KIU Law Student Represents Uganda at 2026 Garvey-Nkrumah Fellowship

By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus - A final-year law student at Kampala International University (KIU), Zubair Kanyereketo, represented Uganda as the country's sole participant in the 2026 Garvey-Nkrumah Fellowship, held from Sunday, July 19th to Saturday,  August 1st in Ghana and Rwanda.

Kanyereketo joined 30 other students from 17 countries across Africa, the Caribbean and the United States.

Selected through a highly competitive process, Kanyereketo took part in a programme built around delegation visits to Ghana and Rwanda, exposing fellows to institutions shaping Africa's economic, legal and diplomatic future.

At the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Kanyereketo explored how continental integration can help move Africa from a predominantly resource-based to a production-based economy, particularly through increased intra-African trade and value addition.

"A visit to the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative gave this lesson a practical dimension, prompting me to rethink Uganda's efforts to promote domestic coffee consumption," he said. "That experience highlighted the importance of not only producing commodities, but also building markets, processing capacity and value chains that retain greater value within Africa," he added.

Kanyereketo's legal interests in arbitration and ADR were strengthened through engagements with the Kigali International Arbitration Centre and the Supreme Court of Rwanda, where he gained insight into arbitration and Rwanda's use of victim-offender mediation in its justice system.

The fellowship also offered significant diplomatic exposure. At the High Commission of Barbados in Ghana, Kanyereketo met H.E. Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland, GA, High Commissioner of Barbados to Ghana, whose words left a lasting impression: "Never shrink yourself just to fit into rooms."

"Engagements with the United States Embassies in Ghana and Rwanda, alongside other institutional visits, further broadened my understanding of diplomacy and international cooperation," he said.

For Kanyereketo, the fellowship was an opportunity to connect his academic interests in African trade, investment, arbitration and economic development with the institutions driving these fields in practice.

"I returned from Ghana and Rwanda with fewer assumptions, but many more questions, and a clearer understanding of what Africa needs to convert its potential into economic power," he said.

His achievement adds to KIU's growing record of students competing and engaging successfully on international platforms.