Jacqueline Namukasa is a PhD fellow supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung Foundation and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Fellowship program, tenable at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda’s Department of History, Archeology, and Heritage Studies. Her research interests are in intra & inter-state boundary conflicts. She is currently working on a thesis titled “‘The Island is Kenya; the Water is in Uganda’ Uganda – Kenya contestations over Migingo Island 2009- 2018”. Jacqueline holds a BA in education and MA in history from the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU).
Before undertaking her doctoral studies, Namukasa worked as a lecturer and head of the History Department at Kumi University, Tropix Study Centre, Iganga, Uganda. She also once served as a high school teacher and Deputy Head Teacher at Gogonyo Secondary School and St. Johns Secondary School in Uganda.
Award Information
This project aims at exploring the Uganda – Kenya contestations over the ownership of Migingo Island 2009 – 2018. This half an acre Islet in Lake Victoria has been a hot-spot and centre of diplomatic spat between the two countries. This has negatively impacted on bilateral relations, the economy and has a potential effect of war between both countries. The contestation will be contextualized in a historical perspective noting pre, colonial and neo-colonial challenges of boundary demarcations and border disputes. The study will unearth why even with the end of colonialism and the Organization of the African union's emphasis on territorial integrity, border disputes still re-surface. Other studies have focused on the causes and effects of the dispute with little emphasis attached to its genesis and persistence for more than a decade. The Validity of findings will depend on their accuracy, transferability, confirmability and applicability to the field experts and other researchers.
