Gakwandi Arthur Shatto

Birthdate: December, 1943

Place of birth:  Ntungamo, Western Uganda

Languages spoken: English, Ruyankore, Runyarwanda, French, Luganda, Kiswahili


Written Language: English

Education:  After secondary school at Ntare and Makerere College, Gakwandi entered Makerere University from where he obtained a bachelors degree in English and French in 1968. He went on to acquire an M. Litt in English Literature, 1971, and a PhD. In literature, 1986, from Edinburgh University.

Employment:  Foreign Service Officer, 1968-71; Literature, Department of Literature, Makerere University, 1971-71; visiting Lecturer, University of Nairobi, 1975-76; Senior Lecturer, Department of Literature, Makerere University, 1976-78; Senior Lecturer, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, 1978-82; Reader and Head of Department, English and European Languages, Bayero, 1982-83; Associate professor, Department of Literature, Makerere University, 1983-88; Senior Fulbright Teaching Fellow, Connecticut College, USA, 1988-89; Director, External Relations, National Resistance Movement Secretariat, 1989-92; Aternate Ambassador, Uganda Mission to OAU, Addis Ababa, 1993-96; Head, Asia and pacific Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1996-99; Head East African Cooperation and Ring states Department, 1999- Present.

Bibliography:  kyosiya kifefe(novel). Nairobi: EAEP, 1999. Gakwandi's short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies and he has published many articles in scholarly journals. His most famous work of scholarship, however; is to the book: The Novel and contemporary Experiences in Africa. London: Heinemann, 1977.

Comment: In his writing, Gakwandi concerns himself with human vanity, the impact of social change on individual lives and damnation through the exercise of power