Lorna Magara is the first woman to be elected

chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Makerere University Council, since the founding of the university in 1922. She was elected to a renewable four-year term, effective 20 December 2018. The Council is a 27-member body that serves as the supreme governing organ of Uganda's largest and oldest

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Background and education

She was born to Hezron and Catherine Kakuyo in 1966 and spent most of her childhood in Jinja. After attending Victoria and Berkley primary schools, both in eastern Uganda, for her primary education, she then joined

Gayaza High School Gayaza High School is the oldest all-girls boarding secondary school covering grades 8 to 13 (Secondary 1 to 6) in Uganda. The school is Church-founded, government-aided and accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports ...

for all six years of her secondary education Ms Magara was admitted to Makerere University in 1985, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concurrent

Diploma in Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the g ...

, in 1988. Her second degree is a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Management, awarded by Uganda Christian University, in

Mukono District Mukono is one of the districts in the Central Region of Uganda. The town of Mukono is home to the district's main commercial center and district headquarters. Location Mukono District is bordered by Kayunga District to the north, Jinja Distric ...

. In addition, she has several certificates in leadership and education from local and international institutions.

Career

During the first six years of her career, from 1989 until 1995, Ms Magara was a human resource officer at Uganda National Social Security Fund (NSSF). In this capacity, she was part of the team that established the training department and manpower planning unit at NSSF. After that, she went into private consulting and serves as the Director at ''Destiny Consult Limited'', a private consultancy that provided leadership training programs. This phase of her career lasted 12 years, until 2008. In 2008 she became a faculty member at ''African Kingdom Business Forum'' (AKBF), a personnel development consultancy that provides leadership training programs. She also started working as a member of the faculty at ''Sundolous African Leadership Training Program'' (SALT), another human resources and training consultancy. She is expected to serve a renewable four-year term as Chairperson of Makerere University Council and will be deputized by

Daniel Kidega Daniel Fred Kidega is a Ugandan politician and former Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, in office from December 2014 until June 2017. As of August 2020, he served as the chairman of Atiak Sugar Factory, in Amuru District, in wh ...

, the former speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly.

Other considerations

Ms Magara is the founder and Principal of ''Vine International Christian Academy'', a school with grades from Pre-School to Grade 12, located in Kungu,

Kira Municipality Kira Town, a municipality in the Wakiso District of the Central Region of Uganda, is the country's second-largest city by population. It is administered by the Kira Town Council, an urban local government. Location Kira town council was elev ...

, Wakiso District, Buganda Region, Uganda. She is a Director at ''Jubilee Dental Limited'', a company that operates three dental clinics in Uganda and one in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. She is the Africa Representative of Accelerated Education Enterprise, Uganda Chapter; Team Leader of Education Accelerators Uganda Limited. She is the Uganda Coordinator for International Certificate for Christian Education.

Personal life

Lorna Magara is married to Dr. James Magara and the couple has four children between them, three boys and one girl. She is also sister to Allen Kagina , Jocelyn Kyobutungi Rugunda (wife to Uganda's Prime Minister

Ruhakana Rugunda Ruhakana Rugunda (born 7 November 1947) is a Ugandan physician and politician who had been Prime Minister of Uganda from 2014 to 2021. He held a long series of cabinet posts under President Yoweri Museveni beginning in 1986. He served as Uganda's ...

) as well as Caleb Kakuyo, the former Chief Commercial Officer at the National Housing and Construction Company, among others

References

External links

Website of Makerere University

Lorna Magara Elected New Chairperson Of Makerere University Council

Succession table as Chairperson of Makerere University Council

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magara, Lorna 1966 births Living people Ugandan educators 21st-century Ugandan businesswomen 21st-century Ugandan businesspeople Makerere University alumni Uganda Christian University alumni People educated at Gayaza High School People from Kiruhura District People from Western Region, Uganda