Uganda and Rwanda: Post Conflict Transformation

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Faculty and Staff

Dr. William Komakech, Academic Director, Uganda
Dr. Komakech received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Before joining SIT Study Abroad, Dr. Komakech was a lecturer at Gulu University’s Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies located in Northern Uganda. A Ugandan national, Dr. Komakech has examined very closely the dynamics at work during periods of post-conflict and efforts to strengthen civil society.

Stefanie Pollender, Academic Director, Rwanda
Stefanie Pollender received her B.A. in Psychology from Philips University in Marburg, Germany in 1999. She received an M.A. in Psychology from Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany in 2003. Ms. Pollender began her career in Uganda as the Training Consultant for the Ugandan Fellowship of Reconciliation and as the Country Representative for Quaker Peace and Social Witness leading a peace and reconciliation program in Northern Uganda. In 2008, Ms. Pollender completed a second Master’s degree in Intercultural Relations at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. While she lived in the US, Ms. Pollender actively trained prisoners in the Greater Boston area in Alternatives to Violence (AVP) and conflict transformation.

Lecturers for this program include:

Dr. Vincent Ojok Adot, Lecturer on culture, politics, and religion in Uganda
Dr. Adot received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in biblical theology from Urban Pontifical University in Rome. He has been the vice rector, lecturer, and formator at Katigondo National Major Seminary and St. Paul’s National Major Seminary, Kinyamasika.

Mr. Okech Augustine, Lecturer on the economic and social impact of the conflict and post-conflict in Northern Uganda
Mr. Augustine received a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA), specializing in accounting and finance, as well as a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management (BBAM Hons.), focusing on accounting, from Ugandan Martyrs’ University, Nkozi.  He currently lectures at Gulu University and has been the acting head of the university’s department of finance and accounting in the Faculty of Business and Development Studies for more than three years. He teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students including MBA students. His areas of teaching include: corporate finance, auditing, management accounting, and quantitative methods.

Denis Bikesha, Lecturer on the Gacaca Courts in Rwanda
Mr. Bikesha received a law degree (LLB) in 2004 from the Rwanda National University in Butare and since then has worked as a lawyer for the National Service of Gacaca Courts in Rwanda, which deals with cases related to the Rwandan genocide. In 2007, he became the National Service’s director of training, mobilization, and sensitization. He is currently finalizing his master's degree in law (LLM) at the National University of Rwanda.

Mr. Bikesha has been very active in organizing training sessions and seminars regarding unity and reconciliation in Rwanda as well as abroad. He has attended various trainings in the field of transitional justice and peace-building. He has spent time in the US studying the American judicial system and has also traveled to five US states as an international visitor of the U.S Department of State. He has worked with SIT since 2005, both as a homestay coordinator and lecturer.

Mr. Kilama Henry Komakech, Lecturer on transitional justice in Northern Uganda and the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Mr. Komakech has been a managing partner of Komakech-Kilama & Co. Advocates in Gulu, Uganda from January 2001 until the present. He is currently pursuing a master’s of peace and conflict transformation studies at Gulu University. He has previously received a post- graduate diploma in conflict management and peace studies from Gulu University, Uganda and a post-graduate diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala. He also holds a bachelor’s of law degree (LL.B) (Hons.) from Makerere University and an accreditation as a mediator from the Regents’ College London and Cardiff Law School. He has received training from Cardiff Law School in negotiations, mediation, and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Dr. Kitara David Lagoro, Lecturer on war, trauma, and recovery in Uganda
Dr. Lagoro is a lecturer at Gulu University in the Faculty of Medicine. His holds degrees in medicine and surgery from Makerere University; a certificate in planning and management of health services from the Uganda Management Institute; and a master’s of medicine from Makerere University (MMED, MUK). Dr. Lagoro is a fellow of the Association of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (FCS). Additionally he holds a certificate in administrative law from the Law Development Centre and a post-graduate diploma in project planning and management from Gulu University.  For his MMED thesis, he conducted research on “Possum Scoring Systems in Patients Undergoing Laparotomy in Mulago Hospital”. 

Charles Kabwete Mulinda, Lecturer on Rwandan political developments, pre-genocide
Charles Kabwete Mulinda has been a lecturer at the National University of Rwanda in the university’s history program since 1999. He is currently completing his Ph.D. at the University of the Western Cape in the Program of the Study of Humanities in Africa (PSHA). His topic is: "A Space for Genocide: Local Authorities, Local Population and Local Histories in Gishamvu and Kibayi, Rwanda". During the spring 2009 semester, he was a visiting scholar at the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) at the University of Minnesota (USA). He received his M.A. in history from the University of the Western Cape in 2003 and has completed coursework at the Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne in the university’s political science department (Program of African Studies). His areas of research include history, political science, and anthropology. Mr. Kabwete Mulinda has published a number of articles on Rwandan colonial and postcolonial history. Additionally, he has worked as a researcher at the National Museum of Rwanda and also has interned at the Chicago Historical Museum and at the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium. 

Dr. Frank Nabwiso, Lecturer on post-conflict transformation and government initiatives towards peace in Uganda (a critique)
Dr. Nabwiso is an expert on adult education and rural development. He received his Ph.D. in adult education and rural development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1976); an M.A. in African Studies from the University of Sussex, England (1968); and a B.A. (Hons) in history and political science from the University of East Africa, then Makerere University College (1967). His teaching experience includes the following: part-time lecturer at Kyambogo University (2004-2005); teaching associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1975-76); head of the Correspondence and Mass Media Department at Makerere University (1971-72); and resident tutor at Makerere University (1969-70).

Ms. Justine Mbabazi Niyibizi, Lecturer on gender and peace-building in Rwanda
Ms. Mbabazi is a researcher at the Center for Conflict Management at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and coordinator of the university’s master’s program in genocide studies. Ms. Mbabazi received her master of arts in migration studies from the University of the Witwatersrand –Johannesburg, South Africa in 2008. In 2005 she obtained a B.A. in political sciences and public administration from NUR. In 2009 Ms. Mbabazi received a certificate in gender mainstreaming from the Organization for Social Science Researchers for East and Southern Africa (OSSREA), School of Gender Studies.

Ms. Mbabazi is the Secretary General of the OSSREA Rwanda chapter and a founding member of the East Africa Political Science Association. Ms. Mbabazi has conducted research on issues of peace and development; women and peace in the aftermath of genocide; gender and poverty: monitoring under the Poverty Reduction Strategy; and gender mainstreaming in Rwanda. She also has engaged in research on the challenges of horizontal/ vertical coordination with other regional and national organizations of peace and security.

Rt. Rev. MacBaker Ochola II, Lecturer on the Acholi of Uganda
Reverend Ochola is the retired bishop of Kitgum Diocese (Anglican) Kitgum in northern Uganda. In 1997, his wife Winifred was tragically killed by a landmine allegedly planted by the Lord’s Resistance Army Rebels. Following her death, he decided to dedicate his life working toward peace. He holds a bachelor of theology from Emmanuel and St. Chad College, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. He served as an active participant in the Juba Peace Talks as peace observer and consultant on behalf of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative. He was appointed chairman of the mediation between the Pajong and Pobec clans of Mucwini, Chua County, by the Local Government of Kitgum District in January 2008. He has been involved in the mediation process between various groups including the Jie tribe of Karamoja and Acholi; the people of Teso and Bokora and Pian tribes of Karamoja in 2002/2004; and the Lango and Acholi, following the massacres at Barlonyo in Lira District in 2004/2005.

Mr. Alfred Omony Ogaba, Lecturer on government policy pertaining to decentralization in Uganda
Mr. Ogaba has been a district commissioner from December 2003 to the present (by presidential appointment). Presently, as a resident district commissioner of Kitgum, his responsibilities include: serving as chairman of the District Security Committee to maintain law and order in the district; monitoring the implementation of government programs; monitoring NGOs, community-based organizations, and civil society organizations; advising the district chairman on matters of national importance; addressing the District Council; and carrying out other responsibilities that may be assigned by the President. He holds an Ordinary Diploma in animal husbandry; a bachelor degree in development studies and a post-graduate diploma in conflict management studies and peacebuilding from Gulu University. He is currently pursuing a master of arts in conflict transformation studies from Gulu University.

Dr. Jacinto Deusdedit Ogwal, Lecturer on the socio-political history of conflict in Uganda
Dr. Ogwal received his B.A. in theology from Urban University in Rome and M.A and Ph.D., with a specialization in church history, from Gregorian University in Rome. He has been a senior lecturer at the Faculties of Theology and Education at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi. He is currently a part-time lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Gulu University, while fully engaged in practical post-conflict management endeavors, particularly in the areas of education, training, formation, and the resettlement of child soldiers and orphans in the Lira district in Uganda, where he runs a children’s home, health center, and school for indigent children. His areas of research include: the impact of globalization on peace; intercultural communication; inter-religious dialogue; and the impact of religions on politics and peace. 

Mr. Louis Okello, Lecturer on the international dimensions of the conflict in Northern Uganda
Mr. Okello received his M.A. in development studies (conflict, reconstruction, and human security) from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. He also holds a post-graduate diploma in children, youth, and development from the Institute of Social Studies and a bachelor of arts in social sciences (sociology and psychology) from Makerere University in Kampala. He currently works as a program coordinator with GUSCO. He has eight years experience working in conflict affected situations with donor projects such as Community Resilience and Dialogue, the Danish Association for International Development, UNICEF, Terres Des Hommes, African Union, and the Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Programme. He work has been focused in the areas of protection, peace building, advocacy, economic empowerment, dialogue and reconciliation activities, and vocational skills training, among others.

Fr. John Felix Opio, Lecturer on the peoples and cultures of Uganda, particularly on the history and evolution of national and ethnic identity
Fr. Opio received a master of arts and bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa- Nairobi. He also holds a bachelor of arts in theology from Urban University in Rome and a post-graduate diploma in teacher education (PGDE-TE) from Makerere University. He is a registered graduate teacher in Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Opio participated in peace and reconciliation activities in northern Uganda. He was an active participant in the Juba Peace Talk between the Lord’s Resistance Army Rebels (LRA) and the Government of the Republic of Uganda through the mediation of the Government of Southern Sudan and the United Nations. He served as executive director of CARITAS Gulu Archdiocese and worked with a team of trained social workers with experience in service delivery during emergency and conflict situations. He is a prospective Ph.D. student at Gulu University.

Ms. Jackline Atingo Owacgiu, Lecturer on the role of language in defining identity in Uganda
Ms. Owacgiu is currently a trainer with War Child Holland in the areas of conflict management and human rights. She is also a community worker and program developer. She received a master of arts in development studies with a primary concentration in human rights, development, and social justice and a secondary concentration in children and youth studies. She has a bachelor’s degree is development studies from Makerere University. Additionally, Ms. Owacgiu holds a post-graduate diploma in conflict management and peace studies from Gulu University; a certificate in strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation; and a certificate in project planning and management. She has attended trainings by the International Law Institute and War Child Holland. In September 2009 she conducted an extensive research project entitled “The Rights of Children Born in LRA Captivity” as part of her master’s degree.

Professor Paul Rutayisire, Lecturer on the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) war, the Arusha Peace Agreement, and the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
A Rwandan national, Professor Rutayisire holds a Ph.D. in history from Fribourg University in Switzerland. He lectures at the National University of Rwanda and is director of the university’s Center for Conflict Management. His fields of specialization are religion and society as well as conflict transformation and genocide studies. He has published extensively on Rwandan history and has participated in many crucial research projects on topics related to the post-genocide reconstruction of Rwanda.