and epidemiology, and diagnosis and immunology of childhood tuberculosis. Prof. Philippa Musoke is a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences.

PROF. EMMANUEL B. KASIMBAZI is a Professor at the School of Law, Makerere University, a legal consultant and an advocate of the High Court of Uganda. He has a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from the University of Dar as-salaam, a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, a Master of Laws (LLM) Degree from the University of Calgary, Canada and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. He is the current Chair of the Environmental Law Center at Makerere University and was a Fulbright Scholar at the School of Law, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA. His current research interests include water law and governance, oil and gas, climate change, the criminal justice system, renewable energy and health law reform. He has published widely in his various areas of research, and his publications cover the following: legal aspects of climate change, environmental law governance, regulation of oil and gas exploration and production, transboundary water resources management, legislative drafting of environmental laws, wetlands and forestry management and wildlife crimes. He has served as an External Examiner of the University of Dar es Salaam, University of Nairobi, University of Pretoria, the University of South Africa and North-West University, South Africa. He is the current President of the East African Association for Impact Assessment (EAAIA) and the Vice President of the Association for Environmental Law Lecturers in African Universities (ASSELLAU). He is active in the IUCN as a member of the Academy on Environmental Law and the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law. He has consulted for many international and national agencies, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Nile Basin Initiative, European Union, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and various bilateral aid agencies including Germany Technical Cooperation (GTZ), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).    

DR. JAMES K. TIBENDERANA, a Ugandan, trained as a medical doctor at Makerere University, Kampala and as an epidemiologist at the Institute of Public Health, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a malaria and public health expert with over 20 years of experience in epidemiology, infectious and tropical diseases, and health system strengthening. James joined Malaria Consortium in 2005. Before becoming Technical Director, he has been both Development Director and Africa Technical Director for the organization. Most recently, he has overseen our global business development activity and the diversification of the organization’s funding portfolio and partnerships in Africa and Asia. Before that, as Africa Technical Director, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating the technical aspects of the Malaria Consortium’s programmes in Africa, playing a vital role in the strategy, conceptualization and design of our work there. He helped build the evidence-based for the switch from presumptive treatment to parasite-based diagnosis for malaria before treatment, supported the Uganda Ministry of Health with the change of anti-malarial treatment policy to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) along with engaging the private sector in providing affordable and accessible ACTs and spearheaded the establishment of a national research centre for malaria in Uganda. Before joining Malaria Consortium, James worked at Uganda’s national and district levels on communicable disease control and neurosurgery. He remains actively involved in operational research on infectious diseases.

DR. MOSES O. OSIRU is the Manager, Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) of the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF), International Centre of Insect Physiology. He previously served as Deputy Executive Secretary at the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). He holds a PhD in Agriculture (Plant Pathology). He previously worked as Regional Pathologist with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Eastern and Southern Africa and West and Central Africa. He has led the development of ECOWAS’ Strategy and Action Plan for controlling aflatoxins in West and Central Africa. As a consultant, he undertook a needs assessment for African agricultural research and training institutions to enhance collaboration with Brazil. He currently serves on various Boards, including that of the African Crop Science Society; the International Network for Higher Education in Africa (INHEA), the Steering Committee of the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations (GCHERA), the Alliance for African Partnerships of Michigan State University the World Bank-funded Makerere University Regional Center for Crop Improvement and the recently launched Swedish Agriculture for Food Security 2030 Initiative Project (AgriFose).

PROF. MAUD KAMATENESI-MUGISHA is a UNAS Council Member and Vice Chancellor, Bishop Stuart University. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Ethnobotany and Bioprospecting), Makerere University, UNESCO – MAB Diploma in Scientific Research, UNESCO-MAB, France, Masters Degree in Environment and Natural Resources Management, MUIENR, Makerere University – Uganda, Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), Makerere University –Uganda, Bachelor of Science Degree (Hons.) [Botany & Zoology] Makerere University – Uganda. She has over 15 years of Institution-based Administrative experience, more than 20 decades in teaching and 14 years in research in the listed Institutions and capacity. She has published over 30 papers, two web-based publications, three distance education books written up, and four manuscripts in preparation for publication with 12 unpublished reports. She has won 12 international research awards and conducted 5 Consultancies with International Agencies.