Grace Akello (born 1950) is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n poet, essayist, folklorist, and politician. She is the Uganda Ambassador to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Early life and education

Dinah Grace Akello is

Iteso The Iteso (or people of Teso) are a Nilotic ethnic group in eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso, and ''Ateso'' is their language. History Origins The exact origins of the Iteso remain uncl ...

, and was born near

Soroti Soroti is a city in Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main City, commercial, and administrative center in curved out of Soroti District, one of the nine administrative districts in the Teso sub-region. Soroti City was immediately approved f ...

, in the Eastern Region of the

Uganda Protectorate The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Brit ...

. She studied Social Administration and Social Work at

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. In 1979, she lived in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

after fleeing from

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

's government as a refugee.

Career

She worked as a magazine editor in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and Tanzania before traveling to England in the 1980s to become an assistant editor for the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

. Akello held the position from 1983 to 1990.

Politics

In 1990, Grace Akello went back to Uganda and created a commission to help solve the issue of the displacement and killing of

Teso people The Iteso (or people of Teso) are a Nilotic ethnic group in eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso, and ''Ateso'' is their language. History Origins The exact origins of the Iteso remain uncl ...

during Amin's presidency. This commission lasted until 1996. In 1996, she became a member of the

Parliament of Uganda The parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. Unicameral, the most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer t ...

, and in 1999 was appointed Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development. From 1999 to 2006, she was a member of the

Cabinet of Uganda There are 32 Cabinet ministers and 50 Ministers of State in the Cabinet of Uganda (2021 to 2026). According to Section 111 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, as amended in 2005, "There shall be a Cabinet which shall consist of the President, t ...

. She held the position of Minister of Microfinance Initiatives from 1999 to 2003, and the Minister of Northern Uganda from 2003 until losing her seat in 2006. Grace Akello Went on to become the Ugandan ambassador to Italy, based in Rome and recently became the Ugandan ambassador in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, India, supplying ambassadorial support across the whole Indian subcontinent.

Literature

In 1992, her poem "Encounter" from her collection ''My Barren Song'' was included in

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

's ''

Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', a selection of works from women authors in Africa.

Works

* ''Iteso Thought Patterns in Tales'', 1975 * ''My Barren Song''. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Eastern African Publications, 1979 * ''Self Twice-Removed: Ugandan Woman'', London: Change International Reports, 1982

Personal life

Grace Akello married her husband,

Hugh Mason Hugh Mason (30 January 1817 – 2 February 1886) was an English mill owner, social reformer and Liberal politician. He was born in Stalybridge and brought up in Stalybridge and Ashton-under-Lyne until he entered the family cotton business in ...

, in 1983. They have four sons and have a family home in Uganda close to Kampala.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akello, Grace 1950 births Living people 20th-century essayists 20th-century Ugandan poets 20th-century Ugandan politicians 20th-century Ugandan women politicians 20th-century Ugandan women writers 21st-century essayists 21st-century Ugandan poets 21st-century Ugandan politicians 21st-century Ugandan women politicians 21st-century Ugandan women writers Ambassadors of Uganda to Italy Folklorists Government ministers of Uganda Makerere University alumni Members of the Parliament of Uganda People from Soroti District Ugandan women ambassadors Ugandan women essayists Ugandan women poets Women folklorists Women government ministers of Uganda Women members of the Parliament of Uganda