Fellows

Kenechukwu P. Nwachukwu is a PhD Fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Makerere University, Kampala. She holds an MPhil degree in Social Studies (Political and Historical Studies) from Makerere University; an MSc in Political Science (International Relations) from the University of Ibadan; and a BSc in Political Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her Doctoral Dissertation, titled “State Power and the Production of History: Reading Post-Independence Nigeria’s Political History through the IPOB Separatist Agitation,” explores the knowledge dimensions of pro-Biafran separatism in Nigeria and the implications of the Nigeria-Biafra war history for political violence. In particular, …

Mr. Aldridge Munyoro is a PhD candidate at Wits University. He is also a social worker, scholar, and social justice advocate.  Munyoro holds a Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies, specialising in Social and Behaviour Change Communication in health, and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Wits University. Mr. Munyoro has worked as a Lecturer, field instruction coordinator, and academic intern for the Department of Social Work at Wits University for more than four years. He also works as a field practicum supervisor for the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP). He has also worked as a

Ongezwa Mbele is an applied theatre practitioner, storyteller, and published poet. She is a lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a PhD candidate at the University of Johannesburg, and a 2021 Atlantic fellow for Racial Equity. She has been a guest editor for Agenda Journal and Imbiza Journal for African writing. She has co-authored various research journal articles. Her poems have been featured in multiple anthologies. Her professional interest lies in utilizing theatre techniques and storytelling to engage diverse communities on relevant matters. Thus, she has facilitated theatre programmes/projects with young people and incarcerated people in South Africa and Norway,

Ms. Kgomotso Komane is a PhD candidate in International Relations at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She is a research assistant for the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) and a research assistant for the Centre for Mediation in Africa. She was a recipient of the SSRC’s 2024 Next Gen Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship.  Her research focuses on understanding the role of women in peace processes using an intersecting theoretical framework. Using Lesotho as a case study, her doctoral research seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of the role of women in peacebuilding and mediation in Lesotho

Stanley Elias Kiswaga is a PhD student at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Makerere University, Uganda. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Education from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, an MA in Literary and Cultural Studies from Airlangga University, Indonesia, and an MPhil in Social Studies from Makerere University. His research interests lie at the intersection of popular culture, nationalism, literature, and the question of the nation in postcolonial Africa. Drawing from political, historical, and cultural perspectives, his work explores how narratives of nation-building are constructed, contested, and performed through artistic forms.  Mr. Kiswaga is

Elizabeth Nafula Khaemba B.Ed., MPhil., PhD is an author at Kujenga Amani, a digital forum of the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) of the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC), a research fellow with the Social Sciences Research Council funded by NextGen foundation, and a former fellow with the project’ Recalibrating Afrikanistik’ funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. She is a part-time lecturer in Linguistics and Communication Studies at Koitaleel University in Eldoret, Kenya, and a high school teacher of English. Her main research areas are: Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis; Language use in the Media, Morpho-syntactic Analysis. She also has a

Gaaki Kigambo is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town, specialising in Media Studies. His doctoral study is titled Mediating Contentious Politics in Hybrid Regimes: Press Coverage of Political Protests in Uganda. It examines how Ugandan print news media interpret and portray political protests in the politically restrictive context of Uganda, where the state restricts public expressions of dissent against it and press coverage of such expressions. The study draws on empirical observations made on the coverage of political protests in Uganda, and extensive knowledge of how the country’s news media operate

Rumbidzai Chitaukire is a Doctoral candidate and Lisa Maskell Fellow (2023-2025) in the History Department at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She is also a lecturer in the History Heritage and Knowledge Systems Department at the University of Zimbabwe. Ms Chitaukire holds an MA Degree in African Economic History, a BA Honours Degree in Economic History, and a BA Degree, all from the University of Zimbabwe. She is enthusiastic about dialogues concerning economic crises and survival, informal economies, gender, trade and tariff policies, and development in Africa. Her PhD thesis focuses on the experiences of women informal entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe

Gorata Chengeta is a Johannesburg-based feminist writer, researcher, and lecturer from Gaborone, Botswana. She is a PhD candidate in the Department of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her doctoral research project explores the impact of sexual violence on those who experience it, and how these impacts might be shaped by how sexual violence is understood societally. Gorata’s experience as an anti-rape activist during her undergraduate studies has served as her motivation to explore the issues of power, sex, and sexual violence through her Master’s and doctoral research. As a scholar, she values experiential knowledge and emotion, drawing

Nyasha Blessed Bushu is a third-year PhD student in African Studies in the International Studies Group at the University of the Free State in South Africa. He is working on a socio-legal history of Zimbabwe in a thesis provisionally titled, Beyond chiefly courts: African grassroots justice practices in Southern Rhodesia c.1890-1937. This project has received Proposal and Research fellowship awards from NextGen. Nyasha holds a BA Honours Degree in Economic History and an MA in African Economic History from the University of Zimbabwe. His research interests are conflict, violence, and justice in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Notably, in 2022, he