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Dr Freda Nkirote M’Mbogori is a senior Kenyan archaeologist with considerable experience in leadership roles and with an impressive international profile. She has spent the last seven years as Deputy Director and then Country Director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa where she has been a close collaborator of multiple staff within the Department of Archaeology and McDonald Institute. She has held CoI and PI roles with Cambridge staff and has previously been a visiting scholar. Dr M’Mbogori is currently the Senior Research Scientist National Museums of Kenya having previously held the position of Director of the BIEA, president of the Pan-African Archaeological Association and was previously a department head at the National Museums of Kenya.
Affiliation(s): British Institute in Eastern Africa
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Published Work: Ochungo, P., Khalaf, N., Merlo, S., Beldados, A., M'Mbogori, F. N., Tiki, W., & Lane, P. J. (2022). Remote sensing for biocultural heritage preservation in an African semi-arid region: A case study of indigenous wells in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. Remote Sensing, 14(2), Article 314
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Patrick Abungu is Senior Curator at Kisumu Museum, National Museums of Kenya. He holds a Master's degree in Museology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Museums and Heritage Studies, and an Advanced Certificate in Information Technology. He has worked in the heritage sector, particularly with the National Museums of Kenya, since 1988, beginning as a volunteer archaeology laboratory assistant before progressing to roles as a collections documentation assistant, data processor, and curatorial assistant in the Department of Coastal Archaeology at Fort Jesus Museum, Mombasa. He previously served as Senior Curator in charge of the Shimoni Slavery Museum and Heritage Site, where he led efforts to establish a museum dedicated to the theme of slavery and the slave trade; a practice once rampant in the region owing to its proximity to Zanzibar, a major slave auction market on the Trans-Indian Ocean slave route. Shimoni played a significant role in this trade due to its extensive caves, which were used as slave pens to hold captives before their shipment to the Zanzibar market in neighbouring Tanzania. His specialities include the conservation and management of heritage resources in partnership with diverse communities for development purposes.
Affiliation(s): National Museums of Kenya
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Published Work: Abungu, P., & Lafleur, J.-F. (2023). Slave trade, slavery and the politics of heritage representation in Africa: Examples from Kenya and Mauritius. In G. O. Abungu & W. Ndoro (Eds.), Cultural heritage management in Africa: The heritage of the colonized (Chapter 9). Routledge.
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Honourable Sarah Nyanath Elijah Yong is the Minister of Culture, Museums, and National Heritage for the Republic of South Sudan, having taken office in early 2026 from her predecessor, Dr Nadia Arop Dudi. Under her leadership, the Ministry has focused on preserving South Sudan's history and elevating its natural landmarks internationally. Notable achievements include signing and submitting the country's first Emergency World Heritage Nomination dossier to UNESCO for the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape, and representing South Sudan at African Union events advocating for reparations, memory, and sovereignty over African heritage resources. She has also championed national identity through cultural events and community engagement, including marking Independence Anniversary celebrations.
Affiliation(s): South Sudan Minister of Culture, Museums and National Heritage
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Published Work: Elijah, S. N., & Huggins, C. (2003, February). The missing link: Identifying and addressing linkages between local conflicts and macro-conflicts in Southern Sudan [Paper presentation]. IRG and IDRC Regional Consultations Towards a Regional Security Architecture: Assessing Issues and Developing Capacity in the Horn of Africa. Sudan Open Archive.
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Angela Kabiru is a Postgraduate Research Fellow at the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA). She has a BA in Archaeology (University of Nairobi), an MSc in Tourism Management (University of Surrey) and an MSc in Geographical Information Sciences (Lund University). Angela has worked at the National Museums of Kenya all her professional life, starting off as a Research Intern, Research Assistant, and now as a Research Scientist. She is an archaeologist specialising in cultural heritage research, tourism development and management, and GIS. Her work focuses on landscape archaeology, settlement pattern analysis, and GIS-based reconstruction of past landscapes. She has experience in archaeological survey, heritage impact assessment, and heritage management within national and international frameworks. Her interests include digital archaeology, remote sensing, and policy-relevant heritage research.
Affiliation(s): British institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA)
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Published Work: Kabiru, A., Ndiaye, A., Michaut, E., Merlo, S., & Lane, P. (2025). "Shoreline dynamics and cultural heritage sites in Kenya, Tanzania, and Senegal: integrating remote sensing and archaeological knowledge." Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, published online 22 April 2025.
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Dr David Mbuthia has worked in the heritage field for 24 years, spending 21 years at the National Museums of Kenya and two years at the National Heroes Council. For over a decade, his role has centred on coordinating and preserving the nation's legacy, ensuring that national history is researched, documented, and disseminated with diligence. He has helped operationalise the Council into a thriving State Corporation, forging research collaborations and partnerships that have supported museums, sites, and monuments honouring national heroes with inclusivity and diversity.
Affiliation(s): National Heroes Council
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Published Work: Kiura, P. & Mbuthia, D. (2024). "Historical dynamics of heritage definition and management in Kenya." Presentation, September 2024. Explores how perceptions, definitions, and management of heritage in Kenya have evolved from the pre-colonial period to the post-devolution era.
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Dr Eva Namusoke is Senior Curator, African Collections Futures, working across collections from and about the African continent in the University of Cambridge’s museums, garden, libraries, archives, and departments. Eva published a report on these collections in December 2024. She was the curator of Bound Together: Leather from Northern Nigeria (2025-2026) at The Fitzwilliam Museum. Eva’s history PhD from the University of Cambridge focused on the development of the Anglican church in Uganda post-independence. She obtained an MA in African Studies from Yale University. After her PhD, Eva worked on the Commonwealth Oral History Project at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) in London, followed by roles in academia, public health, and policy research in Mauritius and Kampala.
Affiliation(s): University of Cambridge
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Published Work: Namusoke, Eva, African Collections Futures, Apollo - University of Cambridge Repositor, 2024
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Dr Philip Maligisu's career is heavily focused on decolonising the African museum narrative . He has extensively researched how museums in Tanzania were initially utilized as Western propaganda tools and how these institutions can be repurposed to foster a sense of true Pan-African national identity in the post-colonial period. He curated the "Cultural Violence" exhibition for the National Museum of Tanzania, examining belongings looted by German troops during the Majimaji War. He has spent years researching the origins and journeys of Tanzanian belongings held in German museums, helping decentre colonial narratives in favour of emic perspectives. He has also documented the Swahili Coast's intangible maritime heritage, including traditional boatbuilding and the archaeology of sites such as Kilwa Kisiwani.
Affiliation(s): UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Tanzania; University of Dar es Salaam; National Museum of Tanzania
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Published Work: Cooper, J.P., Ichumbaki, E.B., Blue, L.K., Maligisu, P.C.M., & Mark, S.R. (2022). "When the 'Asset' Is Livelihood: Making Heritage with the Maritime Practitioners of Bagamoyo, Tanzania." Heritage, 5(2), 1160-1198.
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Philemon Nyamanga has a background in anthropology, heritage conservation and risk management. He is a research scientist working for the National Museums of Kenya in the Cultural Heritage department. He has been involved in developing several exhibitions including “Kanga Stories: The Cloth That Reveals” (2011), “Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Exhibition” (2016), “Abasuba Pictorial Exhibition” (2017), “Omieri Exhibition” (2018), “Central Bank of Kenya Numismatic Exhibition” (2018), “Biennale NMK Science Expos” (2010–2019) and “Nelson Mandela: A Centenary Celebration” (2018). Philemon has been a member of the exhibitions committee at Nairobi National Museum since 2012.
Affiliation(s): National Museums of Kenya
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Published Work: The role of digital humanities in the preservation of indigenous knowledge at the National Museums of Kenya.
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Abiti Adebo Nelson is the co-investigator on the Un-archived horrors of slavery at Fort Patiko: Rethinking the historical narratives of slavery and slave trade in post-conflict northern Uganda project. He is also a curator for Ethnography and History at the Uganda National Museum. He is currently a PhD Candidate of History at the University of Western Cape in South Africa. Abiti has co-curated exhibitions on ‘Road to Reconciliation’, the Milk exhibition project in Uganda and Switzerland; and the recent ‘Unseen Archive of Idi Amin’ that opened at Uganda Museum 18th May 2019. Abiti’s research focuses on community memorials, restitution, ethnographic museums and transitional justice.
Affiliation(s): Uganda National Museum
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Published Work: Handling collections in the museum against cultural ethics; The Uganda Museum’s Tribal Representation: Colonial Repositories and Community Reconciliation in Uganda
