UbuntuNet Alliance is delighted to announce that a new Board of Trustees has been constituted following the election of 7 members at the 16th Annual General Assembly of Members, which was held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 22nd April 2022. The new Board of Trustees takes over from the team what was elected in Entebbe, Uganda in 2019 and will serve a 3-year term.
The Board of Trustees of UbuntuNet Alliance consists of 9 people: the Chairperson, the CEO and 7 other Trustees, who are elected by the Members at the Annual General Assembly. All but one of the new elected members are new
In his speech after the election of the new trustees, the Chairperson of the Alliance Prof Stephen Simukanga thanked the outgoing Trustees for their time of service and for contributing to the development of the Alliance, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic when the Alliance and some NRENs faced severe financial challenges due to university closures. He further congratulated and welcomed the new Trustees and looked forward to working with them in the days ahead.
The 7 elected Trustees are:
- Dr Julianne Sansa-Otim (from Uganda), the only one to be re-elected from the previous cohort, has been Vice Chair of UbuntuNet Alliance since 2019. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Research and Education Network for Uganda (RENU). She is currently a senior Lecturer at Makerere University College of Computing and Information Sciences and leads the WIMEA-ICT lab where low cost automatic weather stations research, forecast modelling and software development for weather services are conducted.
- Prof Luke Mumba (from Zambia) is the current Vice Chancellor of the University of Zambia and Chairperson of the Board of the Zambia Research and Education Network (ZAMREN). He worked as a Director at the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, South Africa for 10 years from 2006-2016. Prior to 2006, he worked as a Lecturer in the University of Zambia for 21 years progressively rising from a Staff Development Fellow (SDF) up to the position of Associate Professorship in the Department of Biological Sciences.
- Prof Lourino Chemane (fromMozambique) is currently the CEO of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology in Mozambique, a position he has held since May 2021. He served as CEO of the Mozambique Research and Education Network (MoRENet) since July 2016, and Adviser of the Minister of Science and Technology, Higher and Technic Professional Education of Mozambique since 2009. He was the Coordinator of the Mozambique eGovernment and Communications Infrastructure Project (MEGCIP) from 2009 to 2016.
- Ms Harinaina Ravelomanantsoa (from Madagascar) is the current CEO (Project Manager) of iRENALA, the NREN of Madagascar, a position he she held since 2013. At present, she is doubling as Acting Chairperson of the NREN (since 2020). She also involved in Madagascar’s Global Internet eXChange (MGIX) since 2016. In 2006, she co-founded CORE-DEV Engineering SARL, a consulting firm specializing in Engineering, Advice, Studies and Training in the ICT field in Madagascar.
- Ms. Dorcas Muthoni (from Kenya) is an entrepreneur, computer scientist and founder of OpenBusiness Africa. She started her software company at the age of 24. She is greatly passionate about the transformation of African enterprises through technology. She is also the founder of the regional organization AfChix, a mentorship and capacity building initiative for women in computing across Africa. Globally, she has been involved and honored in technology leadership by the Internet Society (ISOC) as an Internet Hall of Fame Global Connector, World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Young Global Leader (YGL), AnitaB Institute as a Change Agent Award Winner and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Spain.
- Prof Nancy Chitera (from Malawi) is the Vice Chancellor of Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) and an accomplished academic with over 13 years’ experience of higher education management and leadership as well as over 20 years of teaching at the University. She has served as a Senator of both MUBAS and University of Malawi, and on various other Boards including University of Malawi Pension Fund, Mzuzu University Council, Nasawa Technical College, Blantyre Synod University and Women’s Legal Resources Centre (Wolrec) among others.
- Eng Musa Musazi (from Uganda) is the Group Chief Technology Officer for CSquared Group overseeing operations in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo) since July 2021 after having acted in the same role since 2019. He has risen through the ranks becoming the Chief Technology Officer for Uganda since 2017.
Candidates for the Board for Trustees are nominated by NREN Members. Each NREN has the right to nominate up to 2 candidates from any part of the world, one male and another female.