DR Stella Nyanzi
Nickname, Nnalongo
BIOGRAPHY
By Tolberts Joseph Sibuta
In Uganda, when you talk of iron ladies, Dr Stella Nyanzi’s name features prominently. The 46 year old woman is a Ugandan citizen, Medical anthropologist, feminist and Human rights activist. She is also a scholar of Public health.
Birthday/Age
Stella was born on 16th June 1974. She is 46 years as of July 2020.
Home district
Masaka district, Lwengo
Education background
Stella studied at Makerere University and majored in Mass Communication and literature from 1993 to 1996. From 1999 to 2000, Stella was at the London College University where she obtained her masters in science in medical anthropology. She later enrolled for a PhD IN Anthropology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She also conducted research in Gambia and Uganda.
Family
Stella separated with her husband with whom they had three children Kato Bah, Baraka Bah and Waswa Bah.
Career
Describing her life as it is. Stella started her career in 1997. By then, she had just completed her studies at Makerere University. She worked until September 2002. Stella later upgraded to work as a local anthropologist at the medical research council, majoring in laboratory findings. She worked in Gambia for one year. Later, she travelled to London for her PhD. In 2009 after her return, Stella began at Makerere University as a researcher at the law, gender and sexuality research project. She was then recognised as one of the members of the faculty of law. Here, she worked until 2013. Later on, Stella stormed the Makerere University Institute of Social Research where she worked until 2016 when her feud with her former boss Professor Mamdanni became intense. Madman’s order, her office was closed, and in protest, she made a nude protest against her Boss, which brought her to the lime light.
Was she trying to avoid the death trap when she fell into another? Stella was arrested in 2017 after disrespecting the person of the President. That same year, she was suspended from Makerere University. She later appealed to the decision in the University’s tribunal which directed that she be reinstated and promoted with immediate effect. Unfortunately, the university refused to adhere to the demands of the tribunal. She therefore issued a notice of intention to sue the university through her lawyers of the Legal Aid Clinic and Counsel Isaac Ssemakadde. In response, the university terminated her contract and dismissed her. The university management argued that her contract had expired.
Research and articles
Given her academic background, Among her most cited articles are those on Ugandan youth’s negotiations of sexual relationships, attitudes towards HIV/AID’s testing among pregnant Ugandan women, Ugandan women’s control over sexual encounters, Ugandan men’s attitudes towards contraceptive use, and the sexual behavior of many groups. She is one of the first scholars to publish research on African same sex relationships. Stella Nyanzi is a well-cited scholar in her fields, with 54 articles and 1,432 citations by the end of 2018. While at Luzira prison in 2019, Stella published an article and poem on politics the path of politics in Uganda.
Political affiliation and Activism
Radical rudeness?
This is the ancient way of sorting out issues at hand, first observed during the colonial era. It’s a public way of throwing insults to an oppressor. It lays foundation for insults, disruption and lawlessness. Nyanzi has always campaigned for rights of women and the youth at large.
On 6th march 2017, Stella launched the Pads4Girls Uganda to bring an end to female drop outs from school brought about by menstrual disorder.
Stella Nyanzi subscribes to the Forum for Democratic Change FDC, one of the strongest, or the strongest opposition party in Uganda.
Romuor has it that Stella Nyanzi will contest for the Kampala Woman Member of Parliament in the next 2021 general elections on the FDC ticket.
Stella Nyanzi’s arrest
It should be remembered that In March 2017, Stella Nyanzi referred to the President Museveni as “a pair of buttocks.” This was due to the fact that she had lost trust in government which she believed had failed to serve the interests of its citizenry. Stella Nyanzi was then arrested and detained by police at Kiira Police Station on charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication. On 10th April 2017, “Nnalongo” produced in court, where she was charged with the misuse of a computer, cyber harassment, and abusing the president under section 24, and 25 of the Computer Misuse Act of 2011. She was then remanded to Luzira Prison. On 11 April 2017, government asked doctors from Butabika Hospital to carry out a psychiatric assessment examination to determine whether she was sane, as the government prosecutor was alleging. However, she resisted the examination and requested that her personal doctor and at least one family member should be present if they want to carry out a medical test on her. On 10 May 2017, she was released on a non cash 10 million Ugandan shillings (US$2924) bail.
In October 2018, she was remanded to prison. Interestingly, she did not request bail because she believed she was much safer in jail and wanted to continue her education work with the women in prison. In December 2018, her lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde referred the charges as unlawful. In January 2019, she asked that her court date be delayed as she was ill and had suffered a miscarriage in prison.
Reputation /Honors
According to the international press, Stella is one of the prominent women who have tirelessly fought for the rights of women. In Africa, say Uganda and Gambia, some scholars considered her arrest as having more to do with her status as a gay ally, other factors constant. Human rights groups condemned Stella’s arrest and dubbed it as violation of human rights, academic freedom, and freedom of expression. The PEN association of writers also condemned her arrest.
In Uganda, Stella has a large number of supporters. The largest number is on social media.
Dr Stella Nyanzi’s net worth
Not known yet
