Alex Matovu
Alex Matovu is a practicing commercial Lawyer, co-founder and Partner at Signum Advocates, an award-winning law firm in Uganda. Alex is the current Chairperson of the Professional Development Committee of the Uganda Law Society and sits on boards of organizations such as International Needs-Uganda, Shine Leadership International, Imagine Me Africa, and Credo Management Limited. Alex is a recipient of the prestigious Chevening Scholarship and is currently pursuing his LLM – Banking & Finance Law at Queen Mary University – London.
Faith Codrine Amoit
Amoit Faith Codrine is Chevening Scholar 2022/23 and is currently pursuing MSc Structural Engineering at the University of Leeds. She is passionate about structural dynamics and looks forward to making the most of her academia journey in the year. In 2018, she graduated from Uganda Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She was formerly employed with Dar-Al-Handasah Consultants as the Junior Civil Engineer on the Upgrade and Expansion of Entebbe International Airport project for 3 years (2019-2022).
She is a member of the Rotaract Club of Bweyogerere Namaboole which is an NGO under Rotary International. She has served in various positions over the years such as Club Secretary, Director Club Administrator and is currently the Club Citation Officer. Some of her interests are counselling, poetry performance, traveling, exploring, reading Inspirational books, and designing natural hair.
Angella Asiimwe
Angella Asiimwe is a 2022 Chevening Scholar currently pursuing a Masters of Law in International Human Rights Law at University of LEEDS fully funded by the United Kingdom Government. She is a lawyer, women and girls’ rights activist, governance enthusiast, certified civic education trainer and a feminist transformational leader who uses her personal experiences and life journey of being a survivor of sexual exploitation and teenage mother at 15years in challenging patriarchal systems, uplifting fellow women and empowering the girl child. She has over nine years’ experience and wealth of knowledge spanning from working with National and Regional Feminist Organizations, Civil Society organizations, law firms, private consulting, state and non- state actors, development partners, movements among others.
She is the Founder and CEO, Voice Consults Limited an organization that amplifies women’s and girls’ voices using legal and media tools to achieve gender equality and a board member of The Remnant Generation a teenage mum shelter, the Uganda Project Implementation and Management Centre (UPIMAC), and the International Rescue Committee under Building Local Thinking Global (BLTG) Project on ending Gender Based Violence in emergencies. Angella is a Steering Committee member of African Women Leaders’ Network (AWLN) Uganda chapter and an active member of the Continental AWLN Young Women Leaders Caucus, Senior Member of Uganda Women Lawyers Association (FIDA Uganda), Member of International Leadership Association, Senior Member of the women’s movement in Uganda among others. She featured in CEO East Africa Magazine as one of the Top 20 women CEOs who have pushed barriers to achieve their goals and uplifting women and fighting for their rights in July, 2021, was recognized as a winner in The New Vision as one of Uganda’s Top 40 influential people under 40yrs in March, 2021 because of her work and commitment towards uplifting teenage pregnant girls and other survivors of sexual harassment achieve their fullest potential and was recognized and celebrated on International Women’s Day,2021 in The New Vision as one of the Top 10 women in Uganda who has contributed tremendously to women rights advocacy in Uganda.
Angella is also a 2021 Mandela Washington Fellowship of Young African Leaders (YALI) Alumna who pursued a short course on Leadership in Civic Engagement at the Presidential Precinct, USA (2021), an alumna of Feminist Leadership, Movement Building and Rights Institute (FLAMBRI) under CREA (2019) ,African Women Leadership Institute (AWLI) under Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), 2018 ,a pioneer Alumni of Giving Rise to Ugandan Indigenous Direction & Experience (GUIDE) program by USAID/Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity (CSSA),2022 where she implemented a program on supporting over 350 teenage girl survivors of sexual harassment, students and community leaders to break the silence and access justice through the #GirlsAgainstAllOdds Campaign in Uganda among others. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws from Cavendish University Uganda and pursued a Diploma in Gender Responsive Governance at The Hague Academy for Local Governance, Netherlands.
Arikosi Mariam Iculet
Mariam Iculet Arikosi is a 23-year-old Ugandan pursuing a MSc. Biosocial Medical Anthropology at University College London through the Chevening Scholarship 2022/2023.
In the interest of exploring opportunities to champion access to equitable community-sensitive health services through local education and research, to improve health outcomes locally and globally, she has embarked on a trajectory to garner appropriate skills and knowledge to lead efforts in that regard with a keen focus on under-served communities. She i enthusiastic about interacting with other influential and positively disruptive leaders across the world to forge positive partnerships geared towards a world where we can all access healthcare as needed most especially targeting vulnerable women and girls. Through documenting experiences, I intend to influence the narrative of story of these individuals one bold step at a time.
Patsheba Ayebare
Patsheba Ayebare is a Civil Engineer and a Chevening scholar, currently pursuing a master’s degree in Hydrology and Water Management at Newcastle University, UK. Prior to this, she worked as a Civil Engineer at Nalubaale and Kiira Power stations with Eskom Uganda Limited. Some of the systems under her custody included waterways, canals, drainage and water supply systems, High Voltage and substation structures, among others. Patsheba was also in charge of managing Civil improvement projects at the hydro power stations and monitoring the health of the dams at the stations. Her exceptional engineering and project management skills led to her appointment as engineering lead on several high priority investment projects at the Nalubaale and Kiira hydro power plants, which she delivered timely and cost efficiently.
Patsheba is also a mentor with Girls for Girls(G4G) Uganda, an organization whose main objective is to empower girls to lead. Over the years, she has mentored over twenty ladies from different backgrounds, to help them attain their full potential. Her demonstration of her potential to influence positive change in her community made her a prime candidate for the Chevening scholarship. She believes that with the knowledge and skills obtains from her master’s degree, she will contribute to the achievement of goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, for Uganda. In addition, the diverse UK culture and wide Chevening network shall give her a global perspective on issues and widen her locus of influence.
Acam Bruna Patricia
Acam Bruna Patricia is a Lawyer and an Advocate of the Courts of Judicature in Uganda with speciality in Legal Aid Service provision. She is currently pursuing an LLM in lnternational Human Rights Law and Practice, from the University of York, United Kingdom, having been a successful awardee of the Chevening 2022/2023 Scholarships funded by the UK Government.
She previously served as a Manager at Justice Centres Uganda, a government project of the Justice, Law and Order sector mandated to offer free legal aid services to the indigent and vulnerable persons, and as the Board Secretary for Women Human Rights Defenders Network Uganda and is an active member of the Uganda Law Society and East African Law Society.
She is passionate about empowering disadvantaged and vulnerable communities especially women and children through advocacy for the adherence to their human rights.
Despite being a junior professional with 7 years’ experience, she has successfully championed the establishment of 2 legal aid service Centres in Uganda. In 2015, she led a team of lawyers of Legal Aid Project of the Uganda Law Society to establish the first holistic legal aid clinic in Karamoja Sub region which has since seen a number of indigent and vulnerable persons’ access justice; and in 2018, she led a team of lawyers to establish a Justice Centres Uganda branch in Mbale thereby extending free legal services to the indigent and vulnerable persons in Elgon and Bukedi regions. Over the last 7 years, she has worked in legal aid service where she daily takes on the fight for human rights for the most vulnerable. Recently, she successfully took on a clan in Mbale District that had deprived a widow of 3 acres of land that belonged to her late husband.
As a lawyer specialized in provision of legal aid, she uses her position to engage and influence communities in hard to reach and remote areas to unlearn bad cultural practices and adopt human rights based practices. She encourages remote communities to embrace alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and thus has successfully resolved several disputes through mediation. In 2018, she was awarded an Award for Peace and Reconciliation by the German and French embassies in recognition of her contribution and impact in the disadvantaged communities in Karamoja Sub region. And in 2021, her contribution was recognized by the Uganda Law Society thus awarded an Award for Best Young Lawyer of the year 2021 during the Women in Law Awards.
She has also recently been recognised by theCourtroom Mail 100 (SHID) in the Top 100 Africa’s Influential Women in the Legal Profession Award, 2022.
Celine Auma
Celine Auma is Gender rights activist. She is pursuing a masters in Gender, policies and inequalities at London School of Economic and Political Science 2022/2023.
She has over 10 years’ experience advocating for the rights of children and women, particularly towards lobbying for systemic changes that arise due to different inequalities that women face when accessing and utilising services in health, education and livelihood.
Working with young girls and women as advocates for change has also been central to her experience particularly looking at their issues and having their voice feature into different decision making spaces. Policy advocacy and fighting inequalities from a feminist perspective is what greatly motivated her to study masters in gender, policies and inequalities. She strongly believe that the knowledge and experience will ground her understanding around feminist theory which will enhance her research in the area of feminist’s movements and their role in enhancing systemic change. Providing her with space to ask challenging questions to provoke debates towards implementation of gender related policies that are central towards growth and development of Uganda.
Esther Chebijira
Chebijira Esther is a passionate and trained teacher who strongly believes in the power of girls’ education in transforming the world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Education: English language and literature from Makerere university and is currently persuing a Masters degree in Inclusive Education: Research Policy and Practice from the University of Glasgow courtesy of the Chevening Scholarship.
Previously, Esther served as a Teach for Uganda fellow at kalagala primary school in Mayuge district where she taught English language and worked with the different stakeholders to solve educational challenges. Notable among her achievements are an over 80% retention of the girl child, improvement in academic and non-academic performance as well as an increase in the general school population. She also helped girls understand and manage menstruation. In 2020, Esther was named among the three most outstanding teachers in Uganda.
She has worked as a community facilitator for Kaberamaido USpartners, a mentor at Educate! Uganda, a country ambassador for Peace First, volunteer for Youth by Youth among other development organization. In her free time, Esther loves to watch football and listen to music.
Esther aspires to work with different stakeholders to create a world where women and girls are supported to dream and thrive.
Daniel Ortega
Daniel Ortega is a lawyer by background and a humanitarian actor by profession.
For the last 5 years he has been focused his practice on provision of protection services to communities in conflict and post conflict settings, to ensure that there is justice aimed at dealing with the unique legal issues faced by these groups of people. Through this he has managed to build great networks in the field of humanitarian interventions, with a particular focus on access to Justice programs and protection. He has previously sat as a member of the National Refugee Protection Working Group in Uganda, where he contributed in shaping national protection policies. His experience has been extended to legal entities like Origo advocates where he has been engaged as an Of Counsel and Bristol College of Management and Health sciences where he has actively taught on modules of Child protection, Conflict Management and Peacebuilding.
Aside from this he is an avid supporter of, and former player in Ugandan Rugby where I have represented KOBS rugby club and Impis RFC as a player. In the latter he also performed the role of Club Chairman. In his free time he enjoys music and making music, dancing, hiking, watching football as a Liverpool fan and spending time with his son, family and friends.
He is currently pursuing a fully funded MA in Development and Emergency Practice at the University of Oxford Brookes, through the Chevening scholarship program.
He knows this will grant him the prestigious opportunity to horn his speciality in fighting for the rights of communities that have been displaced and finding durable solutions to conflict, that can be implemented on a global scale.
Edwin Wabomba
Edwin Wabomba is an urban development practioner, and a 2022 Chevening scholar, currently pursuing an MSc in City Planning and Real Estate Development, at the University of Glasgow. He is Graduate Economist; an apprentice landscape designer and an alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), passionately working to create Organised, Clean and Green cities in Africa. His professional interests are mainly on urban and housing policy issues, with a deep focus on Urban Housing Systems, Urban Conservation, and urban neighborhood planning.
Edwin is the founding CEO of Wakari Housing, a housing services firm that is progressively transforming Uganda’s built environment. As the CEO, he is in charge of the company’s strategic direction as well as Partnerships, and Business Development. At Wakari, he has championed implementation of key initiatives like the Wakari Apprenticeship Program, an initiative through which youth who are school dropouts are identified, and trained in construction sector-related skills like painting, landscaping, pottery, bricklaying, and real estate sales.
He is the co-founder of Bugisu Development Foundation (BDF), and he volunteers with BDF, as the CEO mainly responsible for team building, Strategy, and resource mobilization; the co-founder of EcoPick (U) Ltd, a Mbale city-based waste management social enterprise with a vision of “Creating Clean and Green Cities”; and a co-founder of Dream achievers housing club which he also volunteers with as the board vice chairperson and the chairperson of the risk and investments committee, charged with the responsibility of undertaking investment risk analysis, supervision of the technical team, and building relevant networks for the club. Edwin is also the President of the African Planning Volunteers (AP-Volunteers), an initiative that he co-founded with fellow YALI alumni to advocate for development of sustainable cities in Africa.
Previously, he has worked in different reputable organisations like the International Development consultants (IDC) as a Monitoring and Evaluations Supervisor; Watoto Church Kampala as a Children’s Facilitator; Grand Flora (U) Ltd as a Finance, Policy and Administrations Manager, and Wana Energy Solutions as an accounts assistant.
He possesses 11 years working experience all gained while working on a number of urban development, Housing, community development, youth empowerment, and conservation-related projects; a strong work history that has enabled him to build multiple important skills. For example, he is a competent mobilizer, a good communicator, and an ardent policy analyst; skills he has carefully used to create impact in his community.
Edwin is passionate about youth empowerment, community development, sustainable cities, and conservation of the environment.
Gerald Omal
Gerald Omal is an IT professional from Kitgum district.
He is passionate about smart farming and, his aim is to use data science and artificial intelligence to revolutionize agriculture. He believes as farm land is under huge pressure from human activities and climate change, the applications of the right technologies can result in proper appropriate use of farm land leading to high crop yields and enough food for the growing population.
Innocent Gumisiriza
Innocent is a Senior IT Systems Engineer at PwC Uganda, and a member of the PwC Africa Enterprise Systems team. He is enthusiastic about everything tech!, and more importantly the evolving cloud technologies.
He is studying for MSc Cloud Computing at the University of Leicester. His study interests include principles and architecture of cloud computing, aspects of fault-tolerance, privacy and security, as well as agile software build automation, big data and predictive analytics on cloud platforms. This expertise will be ideal to develop and maintain the optimal model for the use of cloud resources in Uganda.
He is looking forward to travelling and visiting several places in the UK, including Windsor Castle, the London Eye, Westminster Castle, and of course, the Emirate stadium, home of Arsenal F.C.
Irene Nampewo
Irene Nampewo is a medical doctor currently pursuing the MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. She firmly believes that technological innovations can support health systems and governments to perform better against global health challenges. She has three years of working experience in project management implementing programs in digital health care in resource-limited settings in Uganda.
Irene previously served as a Project Coordinator-Implementation Projects, at the Academy for Health Innovation- Uganda, under the Infectious Diseases Institute. She proved to be an effective leader who far exceeded the expectations of her employers. Irene led the establishment of a digital health project in eighteen districts for surveillance of those at risk of COVID-19. When thousands of Ugandans left COVID-19 treatment units without psychosocial support, she led the deployment of a mHealth intervention focusing on post-discharge psychosocial follow up of patients in eighteen COVID-19 treatment units nationwide. These innovations have followed up over 5000 COVID-19 patients. Irene received the 2021 Pfizer One Young World scholarship for her outstanding actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on society. Irene is a multifaceted leader and has been actively involved in capacity building and stakeholder engagements with local and international funders, the Ministry of Health and local communities in Uganda. She has trained over 500 healthcare workers on various digital health interventions and the mhealth intervention for psychosocial support was adopted into the Uganda Ministry of Health COVID-19 case management guidelines.
As leadership and learning are indispensable to each other, Irene has undertaken further training in project management and the fundamentals of global health research from the University of Washington. In addition to her ongoing postgraduate studies, Irene is an Oxford Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust Scholar undergoing a comprehensive programme on leadership, business development coupled with an enterprise challenge, long-term mentoring and networking. She is also keen to join communities of young leaders/ambassadors with goals akin to hers specifically those driving dialogue, action and change. She is a proud Global Shaper (Kampala Hub), a One Young World ambassador and a member of the Girls4Girls Project Uganda.
On completion of her postgraduate degree, Irene intends to continue working to advance the adoption of sustainable technological solutions through leading the design, implementation and evaluation of international health policies. She also aspires to be a key player in the healthcare technology companies and startups industry and maintains a long-term goal of a career in global health consultancy with an emphasis on health innovation and entrepreneurship. More information on her work and achievements can be found on the LinkedIn platform.
Jericho Muwanga
Jericho Muwanga is a seasoned financial services regulator with 8 years of experience in banking. For the past six years, he has been employed as a financial analyst in the commercial banking supervision department at the Central Bank of Uganda and for three years as the head of finance at Awinyo Foundation, a local NGO empowering women through sanitation, maternal health and entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Kyambogo University (First class, Honours) and an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business.
During his time at Bank of Uganda, Jericho has used his data analytics skills to automate processes and reports, and to design tools for analysis and presentation of data. He has also shown an ability to influence regulatory decisions. As a member and secretary of the Bank Supervision IFRS 9 Financial Instruments steering committee he played a significant role in the customization and implementation of the standardacross the Ugandan banking sector.
Jericho’s choice of career was shaped by childhood experiences which taught him that one of the best ways of creating positive change is by empowering people financially. His career and ambitions are thus focussed on making financial services affordable and accessible to all. He believes that Financial Technology (Fintech) is the most convenient, affordable, and fastest way to Uganda’s financial inclusion goals. The Chevening program is giving him an opportunity to study MSC Financial Technology at the University of Liverpool and to benchmark the UK’s advanced Fintech Industry. Within the first five years of his return, he wants to collaborate with key stakeholders in Uganda’s Fintech space to solve challenges affecting reach, uptake, and affordability. He plans to leverage his knowledge, skills, network, exposure, and role as a financial services regulator to create a Fintech enabling environment, including regulation and policy that encourages innovation and soundly manages the resulting disruption. He also plans to establish a consultancy firm that offers Fintech advisory and training.
Hillary Mutungi
Mutungi Hillary is a pharmacist with keen interest in public health. He has over five year experience working in both the public sector and and the NGO sector. He has worked with Mulago National Referral Hospital and more previously with Clinton Health Access Initiative on the Cancer program.He also supported the Ministries of health in Uganda and Zambia in national quantification of their anti-cancer medicine needs.
He is currently pursuing an MSc in Public Health for Development at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on the Chevening Scholarship from the FCDO. He is passionate about addressing the growing cancer burden in LMICs through health system strengthening to improve access to quality healthcare for cancer patients.
Rashida Namulondo
Rashida Namulondo is a Ugandan based actress, stage director and an award winning poet. She is the founder of the Sophie Muwanika Institute of Art for change. A nonprofit organisation that uses theatre for peacebuilding and education. Her work seeks to use narratives for healing and reconciliation in post conflict areas and those vulnerable to conflict. She also creates awareness for depression and the need for healing and self-reconciliation in our everyday lives.
Rashida also advocates for the inclusion of artists and the use of performance arts in conflict transformation and preventing violent conflicts. In 2016 she was recognized for her work as a social change leader and named a Laureate global fellow. She was also selected as a One Young World Peace Ambassador and a Community Solutions fellow in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Rashida is a 2022-2023 Chevening scholar, currently pursuing a Masters in Applied theatre and Intervention at the University of Leeds.
Upon returning to Uganda, Rashida plans to increase the use of theatre for preventing violent extremism and peacebuilding in Uganda. By developing a creative program that will gather both artists and policy makers to reflect on the power of theatre and storytelling to challenge extremist narratives.
Noah Emokol Okiror
He has previously served as the President of Medical Students in Uganda under the umbrella organization of “The Federation of Uganda Medical Students Association” and as Vice president of medical interns in 2016.
He is the founder and CEO of a health start-up company called “school doctors” that looks at preventing epidemic outbreaks in school settings. The company currently employs 5 staff with prospects of growth over the next 3 years.
Under the Chevening Scholarship, he will be pursuing the Master of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Denis Ouma
Denis Ouma is also the National Chairman- Persons with disability League
He possesses a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Makerere University and Post-graduate studies at AVODA Institute of Entrepreneurship for Africa.
Denis Ouma is also an Ardent Politician whose passion for Disability Inclusion and determination to meaningfully influence policy and legislative matters pushed him to contest for the position of National Member of Parliament representing Persons with Disability in the 2021 general elections emerging the 8th out of 14 contestants.
He is an Entrepreneur and Motivational Speaker!
Valeria Chepemarwas
Valeria Chepemarwas is a gender equity activist with a passion for advancing the health and empowerment of women in remote areas of Africa. She is pursuing a Master’s in Gender and Development at the University of Sussex under the prestigious Chevening Scholarship. The Managing Director of Gender and Women’s Health at Doctors’ Alliance for Rural Community Health (Doctor’s ARCH) is also the co-founder of the Uganda-based national Non-Profit. Doctors ARCH is dedicated to reaching unreached women and children with essential lifesaving healthcare services. Through her studies, she is keen to ground her potential to stimulate and sustain community-driven change back home through her organization, Governments, and partners.
In the past decade, Valeria has worked with Save the Children International (SCI) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), implementing for women, girls, and children in emergency and development programming within the African context. She commands unique experience in community organizing and advocacy about Gender-Based Violence prevention and response, combatting Female Genital Cutting, spearheading women’s protection and empowerment, promoting Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, and child safeguarding in remote communities. This background informs her professional and academic ambition of reaching the last woman and child with the best possible development options.