Ms. Watera is a Credentialed Evaluator with 17 years of experience in research, evaluation and evidence use systems in parliaments. Currently, she is the Assistant Director, Research Services and past Head of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Division in the Parliament of Uganda. Ms. Watera leads her team to generate and synthesize evidence to inform budgeting, legislation and oversight decisions. She together with other colleagues has excellently organised key international conferences on parliaments including the 126th IPU meeting and the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

Ms. Watera is a member of the Independent Evaluation Panel of the Global Fund and the Canadian Evaluation Society Ethics Working Group. She is a Council Member of the International Evaluation Academy. She is a former Board Member of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) representing Sub-Saharan Africa and the Vice-President of the Uganda Evaluation Association (UEA).

Ms. Watera is a PhD candidate in Programme Evaluation at the University of Cape Town.

Commissioner Timothy Lubanga serves as Commissioner for Monitoring and Evaluation at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) of Uganda, where he leads the national M&E function responsible for tracking the implementation of government programmes and policies across all sectors.

With extensive experience in public sector planning and evaluation systems, Commissioner Lubanga provides strategic direction to Uganda's national evidence-based decision-making framework. He plays a central role in embedding evaluation into Uganda's National Development Plan and ensuring that public investments are monitored for impact and accountability.

Commissioner Lubanga is a key voice on evaluation governance in Uganda and a champion for strengthening national capacity in monitoring, evaluation, and learning across government institutions.

Dr. Thina Nzo is a South African policy and evaluation specialist who currently serves as Director of Twende Mbele at Wits University, bringing more than 16 years of experience across research, policy, programme management, and stakeholder engagement.

Dr. Nzo is an interdisciplinary researcher and development practitioner whose work focuses on politics, public policy, local government, and evaluation practice in Africa. She holds a PhD in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh and a master’s degree in Local Government Studies from the University of Birmingham.

She currently leads Twende Mbele, a pan-African partnership that promotes learning and the use of monitoring and evaluative evidence to strengthen government performance across African countries. Before this, she served as Head of the Local Government Programme at the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI), where she worked on local governance, bureaucracy, and state capability issues in South Africa.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Nzo has worked as a researcher, consultant, policy and development practitioner, programme manager, and policy advocate. She has held roles with the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, the African National Congress in the Northern Cape, IDASA, and other governance and policy institutions, with experience spanning South Africa, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Benin.

Her professional interests include policy monitoring and evaluation, local government systems, qualitative research, organisational ethnography, and the use of evidence to shape socio-economic development and public sector reform.

Eugene Miheso Swinnerstone (Sphamandla) is a Senior M&E & ICT Consultant with over 14 years in research and evaluation. As Director of Programmes at Trend Systems E.A. LTD and a Part-time Lecturer at Ernest Cook University, he applies his expertise in qualitative analysis, evidence synthesis, M&E, and Information Systems to impactful projects and mentors future professionals. He also serves as a Digital Transformation Advisor, Blockchain Technologies consultant, and AI Utilization Trainer — staying at the forefront of innovation to drive organisational efficiency.

Eugene's career includes roles at Flock of Birds (Netherlands & Uganda), Itad (UK), and as a Part-time Lecturer at Uganda Technology and Management University and Makerere University. Academically, he is pursuing a PhD in Management at Mbarara University of Science & Technology and holds an Executive MBA.

A strong proponent of indigenous knowledge systems, Eugene integrates these perspectives into his evaluation assignments for culturally relevant outcomes. He is a mentor with the Eval Youth Global Mentorship Program (EYGMP) and the Filaha Innovation Programme at Mohammed VI University, Morocco. He serves as Academia Representative on the Uganda Evaluation Association Executive Committee, and is a member of the International Evaluation Academy (IEAc) and the Network for Education and Multidisciplinary Research Africa (NEMRA).

Dr. Almas Fortunatus Mazigo is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics and Development Evaluation at the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) in Tanzania. He pioneered and coordinates the Master of Arts in Development Evaluation (MADE) Programme at the University of Dar es Salaam, training skilled scholars and professionals in development evaluation.

Dr. Mazigo is a key contributor to the Made in Africa Evaluation movement and has developed the Swahili Evaluation Approach — a culturally rooted framework that utilises indigenous proverbs and African philosophies. His work blends traditional knowledge systems with modern evaluation theory, emphasising epistemic justice, participatory methods, and decolonial practices.

His research promotes evaluation as both an ethical and epistemological pursuit, grounded in local worldviews and community wisdom. Dr. Mazigo served as a board member of the Tanzania Evaluation Association (TanEA) from 2019 to 2025.

Neema Noel Kilembe is a distinguished Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist, serving as Assistant Director in the Performance, Monitoring, and Evaluation Department at the Prime Minister's Office of the United Republic of Tanzania. She holds a Master's degree in Official Statistics and has over 15 years of experience across Local Government Authorities, Independent Agencies, and Central Government institutions.

Neema advances and standardises national M&E systems, integrates evaluation into national planning, and promotes evidence-based decision-making. She strengthens performance accountability, helping public institutions effectively use data and evaluation findings to improve policy implementation and development outcomes in Tanzania.

Dr. Fredrick Edward Kitoogo is the Principal of the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology (UICT), with over two decades of experience in ICT governance, project management, strategy, and policy development in government and public sector contexts.

He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Makerere University, an MSc in Computer Science from the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, and a Bachelor of Statistics from Makerere University.

Before joining UICT, he served as Director of Planning, Research and Development at the National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U), and he continues to contribute to national ICT initiatives, including advisory roles on digital transformation, fourth industrial revolution strategy, and data science-driven innovation.

Dr. Winnie Mukisa Nabiddo is a seasoned economist and evaluation expert with a PhD in Economics from Makerere University, specializing in public sector and health economics.

She serves at Uganda's National Planning Authority, where she has held senior roles in monitoring, evaluation, and research performance, including oversight of government programme and policy evaluations and national results frameworks.

Dr. Nabiddo has lectured at Makerere University's School of Economics and previously worked with the Economic Policy Research Centre, bringing extensive experience in macro-level, sectoral, and project monitoring and evaluation across government.

At UEW 2026, Ms. Margaret Kakande is featured in the opening ceremony programme for the introductory address on Uganda Evaluation Association Journey@25 (UEA Silver Jubilee).

Her schedule title is listed as Head of Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit under MOFPED.

Prof. Serge Eric Yakeu Djiam serves as Executive Director of the Cameroon Center of Evaluation and Development (CAED) and is a former Afrea President.

At UEW 2026, he is featured as the Keynote 3 speaker for the plenary on centering equity and Indigenous Knowledge in African evaluation practice.

Dr. Takunda Chirau is a Director at CLEAR-AA. His role is to establish and nurture partnerships for strengthening monitoring and evaluation capacity for National Evaluation Systems in English-speaking African countries.

His contributions are evidenced in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Liberia, and Zimbabwe, among others. His work includes capacity strengthening, developing evaluation guidelines, evaluation plans and agendas, national evaluation plans, and national monitoring and evaluation policies, including their reviews.

He also conducts monitoring and evaluation systems analysis (MESA) and develops monitoring and evaluation capacity-strengthening strategies and plans. He holds a PhD and a Master's in Sociology from Rhodes University, as well as a BA in Human Resource Management (cum laude).

Dr. Chirau has written peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is currently one of the editors of a book on Equitable Evaluations and serves as a Board Member of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA).

His research interests are in monitoring and evaluation systems, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, evidence-informed policy and decision making, public health care systems, and migration.

Caroline Makuvire is Director of Evaluation, Research, and Learning in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Zimbabwe. With over 15 years of supervisory experience, she leads government-wide evaluation initiatives, ensuring that evidence-based policies align with the Sustainable Development Goals. She specializes in Monitoring and Evaluation and drives impactful reforms through strategic reporting, supporting sustainable governance and national development goals.

Caroline is a renowned presenter and Board Member of the Food and Nutrition Council. Her work focuses on strengthening indigenous knowledge systems and promoting Made-in-Africa evaluations, contributing to Zimbabwe's development agenda and the global evaluation community.