Aisha Namugga, Bashiru Koroma, and Louise Tekapso are climate experts from across the continent—Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon, respectively. We spoke with them about their expertise in climate change and sustainable environments while they were at Cornell University this summer completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI). The fellows discussed their vision for sustainable future with environmental justice.
Aisha Namugga has more than 10 years of experience in legal practice and as a volunteer in social work. Aisha is a legal associate for climate change projects at Earth and Rights Initiative, junior partner and associate at GM Kibirige & Co. Advocates, and a woman councilor and member of the Education and Health Committee at Njeru Municipality. She is focused on realizing the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes executing projects that facilitate the dissemination of information and a community’s role in its protection.
Bashiru Koroma has over 12 years of experience in conservation leadership, natural resource management, ecotourism, and environmental health (water, sanitation, and waste management). Currently, he is the product planning and development officer at the National Tourist Board Sierra Leone, focusing on initiating and implementing national tourism policies, programs, and projects in Sierra Leone. Koroma is also the executive president and founder of Keep Africa Beautiful Sierra Leone, a youth-led environmental company in Sierra Leone, and the national coordinator for Climate Live Sierra Leone, using music and concerts to engage, educate and empower young people to ensure that local leaders take actions to combat the climate crisis.
Louise Tekapso Pohdie Bonix has more than four years of experience in civil engineering. Currently, she is chief of service at FEICOM, the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance, focusing on the follow-up and monitoring of revenue-generating investments intended for regional and local authorities. She was a follow-up engineer in Participatory Slum Upgrading projects and has organized conferences and seminars in Cameroon as a Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Ambassador.