Meet Marcella Karekye and Duncan Abigaba, the duo charged with redefining post-electoral Govt to citizens communications

Marcella Karekye and Duncan Abigaba have been appointed Head and Deputy Director, Government Citizens Interaction Centre respectively.

The Centre, that was previously under the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance, has now been moved to the Office of the President.  The unit’s mandate is to provide timely, cost-effective and data-driven communication between Government and citizens to enable service delivery, policy formulation, and citizen participation in governance.

The duo, have a tough challenge of leading government-citizen communications, following a bitterly contested election, won by the incumbent, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

Marcella has, since 2005, worked as the Head of Children’s Division as well as the Business Development Manager at Fountain Publishers Ltd, Uganda’s largest publishing house.

While in her role at Fountain Publishers, Marcella briefly worked on an exchange programme between the World Bank and Fountain Publishers, as the Acquisitions Editor, attached to the Office of the Publisher.

Between March 2017- December 2018, she also worked as the Public Relations and Marketing Manager, for Isaiah 60 Productions, for their highly acclaimed biopic movie— 27 Guns.    

She is passionate about child literacy and is a member of the International Board on Books for Young People, a non-profit organisation that represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together.

Karekye holds a Bachelor of Arts in Publishing (Hons) from the Oxford Brookes University in the UK and an MBA from the ESAMI Business School.

Who is Duncan Abigaba?

Mr Abigaba previously served in the Office of the President, as Deputy Presidential Assistant in charge of Research and Information, where he closely monitored the performance of Government agencies and regularly prepared briefs for the Presidency on the same.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) of Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management of Uganda Management Institute.

He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Management from Uganda Management Institute. He also holds several post-graduate certificates in management from both Makerere University and Uganda Management Institute as well as a certificate in Administrative Law from the Law Development Centre, Kampala.

He is a Mandela Washington Fellow under the Young African Leaders Initiative at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.

He is very passionate about public administration and management, corporate affairs and communication, open government and public accountability.