By Pauline Luba
Beyond imparting academic knowledge, John Vianney Ahumuza has been a teacher espousing a lot of both life and school values. It’s a calling he gleaned from his parents, Joseph and Mary Bagambe — both primary school teachers — who ensured their three children loved learning just like they loved teaching. 

“He was a brilliant and inquisitive boy,” Mary says of her now 43-year-old son. “As a child, Ahumuza used to ask many questions, even though he studied in rural schools. We once saw a beautiful bird that was singing, and he asked if that was the preacher of all the other birds.”

UCU Alumni Ahumuza Makes History: Fourth in His Village to Earn Degree

In 2004, Ahumuza made history in his village in the western Uganda district of Rukungiri by becoming the fourth person to acquire a degree. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

Initially, Ahumuza had hoped to pursue a course in law. However, he says the marks he garnered in Senior Six national examinations and his parents teaching salaries could not guarantee him an opportunity in that field. A course in education became the natural choice.

“I love teaching and, along the way, I discovered that reading gives one a lot of opportunities. From childhood, academics were always instilled in us,” Ahumuza explained. 

He attended Kishonga Primary School, which was 2km (1.2 miles) away from his home. From Kishonga, Ahumuza went to St. Gerald’s High School, also in Rukungiri, and then St. Mary’s College Rushoroza, in Kabale district, south-western Uganda, before joining UCU, where he was one of the student leaders. In 2012, he enrolled for a Master of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies at Makerere University. 

From that foundation, Ahumuza has scaled the education ladder, and is currently winding up with his research for a PhD course he is pursuing at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, which hosts over 50,000 students, with 7,500 of those graduate students. The scholarship, which seeks to develop 30 PhDs in Africa, is offered at three universities in the continent — the University of Ghana, Makerere University in Uganda and a university in South Africa. 

With his topic “The Refugee Question in Ugandan History, 1942-2010,” Ahumuza believes his research will, in addition to contributing to the body of knowledge on the subject, also help to harvest indigenous knowledge to enable the creation of appropriate policies to help in the response to refugee-related issues. 

Ahumuza’s choice of the subject of refugees in Uganda is not by accident. For many years, the country has hosted refugees and asylum-seekers from more than 10 countries, such as Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Rwanda, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Many of the refugees and asylum-seekers run away from conflicts in their countries.

As of December 31, 2023, Uganda had 1,615,162 refugees and asylum-seekers, according to statistics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Of these, over 1.5 million were refugees, with South Sudan responsible for over 900,000 of that number. The Democratic Republic of Congo contributed over 500,000 of the number.

Ahumuza, who is currently in Uganda completing his data collection before returning to Ghana to complete his studies, is married, and a father of four girls. While in Ghana he regularly holds online conversations with his family, to ensure his absence is not felt that much. He thanks his wife, Nyangoma Patience Ahumuza, who he says has been able to run the family in his absence. During his free time, Ahumuza likes reading for pleasure, listening to music and sport fishing.