Justin Willis is the Principal Investigator for this project. He is Professor in History at Durham University, UK. His work is particularly concerned with questions about the nature of authority and political culture in eastern Africa, and he has considerable experience in archival and oral historical research in the region. For this project, he works on the ways external donors thought and sought to shape Uganda’s future at this particular time.
Moses Akugizibwe (co-investigator) coordinates the Centre for African Development Studies (CADS) at Mountains of the Moon University in Fort Portal. He holds an MBA and focuses on Project Planning and Management especially for Archives projects. He has in the past years been engaged in archives digitization projects for Kabarole, Hoima districts and Tooro Kingdom in Uganda with a purpose of preserving resources for research. Though not a historian, he loves history and hence his recent engagement in historical studies such as « John Kabwimukya Babiiha: A National Leader from Tooro », a recent project where he is a Principal Investigator, which is under review by IFRA for publication. Moses is also a member and treasurer of Uganda Community Museums (UCOMA) managing funds worth $61 360 from UNESCO in the project « Strengthening the capacity of Community Museums to promote inscribed intangible cultural heritage elements ». For the project « Uganda’s past, Ugandan futures », Moses focuses on Tooro’s intellectual elite and their involvement in the debates over government.
Agatha Alidri (co-investigator) is a lecturer of History in the Department of History, Faculty of Education and Humanities at Gulu University. She was born and grew up in Arua District. She majored in History at her undergraduate studies and attained a Master of Arts in History at Makerere University. She is in the final stage of her PhD in History at Makerere University. After graduating from university, she specialized in teaching African history for the “A” Level class. She is currently teaching Studies in the Socio-Economic and Political History of Uganda, African Nationalism and the US-Africa relations to the Bachelor of Arts –Education students. Agatha is the Coordinator of the Building Stronger Universities (BSU) Project, a DANIDA funded south driven partnership between Gulu University and a consortium of Danish Universities. The project aims at building institutional and individual research capacity. Her research focus is on the use of indigenous knowledge in conflict resolution and the maintenance of law and order. Her approach is underpinned by a historical explanation of crime and social disorder as colonial creations and nurtured in the post-colonial state by the modern state and law. She argues that state laws are tools of exploitation and discrimination. Agatha has had leadership roles and significant contributing roles in research projects as principal investigator and co-investigator. Her vision is to inspire young people to appreciate the role of history in nation building. For this project, she focuses on women, authority and government employment in Acholiland, 1979-80.
Florence Brisset-Foucault (co-investigator) is a Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and a researcher at the Institut des mondes africains (IMAF) in France. She is a Junior Fellow at the Institut universitaire de France. Her interests lie in the sociology and history of citizenship, media and socio-political critique in Uganda. Her focus in this project are the social and material conditions of the emergence of the press and the forms of media discourse in 1979-1980.
Jessica Kabasiita is a PhD fellow (Educational Management particularly Organizational Citizenship Behaviour) in the East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, Makerere University, Uganda. She hold a Masters in Educational Management and Bachelor of Arts with Education (Geography & CRE) of Makerere University. She is a lecturer of Research Methods and Foundations of Education at Mountains of the Moon University. She is passionate about citizenship behaviors. Her research strand in this project is on women, education and authority in Tooro, 1979-1980.
Anatoli Lwassampijja is a part-time teaching assistant in the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies. He holds a B.A. in Education and a Masters of Arts in History of Makerere University. He is passionate about the History of African schooling with emphasis on education and social change. On this project, he focuses on women’s representation at the Moshi conference and the deliberations on the concerns of women at the time of contests over Uganda’s future.
Jacqueline Namukasa is currently a PhD fellow in the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. She holds a B.A in Education and MA in History of the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). Jacqueline was a Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa and CODESRIA fellow (2019). She is still a Gerda-Henkel Fellow with research interests in boundary conflicts and Uganda’s political history. On this project, she focuses on the role of women in the National Consultative Council (1979-1980).
Evarist Ngabirano is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR). He holds a PhD in Social Studies from Makerere University. He has for three consecutive times received the SSRC-Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa fellowship. His area of concentration is Culture and Politics and his topic of research is “Beyond Ethnic Patriotism: A Comparative Study of Toro and Kigezi districts in Uganda.” Evarist is also a faculty at Mountains of the Moon University in Fort Portal, where he directed the project to preserve and digitize the district local government archives and initiated the Center for African Development Studies (CADS). Evarist has also previously received a University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars fellowship (UMAPS 2013-2014 cohort) as an early career faculty. He was also a recipient of the 2019 African Studies Association (ASA) presidential fellowship. For this project, Evarist’s research strand focuses on elite authority and representation in the National Consultative Council.
Julius Kaka Pa’Ongom is a research consultant with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TAO). He is part-time lecturer in African History and teaches courses in Governance and International Relations at Uganda Christian University and Gulu University. Julius’s broad research interest is governance of security with a particular interest in armed forces in Africa, foreign policy decision making and leadership response against transnational organised crime. His focus in this project is Acholi representation and participation in the National Consultative Council (NCC).