Tribute to Prof. Christine Dranzoa
COVAB is mourning the passing away of their first female professor Prof. Christine Dranzoa.
Professor Christine Dranzoa has been a a strong foundation to the college. We have lost a great person.
At the time of her death, Prof Dranzoa was the Executive Committee chairperson of the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), an association of top higher learning institutions in the East African Region.
The late professor, who rose from a humble background in a tiny village of Adua, in the Moyo district, has been spearheading the University since its inception in 2014.
Born in 1967, in what was known as Moyo District at the time, Prof. Christine Dranzoa was a revered university professor, academic administrator, biologist, terrestrial ecologist, and community leader.
She graduated with a Bachelors degree of Science (BSc) in Zoology, obtained in 1987, from Makerere University. She also held the degree of Master of Science (MSc), in Zoology, obtained in 1991, also from Makerere University. Her degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biology was obtained from the same university in 1997.
In 1992 Christine Dranzoa joined Makerere University as a Lecturer in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. She served as the head of the Wildlife Section in the Department of Veterinary Anatomy from 1992 until 1996. From 1997 until 2005, she served as the head of the Department of Wildlife and Animal Resources Management, at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, a department she had co-founded with her colleagues.
In 2005, she joined the university administration at Makerere, where she was appointed Deputy Director of the School of Postgraduate Studies at the university, serving in that capacity from 2005 until 2010. In 2010, Dr. Dranzoa was appointed to lead a three-person task-force to prepare for the creation of Muni University, the sixth public university in Uganda. In January 2012, when the university became operational, Professor Dranzoa became the founding Vice Chancellor of the institution
Dr. Dranzoa served as the Honorary Secretary of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a pan-African Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), founded in 1992, that is active in 32 African countries. FAWE aims to empower girls and women through gender-responsive education. Its members include human rights activists, gender specialists, researchers, education policy-makers, university vice-chancellors and ministers of education. The organisation maintains its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and has regional offices in Dakar, Senegal.
In 2006, she co-founded Nile Women Initiative, a non-profit, Non-government organization, which aims to address the gender disparities affecting women in the West Nile sub-region of Uganda. She served as the Chairperson of the NGO.
Professor Dranzoa published widely in professional journals and has written chapters in scientific books pertaining to her fields of specialization.
Christine Dranzoa is reported to have died at 3.30 am, on Tuesday 28 June 2022 at Mulago National Referral Hospital, in Kampala, Uganda. She was 55 years old.
May her soul Rest in eternal Peace
