Sam Kanyarukiga (PhD) – CAADP Coordinator

Dr. Sam Kanyarukiga is the Senior Agricultural Advisor and overall CAADP Coordinator at the COMESA Secretariat since August 2009. He holds a PhD degree in Agriculture, acquired from the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany in 1988.

He has over 30 years of experience in Agricultural research, policy and strategic planning in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management. Dr Kanyarukiga held a number of senior positions in the Government of Rwanda before joining the COMESA Secretariat.

He served as Senior Advisor for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Office of the President from 1994 t0 1998 and was Director General of the Central Public Investments and External Finance Agency (CEPEX) in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. The agency is in charge of Public Investments and External Resources Coordination.

He assisted the Rwanda Government to develop the National CAADP Compact which was signed in March 2007 as the first compact on the African continent and assisted several other countries in Eastern and Southern Africa in preparation of their respective CAADP compacts, before joining COMESA in 2009. Dr Kanyarukiga has made several publications in the agriculture and food security field.

Nalishebo Nakafulo Meebelo (PhD) – Deputy CAADP Coordinator

 Dr. Meebelo holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics with Public Administration,  and an MBA  with Finance. She studied for a   Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, with a focus on research methodologies and leadership skills.

Her PhD thesis speaks to the area of Knowledge Management within the Sustainable   Development Framework. Meebelo has worked in both the public sector and private sectors and her involvement in the CAADP implementation process began in 2006, working at both COMESA and African Union levels.

Dr. Meebelo has accompanied the CAADP processes of most COMESA member states leading to the signature of National CAADP Compacts and the design of National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans. Part of her role includes mobilization of technical, financial and organizational support to COMESA member states for implementation of the CAADP Framework and its processes.   Dr. Meebelo was part of the team that documented the CAADP implementation processes of the COMESA region, contributing to the development of what is today called, “The CAADP Implementation Guide”.

She also participated in the design of the CAADP Pillar III Framework for African Food Security (FAFS) – a document designed to guide African countries in the selection of potential investment areas that would enhance food, nutrition and income security. She is an associate editor for a publication titled, “Women Writing Africa: The Eastern Region” published by the Feminist Press at the City University of New York.

Kabungo Mkasanga Nzima – Project Accountant

Mrs. Nzima is the CAADP project accountant and has been with COMESA since 2007. She holds an MBA (International) from Edith Cowan University in Australia and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) with over 8 years of post qualification work experience.

Mrs Nzima was employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers Zambia from 2004 to 2006 before joining the COMESA Secretariat as Finance assistant/Consultant under the COMESA Regional Integration Support Programme (RISP) in 2007 until 2008 when she took up the position of CAADP project accountant.

William Dothi – Monitoring & Evaluation Expert

Mr. William Dothi is the CAADP Monitoring and Evaluation Expert. He joined the COMESA Secretariat in April 2012. He holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from University of Bradford (England) and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from University of Malawi and has attended a number of specialized trainings in data management.

He has 10 years experience working in planning, monitoring and evaluation for various development agencies specifically in the areas of food security, nutrition, vulnerability assessment, HIV prevention research programs and water and sanitation in both development and emergency settings.

His expertise includes design of monitoring and evaluation systems and project management. Mr. Dothi has also worked privately in teams of consultants and has extensive experience in designing and conducting evaluation studies using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Ken Shawa (PhD) – Policy Analyst

Dr. Ken Shawa is a CAADP Policy Analyst at the COMESA Secretariat. He is a distinguished fellow of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). He holds a PhD in Economics from the School of Economics, University of Nairobi and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Malawi.

He has over 14 years of experience in economic modelling, rural development, policy analysis, program management, and project planning. He was pivotal to the development of crucial research networks in Africa and has lectured at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, the University of Nairobi’s School of Economics and the St Mary’s University of Minnesota. He has been key to the development of agro-dealer networks in the COMESA region having worked as an Agro-Dealer Expert for COMESA’s Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA).

Over the years he has also worked as a Socio-Economic Data analyst, a Programme Coordinator, and a Food Security Researcher. Although he has published on a wide range of themes the most common have included food security, economic policy, investment, saving, financial development and economic growth in peer reviewed journals. He has also consulted for a number of organisations.

Stanley Mbagathi – Comesa-CAADP Regional Process Facilitator

Mr. Stanley Mbagathi has an MSc in International Economic Relations (1976), post graduate Studies in macro–economics & sociology. He has advanced training in Inter-cultural Communication & Strategic planning. Mr. Mbagathi is an internationally recognized capacity building and institutional development expert with over 30 years of experience in facilitating the development of national and regional strategies and programmes.

In 1991, Mr Mbagathi founded the Consulting firm Guiding Systems (GS) Consult in Nairobi, Kenya. The firm is specialized in development planning and management and has provided services to major clients in the Africa region. His clients ranged from Governments, Regional Economic Communities and Development Partners.

Mbagathi has led teams in the development of several national and regional strategies and programmes among them the IGAD Strategy(2003-2008), Kenya National Agriculture and Livestock Development Policy Framework & Extension Programme (2000-2005). In 2010 he led the team that worked on the CAADP-Kenya Agriculture Sector Mid-term Investment Plan (2010-2015). He joined CAADP at COMESA Secretariat in November 2012.

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Cephas Moonga- CAADP Communications Officer

Mr. Cephas Moonga

Mr. Cephas Moonga is the CAADP Communications Officer at the COMESA Secretariat since June 2013. Mr. Moonga holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom (UK) and a Bachelor of Mass Communications from the University of Zambia (UNZA).

He has over 10 years’ experience in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations having worked with the media industry, private sector, quasi-government institutions and international organisations in various capacities.

Mr. Moonga has provided strategic communications consultancy for the International Labour Organisation’s Programme for Elimination of HIV/AIDS Induced Child Labour (ILO/IPEC). He developed  the communications and advocacy strategy for ILO/IPEC  and spearheaded its implementation process from 2007 to 2008. He was also the Lead Communications Consultant for the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA)’s Modernisation Programme which was co-sponsored by the Investment Climate Facility (ICF) for Africa and the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

Before joining the CAADP Unit at the COMESA Secretariat, Mr. Moonga was the Senior Communications and Marketing Officer for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Zambia Country Office, a position he held since 2011.

Mr. Moonga has also lectured at  Rusangu University on Communications Theory, Public Relations and International Relations. As a media producer, he has produced television documentaries on HIV/AIDs and Child Labour, Health, Human Rights, Conservation and Sustainable Development.

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Priscilla Mwiche, Administrative Assistant

Ms. Priscilla Mwiche is the CAADP Administrative Assistant. She holds a Diploma in Human Resource Development from the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM), England and a Pitman Secretarial Certificate.

Ms. Mwiche has over 15 years’ experience in Administrative work and Secretarial. She worked as a Personal Assistant to the Managing Partner in Frank Tembo and Partners before she joined COMESA in December, 2006. Before that she worked as an Executive Secretary to the Managing Director, Citibank. She also worked with Standard Chartered Bank in the Corporate Banking Department.

Her job involves giving administrative support to the CAADP Coordinator and the CAADP Team.