Board Members
Dr. Alfred G. Okiria
Georginah Byanjeru
Carolyne Natabona
Sylivester Besigye
Johnson Andinda
Dr. Alfred G. Okiria
MD Makerere University 2000, MPH Makerere University 2007, Makerere University School of Public Health Fellow 2010.
Public health specialist with a medical background and over 20 years of experience in health care delivery, reproductive maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), family planning, HIV/TB, and Health Systems Strengthening. Has fourteen years of experience leading strategic programming in Uganda and South Sudan. Expertise in project management and implementation to increase access to healthcare and improve health equity and outcomes. Worked as project director and country lead for IntraHealth International South Sudan and Chief of Party for HealthPartners Uganda that Introduced health cooperative development work in Uganda. A founding member of and currently Chairperson of the Uganda Health Partners Cooperative(UHPC).
Georginah Byanjeru
Georginah Byanjeru is a graduate teacher from Makerere University with over 20 years of working experience in the education field, private sector and in civil society organisations. Has served in different capacities including Class room teacher, deputy head teacher, Sales executive, administrator and provider relations officer.
Georginah currently works with CONNECT Girls Center project implemented by HealthPartners whose major aim is transitioning healthcare in Uganda making it client centered by empowering communities to demand and access quality health services through provider managed and community owned and funded cooperatives. As a provider relations officer, Georginah is majorly responsible for capacity building of health care providers, to prepare launch and manage insurance partnerships as well as use data to make decisions that lead to increased provider surplus and quality health services for the communities.
Carolyne Natabona
Holds a Master’s degree in Public Health (Health Promotion) and a Bachelor’s degree in social sciences with additional certificate trainings in Child Protection, Leadership and Management in Health, Participatory Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Community Engagement and HIV/AIDS Counseling. A public health promotion specialist, social worker, advocate and cooperative health promoter with 16 years’ experience in HIV/AIDS, community and health systems strengthening, project planning & management, health promotion and strengthening linkages and referrals, working with both international and national non-governmental organizations. Skilled in cooperative health management, partnership management, coordination, capacity building, facilitation, stakeholder engagement, child protection and community mobilization & engagement, project planning and management among others.She currently serves as Technical Advisor Governance for HealthPartners Uganda and previously served as a clinical and community operations coordinator (Karamoja cluster) & District Programs Officer with Intrahealth International, project Officer with Mildmay Uganda & Plan International and HIV/AIDS supervisor at Bwindi Community Hospital. Carolyne is a founding member and currently serves as a Board member of Uganda Health Partners Cooperative.
Sylivester Besigye
A finance professional with 6 years’ experience working with International Non-Government Organizations including USAID on Projects such as Connect Girls Centre Project (CGC) and Organizational Development Activity (ODA). I have strong knowledge of USAID rules and regulations on Procurement, Finance, Administration, Grants and Contract Management obtained both through training and working experience. I have the ability to plan and organize tasks with no supervision and I have achieved outstanding performance in assigned duties within short periods of time. Proficient in MS Office applications and QuickBooks
Johnson Andinda
Johnson Andinda is a business management specialist, community health financing, health insurance development and advocacy champion. Mr. Andinda has worked for over 22 years in both private and public entities including local government and civil society organizations in various capacities including Administrator, Advocacy officer, Cooperative Coordinator and Technical Advisor among others. Mr. Andinda has a Diploma and Bachelors in Business Administration and is finalizing his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) of Cooperative University of Kenya- Nairobi.
He is currently the Secretary General for Uganda Health Partners Cooperative, and works as the Chief of Party for the USAID HealthPartners CONNECT Girl’s center Activity (2018-2024) for in country leadership and team coordination. Served on same project as Deputy Chief of Party, Program Manager and Technical Advisor to provide strategic direction and support to care providers and cooperatives implementing Cooperative health Insurance. These roles enabled him to reach the most vulnerable communities to increase access to quality, affordable health care through member -owned health cooperatives. Johnson engages various stakeholders at different levels to increase demand for cooperative health insurance and develops tools and materials for building capacity of both health care provider staff and leaders in insurance management.
HealthPartners is the pioneer promoter of health cooperatives in Uganda and provides tools, capacity building and network development support for care providers to manage insurance partnerships directly but also in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives in Uganda.
Supervisory Committee
Charles Emesu
Vincent Ngabirano
Diana Asiimwe
Charles Emesu
Mr. Emesu Charles is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in the non-government sector. He serves as a member of the UHPC Supervisory Committee and has implemented projects funded by major donors, including DFID, AUSAID, DANIDA, UNHCR, USAID, and the Global Fund. His expertise lies in risk and compliance, with a focus on donor regulations, fraud risk management, and fostering ethical and compliance cultures.
Mr. Emesu is passionate about building an organization’s capacity to adhere to contracted regulations, guidelines, and national laws from the outset. He understands that organizations are at different stages of growth and recognizes that a one-size-fits-all approach is not always effective in compliance. To address this, he specializes in designing and developing tailored tools and policies for risk and compliance. He mentors organizations to adopt these tools and policies at each stage of their growth, ensuring a smooth transition towards full compliance. His ultimate goal is to guide organizations on their journey to becoming fully compliant and risk-aware entities.
Vincent Ngabirano
Ngabirano Vincent is an ACCA qualified accountant with an MBA in addition to a BSc. Applied accounting and a bachelor of business administration. With over 16 years of work experience in financial management, accounting, auditing, administration, procurement and human resource management, Vincent’s professional journey includes roles with Nature Uganda, UNDP, Millennium Villages Project, URC/USAID RHITES-EC Project and currently the Chief Finance Officer at HPU/USAID Connect Girls Project.
Diana Asiimwe
Diana Asiimwe is driving positive change in Ugandan health care. As a founding member of Uganda Health Partners Cooperative, her expertise spans from capacity building for healthcare providers to navigating the complexities of preparing and managing health insurance partnerships. Her experience as a counselor, coupled with her work in HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and sexual and reproductive health projects, gives her a deep understanding of the sector’s challenges.
Diana believes access to health care can be achieved and that through collective action, together a new paradigm that supports and prioritizes health equity in Uganda can be established.
Vetting Committee
Ms. Ruth Nanyonga
David Owere Onyango
Helen Ndikumwami
Ms. Ruth Nanyonga
Ms. Ruth Nanyonga is a Monitoring, Evaluation and collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) expert with nearly 20 years of experience leading successful MEL teams; designing and implementing data collection, analysis, and management systems; and driving learnings toward successful project adaptations in Uganda. As the MEL Manager on the USAID CONNECT Girls Center activity, Ms. Nanyonga is responsible for delivering a full suite of MEL services for a project supporting 68 health facilities and implementing the CLA framework across all project interventions. Previously, Ms. Nanyonga was the MEL Director for the USAID Health Systems Strengthening Activity, in which capacity she led data collection, analysis, and reporting for the $37 million project; worked with over 30 staff as well as ministry counterparts to implement CLA principles; and led evaluations and special assessments. She has extensive experience developing and implementing Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plans and Data quality Assessments, is thoroughly familiar with data management platforms such as the DHIS2 and the USAID Development Information Solution, and is a member of national Private-Public Partnership for Health, Health Information Innovations and Research (HIIRE) and Community Health, Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child and Adolescent Health and Monitoring and Evaluation technical working groups with the Ugandan MOH. Ms. Nanyonga holds an M.S. degree in population and reproductive health and a B.A. in adult and community development from Makerere University. She is fluent in English and Luganda
David Owere Onyango
David Owere Onyango is a team player, result-oriented, adaptable, leader, and team & relationship builder with over 10 years of experience in Project management, Community development, Environmental protection, communication, Education, and capacity building with a Master’s in Environment and Natural Resources from Makerere University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science Technology and Management from Kyambogo University, Certificate in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. David has experience in lecturing at Kyambogo University under the Department of Environment for over 5 years. He worked as a health facility administrator and coordinator of cooperative health insurance at Noah’s Ark Health Center III for 4 years gaining experience in management and supervision of staff under his leadership. David has worked at HealthPartners Uganda in 3 different positions first as a Provider Relations officer, then as a Deputy Program Manager, and as a Program Manager bringing with him vast experience in project management, capacity building, Environmental protection, Community development, leadership, and training
Helen Ndikumwami
Helen is a capacity building expert, with over 15 years’ Non– governmental organization working experience in AFlateen/Aflatoun training, youth programing, radio presentation, maternal health advocacy, classroom teaching, political leadership and research. Worked with USAID, UKAID &GRAND CHALLENGES CANADA funded projects including Saving lives at birth (SLAB), Sustainable Outcomes for Children and Youth (SOCY) projects both in south western Uganda. IGAD/CEWARN field monitor in early warning and response mechanisms in Kigezi. Joined HealthPartners Uganda as a Provider Relations Officer, and is currently supporting Governance department as a Technical Advisor Member Relations. Her commitment in HPU with concentration mainly in the North, East and Central Uganda has strengthened capacity for TOTs, Cooperative Boards and health care providers to improved performance and increased membership, from 4,594 to 12,226 in the three regions for access to affordable quality health care in a period of two years.