Dr. Jones Kyazze Reflects on Preserving Uganda’s Historical and Cultural Memory
Dr. Kyazze
By Brian Musaasizi
KAMPALA — For generations, some of Uganda’s most important histories rarely existed inside formal archives. They survived instead in conversations held beneath mango trees, in family compounds, within kingdom gatherings, across university corridors, and in stories quietly passed from elders to younger relatives before memory faded with time.
Many of those voices are now disappearing.
Across Uganda, concerns about preserving institutional memory, intellectual history, genealogy, and cultural heritage have increasingly entered public discussion as academics, cultural leaders, historians, and educators warn that large parts of the country’s historical experience remain undocumented or scattered across personal collections, oral accounts, and aging records.
It is a concern that veteran Ugandan diplomat, international civil servant, author, and historian Dr. Jones Yosiya Kyazze has returned to repeatedly throughout his writings and public reflections over the years.
From memoir and education policy to genealogy, biography, and cultural heritage documentation, much of his work centers on one recurring question: what happens when societies fail to record the experiences, ideas, and institutions that shaped them?
The question has become increasingly central to his literary work in recent years.
In December 2024, Dr. Kyazze launched Prof. William Senteza Kajubi: The Man and His Legacy, a biographical account revisiting the life and contributions of former Makerere University Vice-Chancellor William Senteza Kajubi, one of Uganda’s most recognized educationists and academics.
The book was officially launched by Charles Peter Mayiga during an event that evolved beyond a routine literary ceremony into a broader conversation about memory, education, and the preservation of intellectual history.
The work examines Prof. Kajubi’s role in Uganda’s educational development while also reflecting on the wider generation of post-independence African intellectuals who helped shape universities, public institutions, and national discourse during the decades following colonial rule.
The publication followed another major work by Dr. Kyazze, The Making of an International Civil Servant: My Incredible Journey, released in 2020.
Part memoir and part institutional reflection, the book chronicles his more than thirty-two years of uninterrupted service within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), tracing assignments across Africa, Europe, and North America while exploring the realities of life inside international institutions.
In the memoir, Dr. Kyazze reflects on the pressures and complexities of international public service, including diplomacy, institutional bureaucracy, cultural adaptation, family separation, and the balancing of professional and personal responsibilities across multiple countries and political environments.
For many readers, the work also served as an account of a generation of Africans who entered global institutions during the decades following independence, at a time when newly independent states were increasingly seeking representation within international organizations.
His other works include Thirty-Six Years Later: A Unique Love Story (2018), a fictional narrative centered on separation, time, diaspora, and reconnection, as well as Education for All: The Ugandan Experience, which examines Uganda’s educational development and policy challenges.
In 2022, he also published Omutuba Ndogoobukaba N’omukululo Gwagwo, a Luganda-language genealogical work documenting the history of the Ndogoobukaba lineage. An English-language version is expected.
Taken together, the books reveal recurring themes that stretch beyond autobiography or literary interest alone.
Education, ancestry, cultural identity, institutional continuity, public memory, and historical preservation repeatedly emerge at the center of his work.
Those concerns are closely linked to the environment in which Dr. Kyazze himself was raised.
Growing Up Between Tradition and Political Transition
Dr. Jones Yosiya Kyazze was born on 04 November 1943 at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda.
He grew up in Nateete within a large extended family compound shared between his father, Oweek. Yake Yekoniya Siki Musoke Kyazze, and his grandfather, Yosiya Kyazze, near Mackay Memorial College in Mmengo.
The household occupied a notable position within Buganda’s political and administrative history during the final decades of British colonial rule.
His grandfather, Yosiya Kyazze, served as Minister of Finance in the Buganda Kingdom during the reigns of Kabaka Daudi Chwa and Kabaka Edward Muteesa II. He later became known for acting as guardian to Muteesa II during the Kabaka’s studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom between 1945 and 1948.
The elder Kyazze also participated in the Namirembe Conference chaired by Professor Keith Hancock, discussions that contributed to the 1955 Buganda Agreement and the eventual return of Muteesa II from exile.
Dr. Kyazze’s father later became Speaker of the Buganda Lukiiko.
Growing up during the years preceding Uganda’s independence, the young Jones Kyazze was exposed early to political discussion, traditional governance, and public affairs.
Family recollections describe a childhood shaped by an unusual overlap between formal education and traditional obligations.
His grandfather frequently withdrew him from school to accompany him on errands and engagements, experiences that reportedly caused him to lose a year of formal schooling.
Yet those same moments exposed him to leadership structures, political negotiations, and administrative culture at a formative age.
The influence of those experiences would later become visible both in his diplomatic career and in his writing.
Education and Student Leadership
Dr. Kyazze began his education at a local primary school in Nateete before transferring to Aggrey Memorial School, an institution founded by African educators who had resigned from King’s College Budo following disagreements with colonial administrators.
The school played a major role in grounding him in Luganda language, culture, and African-centered education.
He later attended Makerere College School for junior secondary studies before proceeding to Old Kampala Senior Secondary School, where he completed his education from Senior One through Senior Six.
At the time, the school had a predominantly Asian student population, exposing him to a multicultural environment during a period of social and political transformation in Kampala.
While there, he participated actively in extracurricular activities including athletics, boxing, scouting, drama, and student leadership.
He served as both Head Prefect and Sports Captain.
Following secondary school during the mid-1960s, Dr. Kyazze initially travelled to Tanzania to study law at the University of Dar es Salaam, since Makerere University had not yet established a law degree.
His stay was brief.
He later described dissatisfaction with the academic and social environment under the Ujamaa socialist policies of President Julius Nyerere, which he considered restrictive.
After approximately one to two weeks, he withdrew and returned.
The decision redirected his academic path.
He subsequently enrolled at Makerere University, then part of the University of East Africa, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree focusing on History and French.
Initially, he also studied English before dropping it to concentrate on French.
Despite not having studied French during secondary school, he excelled in the subject:
– Graduated with distinction in French
– Ranked top of his class
– Earned a scholarship for postgraduate studies in France
The Makerere environment of the late 1960s occupied a central place within East Africa’s intellectual and political life.
Students from across the region interacted within an atmosphere shaped by post-independence debates, literature, student politics, and emerging African scholarship.
Dr. Kyazze resided in Northcote Hall, later known as Nsibirwa Hall, a residence associated with prominent alumni including Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
He participated in travelling theatre groups, athletics, drama, social events, and formal university dinner functions.
He also served as a member of the Guild Council, Makerere’s student government.
Among Baganda students, he held the title “Ssaabaganda,” a role historically associated with leadership among Baganda students during the era of the University of East Africa.
France, Britain, and International Service
Following his undergraduate studies, Dr. Kyazze travelled to France to study at the University of Besançon, where he obtained a Licence-ès-Lettres.
During this period, he attained fluency in French and gained extensive exposure to European academic and cultural systems.
He later pursued further studies in the United Kingdom:
– University of London — Postgraduate Diploma in Education
– University of Sussex — Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.)
Following postgraduate studies in France, he entered UNESCO through a competitive recruitment and training process.
He began as a stagiaire, or intern, during a period when newly independent African states were increasingly seeking representation within international institutions.
Mentorship from senior African professionals already within UNESCO reportedly helped guide his early career.
He quickly distinguished himself through assignments in Algeria, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and other countries before rising through the ranks.
Three Decades Inside UNESCO
Dr. Kyazze spent approximately thirty-two and a half years working within UNESCO.
His assignments took him across Africa, Europe, and North America, including service in:
– Paris, France (UNESCO Headquarters)
– Dakar, Senegal
– New York, United States
– Other international postings and assignments
His work focused on education, diplomacy, cultural heritage, and international cooperation during a period shaped by post-colonial state formation, educational reforms, Cold War politics, and debates surrounding cultural preservation.
He is particularly associated with efforts linked to the inscription of the Kasubi Royal Tombs on UNESCO’s list of World Cultural Heritage sites, recognition that elevated the international profile of one of Buganda’s most historically significant cultural landmarks.
Service in the Buganda Government
Following his retirement from UNESCO and return to Uganda, Dr. Kyazze served in the Buganda Government between 2005 and 2007 as Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, following his appointment by Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II.
Rotary International and Civic Engagement
Alongside his diplomatic and literary work, Dr. Kyazze has maintained a long association with Rotary International.
He joined Rotary in 1989 through the Rotary Club of Greater Freetown in Sierra Leone, where he served as Club Secretary.
In 1990, he became a Paul Harris Fellow.
Following his transfer to Nigeria in 1992, he joined the Rotary Club of Ikoyi in Lagos, serving first as Secretary and later as Vice President.
In 2001, while serving as UNESCO Representative to the United Nations in New York, he became a member of the Rotary Club of New York.
After returning to Uganda in 2004, he joined the Rotary Club of Kampala Arch, serving as Treasurer and later Secretary.
In 2007, he became Charter President of the Rotary Club of Nateete-Kampala, his birthplace.
By June 2014, he had become a founding member of the Rotary Club of Kampala-Munyonyo, where he served as Club Trainer and later continued as a senior member and adviser.
At national level, he held several leadership positions including:
– Rotary Community Corps Country Chair (2009–2010)
– Country Trainer, Uganda (2010–2011)
– Country Chair for Membership (2011–2012)
As of 2026, Past Assistant Governor Jones Kyazze was appointed among the subscribers of the newly incorporated Rotary Clubs in Uganda Company Limited.
At district level within Rotary District 9200, he twice served as Assistant Governor between 2012 and 2014, overseeing multiple clubs.
In 2012, he also led the District 9200 Group Study Exchange Team to Sweden, heading a delegation from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
At international level, he later became associated with The Rotary Foundation as World Coordinator for Basic Education and Literacy and served within the Foundation’s Cadre of Technical Advisers.
His participation in Rotary activities has included:
– 18 District Conferences and Assemblies
– 18 Rotary International Conventions
– 5 Zone Institutes
– 2 Presidential Conferences
He is also recognized as a Major Donor and Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation.
The Question of Memory
In recent years, discussions surrounding historical preservation in Uganda have increasingly extended beyond monuments and archives into questions about intellectual legacy, oral history, family memory, and institutional continuity.
Many historians and educators argue that large parts of Uganda’s post-independence experience remain insufficiently documented, particularly the stories of educators, civil servants, diplomats, academics, and traditional leaders whose experiences shaped institutions across different generations.
Much of Dr. Kyazze’s work appears situated within that broader effort to preserve fragments of history before they disappear.
Whether documenting genealogy, education systems, cultural heritage, diplomacy, or the lives of public figures, his writings repeatedly return to the same underlying concern: how societies remember themselves, and what is lost when memory fades faster than history can be recorded.
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