Humanities & Social Sciences
Makerere Honors Novelist Goretti Kyomuhendo: Re-Launches “Whispers from Vera” Novel
Makerere University on Saturday 26th August 2023 honored novelist and literary activist, Goretti Kyomuhendo, during the closing ceremony of the 6th Mashariki (Eastern Africa) Literary and Cultural Studies Conference held at the Yusuf Lule Auditorium.
The three day conference was organized by Makerere University College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS) in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand and the British Academy.
The closing ceremony and book launch (Whispers from Vera) was presided over by Uganda’s iconic musical composer and performer who is also, Head of Afrigo Band, Papa Moses Matovu.
Matovu described Kyomuhendo’s recognition as a celebration of the Africa’s and East African culture and his role as Chief Guest, as a beautiful song and monumental.
“I am moved by the determination of the academia to protect and promote our culture through platforms such as Mashariki Literary and Cultural Studies conference.
Loud support of Arts is very important and as Afrigo, we celebrate 48 years of existence and we extend knowledge of cultural importance of how our people are attached to their identity and culture through music”, Papa Matovu noted.
As composer with experience in using music to transform communities, Matovu expressed the need to preserve culture on grounds that music and culture helps share experiences of who people are, why they exist and what they should do.
Goretti Kyomuhendo
Kyomuhendo is famous female writer and scholar who rose from a newspaper columnist to a novelist.
Dr. Edgar Nabutanyi, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literature, in his introduction, described Kyomuhendo as “One of the best Ugandan female writers”. She has published four books including; “Whispers from Vera”, “The First Daughter” and “Secrets No More”. She is also the first Director of FEMRITE, Nabutanyi said.
Kyomuhendo gave a brief background about her novel “Whispers from Vera” during a panel discussions before it was re-launched. She said the book, which is about two sisters from different settings sharing experiences, started as a serialized column in the then Ugandan Newspaper the Crusader.
“Whispers from Vera” started as a column in a newspaper called The Crusader. However, within one year, the newspaper closed down and in 2002, I changed it to a novel”, she explained.
“Raised in a dusty town called Hoima, at the age of 14, I came across a copy of “Things Fall Apart”. After reading, it touched my life and I drafted a letter to Chinua Achebe {deceased Nigerian Novelist} requesting him to kindly help me meet Okonkwo and Umuofia to which letter I never received a reply. In 1997, I was invited to the UK for a conference in which I met Chinua Achebe”. She disclosed.
Whispers documents Vera’s experiences as she navigates through the lows and highs of motherhood and the wifehood of a middle class, modern day, Ugandan career woman. Generally, it documents the experiences of a young woman grappling with living in her context.
Kyomuhendo stated that her novels depict strong women who can stand on their own and question things on society. “Vera is the strongest character that I have ever written”, she said.
Why Kyomuhendo chose to Rewrite the “Whispers from Vera”
Whispers from Vera is Kyomuhendo’s third novel about a young woman called Vera .When the novel opens, she is 29years old and when it closes, she is about to turn 40 years old.
It is a story of Vera’s life as she grapples and navigates through what it means to be a woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter, daughter in-law , a career woman who is struggling to advance her career amidst all issues that she is dealing with.
Kyomuhendo said they were celebrating the 20th edition of this novel. It was first published by the Monitor newspaper 20years ago that is 2002 but then it ran out of print because the publisher sold off the rights for that book to another publishers., so it has been out of print for over 20 years.
“What prompted me to re-write and rework it was, when it was in existence, it was a very popular story and I can attribute that to the story being relatable. So, most people who see it, they see themselves in the story,”
The young women who are struggling to find the so called Mr. Right and then, when they find him, there are challenges. Motherhood or wifehood of dealing with extended family, how to advance your career and all challenges that come with that.
So for me, it is a story that many people relate to and see themselves in it and I wanted it to be back in print.” She said.
Panel discussion and insights into,“Whispers from Vera”
A panel of five including Ms. Goretti Kyomuhendo herself, Dr. Isaac Tibasiima,, Dr. Lynda Spencer, Dr. Evelyn Cindy Magara, and Ms. Racheal Kizza chaired by Dr. Susan Kiguli and Dr. Edgar Nabutanyi shared insights into, “Whispers from Vera”, describing how the narrations in the book relate to the day-to-day lives.
The panel theme was titled, “The Journey of Goretti Kyomuhendo’s “Whispers from Vera” .
From a serial text to a novella to a novel, the book guides us on how to cope with challenges in our lives. According to Lynda Spencer, Whispers from Vera highlights the characters and features of a young lady grappling with living in a young context.
“In this book, the men are not so much important. Most of the women in this book are in their 30s and above. They are of the working class and they tend to concentrate on their jobs. They have disposable incomes and have a special “I time”.
They are not afraid to talk about sex and any sexual subject”. Spencer noted that, “Whispers from Vera talks about women’s inferiority, women’s experiences and position in marriage”.
Dr. Isaac Tibasiima said, he enjoys reading the novel. “I enjoy stories. It is interesting to read a novel that keeps you wondering who the next character is.
The things that Vera is going through are the same things that I saw my mother go through. Vera has a strength that I saw in my mother.” Dr. Tibasiima recalled how his mother struggled to raise a family of three without their father.
Dr. Evelyn Cindy Magara said that she has introduced Kyomuhendo’s work to her children.
“A prolific writer with four novels in her name, I applaud you Goretti. In this era where children are so much addicted to TV and phones and lack what to read, I have introduced my children to Goretti’s novels”, she said.
Racheal Kiiza said, “Whispers from Vera” is a good relation of how Ugandans use humor. “As Ugandans, we process through humor”.
The session Chair, Dr. Susan Kiguli highly recommended the novel. “I recommend that you read it”.
On the morning of Friday, February 27, when the academic procession winds its way across Makerere University’s Freedom Square for the last day of the 76th Graduation Ceremony, Whitney Najjuka will walk into history with a number beside her name: 4.46.
At Makerere, that number means First Class Honours. It means the Vice Chancellor’s List. It means she graduates as the only First-Class student in Journalism and Communication this year. But numbers, as Whitney has learned, rarely tell the full story.
Born on March 27, 2002, in Nabbingo, Kyengera Town Council, to Margaret Kusemererwa and Fred Kasirye, dreamt she would do Law, one of the disciplines, prestigious, almost inevitable next steps for a student who had excelled in secondary school. She had done everything correctly. Studied hard. Scored well. Followed the script.
But Makerere University had other plans. She missed the pre-entry mark, but found her name under Journalism and Communication, another prestigious course offered by the Journalism and Communication Department at Makerere University.
Najjuka began her academic journey at Muto Primary School in Buwama, earning 8 aggregates in the Primary Leaving Examination, a performance that positioned her strongly for secondary school.
She would later join St. Lucia Hill School, Namagoma, where she earned 20 aggregates at O-Level and 17 points in History, Luganda, and Divinity at A-Level.
Missing her dream course, Law, felt at first, like a detour. But Whitney was encouraged by Sanyu Christopher, her uncle, and she settled for a government-sponsored slot in the Bachelor of Journalism and Communication at Makerere, which she had applied for before.
She entered uncertain. But she graduates transformed.
The Pivot That Became a Purpose
Whitney speaks of her early university days with candor. She did not arrive at the Department of Journalism and Communication with a burning childhood ambition to be a journalist, but because another door had closed.
Then, Social and Behavior Change Communication happened. Applied Strategic Communication happened. She began to see media not as headlines and microphones, but as architecture, shaping how societies think, argue, and act.
The turning point came in her third year. The Female Journalist Foundation published her story on Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and its emotional toll on survivors. What startled her was not its publication but the reaction. Comments flooded in. Debates ignited, especially about the role of men in combating GBV.
“I realized media doesn’t just report,” she says. “It frames how society views a crisis.”
Her voice, once tentative, had entered a national conversation.
The Discipline Behind 4.46
At Makerere University, a First Class CGPA is not built on brilliance alone but on ritual.
Whitney’s ritual began with showing up, on time, every time. She treated lectures as appointments with her future self. She refused to confine her learning to the syllabus. While attending workshops at the Aga Khan Graduate School of Media and Communication and obtaining external certifications, she sought and was open to mentorship through the Public Relations Association of Uganda (PRAU).
She wanted theory anchored in practice. And then there was the commute.
From Nabbingo, a hill in Wakiso District, some 18.6 km to Kampala, where the Makerere Main campus is situated, and back, nearly 20 hours a week dissolved into Kampala traffic. Two-hour journeys before 8:00 a.m. lectures. Dust. Noise. Headaches. She learned to manage energy the way others manage time. Fatigue became a tutor in resilience.
“I had to be intentional with every remaining hour,” she says. “Excuses were not an option.”
Learning to Practice Communication
If classrooms taught her analysis, presentations taught her courage. Pitching projects, defending research, and standing before peers quick to critique forced her to think on her feet. She was no longer simply studying communication; she was practicing it.
In 2024, the AGMES Fellowship at the Aga Khan Graduate School of Media and Communication pushed her further. She received funding to produce a capstone project on the mental impact of gender-based violence on survivors. She identified sources, conducted interviews, handled trauma with care, and worked with professional editors.
The Communication, she learned, is logistics and ethics as much as eloquence.
The Future She Sees
Whitney is optimistic about Uganda’s media landscape. The digital shift, she believes, has democratized influence. Young communicators are no longer confined to legacy newsrooms or offices.
Yet she sees a gap in the absence of structured research on sustainable, ethical, profitable independent media ventures in Uganda. Her ambition is not only to practice communication, but to study it. To produce data-backed frameworks that help young Ugandans transition from graduates to media entrepreneurs.
She wants to make the impact scalable.
What Remains
As the only First-Class graduate in her cohort, she is careful not to mythologize herself. “Success isn’t brilliance alone,” she says. “It’s a daily commitment when nobody is watching.”
Even before graduation, Whitney had stepped into the industry through a mentorship internship at Capital One Group (COG EA Ltd), a strategic marketing communications agency operating across East Africa.
At Capital One Group, we spoke to Paul Mwirigi Muriungi, the Managing Director and Head of Strategy, who spoke of Najjuka as a progressive and intentional young professional who approaches her work with curiosity, maturity, and responsibility.
“Her attitude is exemplary. She is teachable, receptive to feedback, and eager to grow. While technical skills can be taught, character, work ethic, and mindset determine long-term success, qualities that Whitney consistently demonstrates. Given her academic excellence and professional application, we believe she has a bright future both at Capital One Group and within the wider communications industry. She represents the kind of talent the profession needs: thoughtful, adaptable, and committed to excellence.
“We look forward to seeing her next chapter unfold,” says Mwirigi.
Najjuka’s gaze extends beyond her own trajectory. She speaks of what the Department could become. Furnished and equipped with industry-standard equipment, newsroom simulations, and deeper investment in data journalism as prayers. Her excellence is not self-congratulatory, but it is forward-looking.
“The University should support the Department to procure industry-standard equipment. Access to high-quality cameras, sound booths, and updated editing software like Adobe Creative Suite is critical to our learning environment,” she says.
Adding that, “We need a newsroom simulation, a physical or digital space where students work under real-time deadlines to produce content for the public. That would prepare us for industry and even strengthen the University’s own media platforms.”
In an era defined by metrics, algorithms, and digital traceability, data journalism is no longer a niche skill but a sine qua non of credible reporting. “There should also be more focus on data journalism and search engine optimization. These are no longer optional skills. Students would benefit immensely from stronger training in these areas.”
Dr. Aisha Nakiwala, the Head, Department of Journalism and Communication, says the faculty are very proud that she is graduating with a First Class—the only one in this year’s cohort.
“This achievement reflects not only exceptional intellectual ability but also discipline, resilience, and sustained dedication to the highest standards over four years. Graduating with first-class honors is no small feat; it requires consistent outstanding performance.
“Her accomplishment sets a powerful example for continuing students and reaffirms our department’s commitment to nurturing excellence. We are confident she will make meaningful contributions to the communication profession and society at large,” says Dr. Nakiwala.
On graduation day, applause will crest and recede. The gowns will fold back into wardrobes. The transcripts will be filed away in cabinets. But something quieter will endure; a young woman from Nabbingo who once missed her Law mark, who spent 20 hours a week on the road, who discovered that storytelling is power, and who now walks into Freedom Square not by accident, but by intention.
Life, as she has come to understand it, lives on.
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