January Makamba

SCAR Alumnus, Deputy Minister of Communication, Science and Technology. Member of Parliament for Bumbuli Constituency

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M.S. Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, 2004
B.A. Peace and Conflict Studies, St. John's University, 2000

Biography

Ndugu January Yusuph Makamba is a current Member of Parliament (MP) for Bumbuli constituency in the Tanzanian National Assembly (The Bunge). He sailed through unopposed in the October 31, 2010 general elections, representing the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ticket. Before running for Bumbuli parliamentary seat, January was Aide to Tanzanian President Hon. Jakaya Kikwete for 5 years.

January attended St. John’s University, a small catholic school in Minnesota, USA, majoring in Peace and Conflict Studies. As a sophomore, he won the Upper Midwest International Human Rights Fellowship organized by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center. The fellowship funded his internship and research on refugees’ protection at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Field Office in Kasulu, Kigoma. After graduating in 2000, he became a Research Assistant at the Carter Center. As part of the fellowship, in 2002 he spent time in Sierra Leone with the election monitoring team, an experience that deepened his desire to understand issues of democracy and governance and the nature of war and the pursuit of peace.

After completing his assignment at the Carter Center, he enrolled in the Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in Virginia. After graduating in 2004, January returned to Tanzania and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a Foreign Service Officer (Grade II), where he teamed up with then Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete. He worked closely with him in the regional peace negotiations that Tanzania was involved in at the time. After the latter ran for president in 2005, January joined him on the campaign trail, traveling with the candidate to every district in the country. The experience made January realize that perhaps public service was his calling and when candidate Jakaya Kikwete was elected President, January joined him at State House as one of his appointed senior aides and speechwriter.

In that capacity, January has also occasionally acted as a personal envoy of the President to various sections of the society, particularly the urban youth. As aide to the President, he has attended Cabinet meetings, as well as National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings, the top decision making body of the ruling party CCM as an observer. He has widely traveled, inside the country and globally, along the way gaining knowledge on leadership, development plans and policy making, as well as in national and international politics.

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Title	Published Date

Bumbuli: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

February 10, 2014

This is an e-book about the Bumbuli Region in Tanzania. It is intended to profile the region, highlight the social contract between the social and political actors in the area, and showcase the process of transformation which Bumbuli is undertaking for a better...

Category: Book