The Republic of Uganda

Proudly Presents

For Chairperson
African Union Commission
2016 ~ 2020
info@speciosawandira.com @SpeciosaW
www.speciosawandira.com

Africas
Future is
Already
Here.
The African Union

AGENDA 2063
www.au.int

Ugandas Contribution to the African Union

As a proud OAU Founder Member, Uganda is proud to present and support
the candidacy of Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe Wandira for the position
of Chairperson, African Union Commission, 2016 - 2020.
Like was the case on 25th of May 1963 when the OAU was founded, our
hopes still stand with the African people as they strive to achieve their
aspirations. Our country further committed to Africas aspirations by
hosting the 1975 Extraordinary OAU Summit. Since then, Ugandans have
served alongside other gallant Africans in various avenues, including peace
keeping, health intervention and support to regional integration.
As our latest contribution to the African Union, Dr. Wandira, is an outlier; a
true herald of the path Africas women have taken to hold high offices in
their respective countries. When she served as the continents first female
Executive Vice President, Dr. Wandira excelled not just at building consensus
- a key skill for the top position at the AU - she also leveraged her hands-on
knowledge of management and enterprise to enrich both the public and
private sectors in Uganda.
Attesting to her capacity, Dr. Wandira not only served the United Nations;
she also represents eastern Africa on the African Unions Panel of the Wise
[PoW], one of the 5 eminent individuals working to prevent and resolve
conflict in Africa. On this panel, she advises both the AU Chairperson and
Commission on impunity, justice, women, children and threats to peace and
security.
On a personal note, I am proud to evoke Dr. Wandiras loyalty to both Uganda
and Africa; shes an astute advisor like no other, and above all, a competent
and thorough executive. Thus, my hope is that Africa will, once again, allow
Uganda to contribute to our integration with Dr. Wandira as Chairperson of
the African Union Commission.

Yoweri K. Museveni
President of the Republic of Uganda

I was 8 years old when the OAU was born

in 1963. Many did not know that the then
32 independent states would ultimately
unshackle Africa.
53 years later, Africa is different; home
to 54 countries with a demographically dynamic population, challenged to
structurally transform Africa for both our
nations and the rest of the world.

Operationalization of the Vision

Africa must and will be transformed.
This requires sustained unity of purpose,
focus, determination and resilience; with
each AU related institution focusing on
the execution of its mandate within the
framework of Agenda 2063. Priority must
be given to ensuring peace and security
for our people; connecting and energizing
Africa.

This emboldens me to
believe that Africa has the
most essential ingredient to
take charge of its destiny;
its People.

However, if Africas better-planned,

better-educated and even better-tooled
human resource is to exploit its full
potential through increased production,
productivity, value addition and trade, we
must never forget the unique challenges
faced by these islands of states.

The Task Ahead

Each previous OAU/AU Chairperson or
Secretary General faced a unique set of
challenges; each was up to the task appropriately responding to Africas need
during their time in office. Thus, the next
Chairperson of the African Union Commission will be no different:

VISION
STATEMENT

collaboration and synergy from Heads of

State and other stakeholders at all levels,
and through providing policy guidelines
and apportioning responsibility for
implementation.
As Chairperson, I hope to catalyze Africas
capacity and inherent potential to reach
its true destination.
Enormous as this task may be, my role as
Ugandas Vice President from 1994
to 2003 taught me that nothing is
insurmountable, given the many capable
stakeholders and partners already committed to Africas success.

Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe Wandira

Candidate for Chairperson
The African Union Commission
2016 - 2020

The sustainability of AU Agenda 2063

actions depends upon building Africas
financial security, changing our peoples
mindset, nurturing the environment and
reclaiming our cultural identity to become
a true player in global affairs.

My candidacy for the AUC Chairperson

position comes at a time when Africa
knows where it wants to go; when it
wants to get there, and how it wishes to
get there; in a road map envisioned by our
leaders and clearly laid out in AU Agenda
2063.

A strong implementation framework

is already in place at the African Union
Commission, and as Chairperson, I will
ensure that the AU system - optimized by
Dr. Nkosazana - Zumas Administration
- is underpinned by accountability and
also transparency; further implementing, monitoring & evaluating progress
towards AU Agenda 2063.

As AUC Chairperson, I will be the Chief

Executive to the collective of 54 African
Heads of State; work with governments
and other institutions to promote,
popularize and implement AUs Agenda
2063 for over one billion Africans.

While I expect challenges in increasing

the pace of change and expectations; in
changing perceptions, managing a highly
professional workforce in a changing
environment of technology, focus will
be on building teams, recruiting active

Placing your Confidence

in my Candidacy
My vision is that of an AU taking charge
of Africas Destiny. As Chief Executive
of the African Union Commission, I will
focus on the following areas to support
member states and further ground and
put on course implementation of the AUs
Agenda 2063.
These are: i) Peace building and conflict
resolution; ii) Infrastructure development;
iii) Resource mobilization; iv) Research,
communication & people empowerment;
v) Member State & Partner Engagement;
and, vi) reinforcing existing AU Systems
to deliver.
1. Peace Building and Conflict Resolution
Peace is the bedrock of sustainable social
and economic development. Mediation
and dialogue between disputing parties
must be given space and time to mature
into sustainable resolution of conflicts and
to pave the path to building peace.

The African Union Headquarters

Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

While working with politicians and rebels

or insurgents is important in resolving
overt conflicts, mobilizing the people to
participate in owning peace in their
countries is crucial to sustaining the peace.
My engagement in conflict-ridden areas in
East Africa, Central and West Africa - since
1995 to date, has convinced me this is the
way to go.

At the forthcoming African Union Summit

scheduled for 16 - 17 July 2016 in Kigali,
Rwanda, the Assembly of Heads of State
and Governments of the African Union will
elect a new African Union Chairperson.
This high profile position comes with both
continental and other international obligations, duties and responsibilities that will
have a direct impact on the lives of over a
billion people from 54 African countries.

The initiatives already in place to strengthen Africas Peace and Security Architecture, especially the Panel of the Wise,
Friends of the Wise and the PANWISE
networks, will be augmented to support
mediation efforts and to reinforce modalities for the socio-economic initiatives
that address structural dysfunction of our
economies.

I am asking the Member States to give

me their vote to execute the mandate
and carry out the functions of the office of
Chairperson of the AU Commission.

and incentivize participation by serious

players across Africa and in the Diaspora
for this quest. Lessons learned in steering
Ugandan socio-economic ministries
have equipped me on the realities on the
ground. Working with the financial sector
has augmented my understanding of the
untapped capacities in our people to save
and invest appropriately.

Member States will be supported to build

peace infrastructure as necessary foundations for democratic governance.
2. Infrastructure Development:
A prosperous Africa will be a consequence
of policies that result in the correct infrastructure to spur investment. While resources are said to be scarce, prioritization
and focus produces results. The regional
economic communities (RECs) building
blocks for a United Africa, will be supported
and coordinated to plan, strategize and
mobilize resources for roads, rail, water
and air transport; power generation and
distribution; and, information and communication infrastructure.

4. Research, Communication and People

Empowerment
Africa desires development that is people
driven and relies on the potential of African
people. Productivity is not only a factor of
external inputs but requires an appropriately skilled and healthy population. To
get this right requires attention directed
to Africas education, health systems and
related institutions. Research and Communication are crucial for generating the
required information supporting AU policy
development, strategic planning, program
prioritization, monitoring and evaluation
and information dissemination as we
mobilize African peoples and disseminate
Pan African values.

The Commission will work with private

African enterprises to play a more active
role in becoming Pan African in investment
and outreach to support the nurturing
of innovation and investments in health,
education and agriculture and Information
Technology. This will result into increased
productivity in all sectors - a pre-requisite for job creation thus generating and
sustaining the required momentum for
Africas transformation.

Validated information is also key to keeping affirmative programs on course for

the marginalized - women, persons with
disability, youth and forgotten peoples.
Special attention will continue to be directed towards supporting girls and womens
education and empowerment. Better
understanding of genders role, mens
involvement and affirmative action for any
marginalized group will be promoted so
that no ones left behind on our way to
2063.

3. Resource Mobilization
Self reliance and self determination will
result from timely sawing of good seed for
a bumper harvest. The required consumption levelsto generate needed taxes for
the Member States, come from mobilizing
the private sector to invest more. Our people must save moreto pool the required
resources for investments. Member-State
governments must reciprocate by being
transparent, weed out corruption and extravagance and spend in accordance with
agreed priorities for impact. It is then, that
we shall get true partners to help us on the
way to destination 2063.

My previous experience and my Harvard

doctorate in Population and Global Health
as well as my current deployment as a
Presidential Advisor have imparted on
me the required skills and experience to
mentor researchers and programmers in
a policy programming as well as implementing environment.

The Commission, in collaboration with AU

organs and institutions will develop tools
(knowledge, human, financial, technology)
to be used to promote, engage, support

This will be done through reinforcing the

existing efforts to put in place systemsunderpinned by strategic planning,
accountability and transparency, to implement, monitor and evaluate for impact,
the progress of Africas journey towards
achieving Agenda 2063, within the given
direction and support from the AU Organs.
My administration and leadership will be
based on teamwork, trust and accountability. It will be result oriented, up to
speed, technocratic and in tune with the
tasks and challenges at hand.

My competencies
as a strategic &
institution building
technocrat, and
experience in
strategic planning
and structuring of
government for
focused resource
application for
impact will serve
me well in this
exercise.

The Kwame Nkrumah Statue

African Union Headquarters
Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
5. Member-State & Partner Engagement
Adequate attention will be devoted to
engaging Member States consultations
and dialogue to generate the desired consensus in the course of implementing AU
programs. International engagement will
be a priority to situate Africa in its rightful
place on the Global scene. The roles I have
played in Africa as an advocate for social
and economic causes and my engagement on the international scene have
prepared me well for this activity.
6. Reinforcing Existing AU Systems
Results and impact will not be seen and
felt, respectively, when Commissioners
and Staff are not empowered to do their
work. I will dispense the required leadership and stewardship, nurture teamworkby engaging the existing and future
Commissioners and staff at the AU Commission to generate, nurture and build the
required competencies to execute the
functions of the Commission.

Africa has many institutions & partners,

ready to give their all in supporting
activities to carry us to 2063 - the UN,
bilateral partners, RECS, Academia, Private
sector, Civil society and philanthropists.
The Commission will continue to work with
them, each focusing on what they do best
to support the designated programs of
the AU.

A BIO:
Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe Wandira
A Competent & Thorough Executive

Previous leadership experience

Vice President:
As Executive Vice President of the Republic
of Uganda for ten years, Dr. Wandira presided over the formulation of government
policy, and facilitated sectoral planning for
targeted budgeting for impact. This position
enabled her improve her leadership skills
through chairing Cabinet meetings and
participating in high profile national, regional
and international gatherings in her capacity
as Vice President or representative capacity
as head of state.

efer to her as the Herald of the African

Womans journey to the apex of the political
arena; and that will just about sum up the
reality of the first woman to ascend to the
Executive Vice Presidency of any country in
Africa. Today, Dr. Speciosa Wandira is proof
that it is indeed possible and so desirable
for women to take top political leadership
positions in Africas governments - a thing
that seemed unimaginable only a few short
years ago.
Current positions:
African Union Panel of the Wise:
Dr. Wandira is a Member of the African Union
Panel of the Wiseone of the Pillars of the
AU Peace and Security Architecture (PoW).
She has participated in strategic Peace
interventions including mediation in the
Burundi conflict. Her participation in various
peace and conflict resolution meeting and
chairing of the PanWise Network helped
her internalize Africas security and how to
silence guns.

She was responsible for the restructuring

of government departments, and chaired
the Presidential Economic Council (PEC) - a
body comprised of the private sector, key
economic departments of government and
the academia. The Forum guided decision
making for fast tracking economic programs that resulted in the commendable
growth of Ugandas economy from then to
date.
Ministerial positions:
Industry and Technology minister (1989):
Dr. Wandira was responsible for the revival
and restructuring of the industrial sector, bringing good corporate governance,
knowledge and skills to Boards of government parastatals, and rehabilitation and
divestiture of industrial enterprises.

Senior Presidential Advisor: A Surgeon

with a Harvard Doctorate in Global Health
and Population from the Harvard School of
Public Health, Dr. Wandira is highly skilled
with the capacity to triangulate social, economic and biological data for policy, planning, and resource mobilization. She has led
a team of planning experts and technocrats
to mobilize Ugandans for the required
health system changes for a healthier and
productive Ugandan population.

Caretaker Minister Tourism, Wildlife and

Antiquities (1991): Dr. Wandira spearheaded
the drafting of a Tourism Master Plan and
was subsequently elected Chairperson of
Eastern and Southern Africa Ministers of
Tourism and Wildlife. A joint wildlife management plan was drafted for the wildlife
resources in the eastern and southern
Africa regions.

Dr. Wandira has also made recommendations to government on the use of

microfinance as infrastructure for building
sustainable social security networks for
communities and the informal sector.
This position has further deepened
Dr. Wandiras understanding and appreciation of the modus operandi of public service
and the inherent capacities of communities
when appropriately mobilized for development.
8

Caretaker for the Ministry of Lands,

Water and Mineral Development:
Dr Wandira initiated the policy of reserving
positions for women on national and local
land boards.

Ownership of titled land by women

increased by 100% - from 4% to 8% in a
period of 4 years.
Caretaker Minister for the Ministry of
Public Service: This helped her to understand the rigidities inherent in the working
of government bureaucracy and further
boosted her capacity to better oversee
the structuring of Government as Vice
President.
Cabinet Minister for Agriculture, Animal
Industry and Fisheries (1996 -1998):
Dr. Wandira presided over the restructuring of the Ministry, leading its reorganization and downsizing. She initiated,
coordinated and contributed to the
first-ever country wide consultative
process involving all sector stakeholders with the drafting of the Plan for the
Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) and
its funding. She also led the planning and
oversaw a multi-sectoral strategy for the
containment of the water hyacinth on
Lake Victoria. She spearheaded the formation of the Lake Victoria Management
Organization (LMVO) - comprised of
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and served
as its first Chairperson.

She was elected Chairperson of the

Commonwealth Ministers responsible
for Youth, and charged with the responsibility of taking the Youth Agenda to the
Commonwealth Heads of Government,
resulting in more resources for youth capacity building in leadership and technical
skills development.

International engagement:
Dr. Wandira is a founder and sitting
member of the Board of the Coalition for
Dialogue on Africa (CODA)an independent Africa-owned think tank that identifies and discusses issues of importance
to Africas development, within a global
context.

She was Member of the first HIV/

AIDS Coordinating Committee which
drafted the internationally- acclaimed
multi-sectoral strategy that resulted in
containment of the spread of HIV/AIDS in
Uganda.

Dr .Wandira is also a Champion for an

HIV free generation in Africa as part of an
organization of African leaders whose
goal it is to mobilise and support African
leadership and global policy makers to
renew and intensify the fight against HIV/
AIDS in Africa.

Cabinet Minister for Gender and Community Development (1993 and 1996):
Dr. Wandira traveled extensively within
Uganda, Africa and the rest of the world
to raise awareness on the inclusiveness of women, youth and persons with
disability in socio-economic activities in
their countries. She was elected by African
Women leaders to take charge of the
Africa Plan of Action for Women which
placed emphasis on peace and girl child
education.
She initiated dialogue and participated in the conflict resolution efforts for
Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Liberia and Somalia.
Mobilized resources for bringing together
women from conflict zones in Africa to
dialogue with their adversaries on how
peace could become a reality for these
countries. The resources were also used
to train women in conflict resolution skills.

Resources were mobilized for research

and the construction of the organizations
headquarters. The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
awarded her the 1998 Ceres Medal in
recognition of her work.
Cabinet Minister for Women in
Development, Culture and Youth
(1991-1993):
Dr. Wandira ensured a new strategic focus
for the Ministry that resulted in it being restructured with a wider social mandate of
Gender, Labor and Social Development.
Vulnerable and disadvantaged groups
were fully recognized in Ugandas Constitution and new policies and programs
on culture, women, youth and people with
disability were put in place.

Constituent Assembly: In 1994, Dr.

Wandira was elected a Member of the
Constituent Assembly that drafted Ugandas 1995 Constitution, the first gender
sensitive constitution in Africa.

10

sensitive Africa; a long time board member of The Hunger Project (THP) - a USbased non-governmental organization
with priority programs in Africa committed
to the elimination of hunger and gender
discrimination in developing countries.
In Africa, THP works in Ethiopia, Malawi,
Ghana, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and
Uganda.
Through these engagements, Dr. Wandira
has mastered the alternative pathways to
development in environment, agriculture,
private sector, gender, et al.
She has also been able to understand
how the international development agencies, foundations, research institutions,
and financing agencies operate in terms
of resource mobilization - human, technical and financial.

Between 2013 - 2014, Dr. Wandira served

as a Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations for HIV/AIDS in
Africa.
She served on the World Forestry and
World Water Commissions, and for
a long time on the Advisory Board of
the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Dr
Wandira was Co-Chair of the Kofi Annan
Inter-Academy Council Panel that drafted
a report on Realizing the Promise and
Potential of Africas Agriculturethe
precursor to CAADP.
Support for NGO Work
Arising from Dr. Wandiras compassion for
the disadvantaged, she has served and
continues to serve on many local (Uganda), regional (Africa) and international
Boards, Commissions and development
agencies.
Dr. Wandira is a member of the Leadership Search Committee of the Uganda
Cooperative Alliance; a founding member
and first President of the African Women
Committee on Peace and Development
which advocated for the change in policy
that has seen an increasingly gender

11

... Africa has the

most essential
ingredient to take
charge of its destiny;
its People ...

2016 | All Rights Reserved

Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Republic of Uganda
A Morgenthau Stirling Production
www.morgenthaustirling.com | + 1 617 515 3028