Dr. Godwin M.A. Hlatshwayo

Dr. Yarsuo Weh-Dorliae, BA, MA, MPA, LLB, PhD, is a career civil servant and a public policy and administration professional with more than 32 years of work experience in the USA and Africa. He has served several private organizations and government institutions in Liberia and the United States in senior technical, managerial, and executive capacities, delivering planning, organizational development, legal analysis, governance, and public policy advocacy work. He has worked extensively with international donors (UN Women, EU, USAID, UNDP, OSIWA, Government of Sweden), and central and local government institutions and structures to implement ongoing deconcentration and constitutionally sanctioned decentralization in West Africa. 

As an experienced researcher, trainer, and university lecturer, he has conducted numerous high-profile governance reform workshops, presidential cabinet presentations, legislative engagement sessions, and moderated the Liberia’s Constitutional Conference of 2015. As author and newspaper columnist, he has written extensively on state building, public sector modernization reform, decentralization, and democratic governance. His book, Proposition 12: Toward Decentralized Governance in Liberia, served as the blueprint in development of Liberia’s National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance. He is a passionate advocate of gender mainstreaming in local governance. 

Dr. Dorliae is GMAH’s Public Policy and Governance lead expert and field expert for West Africa.

Dr. Allen Tapiwa Chikwanda (ATC) is a qualified Animal Scientist with over 20 years of experience, working across different platforms in the field. ATC has been in consultancy, scientific research, worked with smallholder farmers both rural and peri-urban, commercial farmers, collaborated with NGOs, worked in the poultry industry at technical and senior management levels and is currently a senior lecturer at university. institutions.

Dr. Allen’s current research interests are in providing technical advice in after-sales services for small to large scale commercial poultry farmers. He also practices chicken management, health, biosecurity, sanitation and hygiene and marketing advice to chicken farmers. ATC is also working on testing for meat quality and measure greenhouse gases emissions from farm setups. Meat quality and greenhouse gas emissions are topical issues which are influencing buying decision by enlightened consumers vi-a-vis human health and climate change, respectively. Sustainable production are key attributes of greening the economy.

Dr. Allen Tapiwa Chikwanda holds a PhD in Anim. Sci. (University of Fort Hare), MPhilAg Anim. Sci., MBA, BSc. Hons. Agric. Anim. Sci. (University of Zimbabwe). He has also had a lot of in-house training in the various companies where he has worked.

Dr. Allen is GMAH’s Agricultural Economist and Animal Scientist while serving as field expert for Southern Africa.

Mr. Charles Mandala is a recently retired Executive Director of the Malawi Local Development Fund (1998-2018). He is a Certified International Business Leader; a member of Africa Board Fellowship Program (Microfinance and Financial Inclusion) and a holder of a master’s Degree in strategic management. 

Charles spent 28 years of his 40 years work-life in executing community-driven development with strong focus on social safety nets and social protection programmes in Africa. Specific programs he designed and led include: Social Protection initiatives including Social Cash Transfers and Public Works safety nets; Local Economic Development (LED); Community Driven Socio-economic Infrastructure Development (CDD); Savings and Investment promotion;, Social and Public Accountability programmes and Local Authorities' Capacity Development and Performance improvements interventions, amongst others.

Mr. Mandala's current interests include Internal Management Consulting focusing on organizational development, institutional learning, and performance improvement. He brings long experience in strategic leadership at both programme and organization/ corporate level; project formulation, negotiations and management; fund management; institutional analysis and capacity development; knowledge management; social accountability; design and application of development communication techniques; design and management of CDD and Social Safety-net interventions, amongst others.

Mr. Mandala is GMAH’s Certified International Business and Local Economic Development Lead while serving as field Expert for Southern Africa.

Ms. Dorothy Katantazi brings 30 experience in providing Business Development Services, Microfinance (MF), Leadership and Governance of MF institutions, Women Entrepreneurs Networks, Policy Regulation, Advocacy & Capacity Building. Dorothy is an International Labour Organization (ILO) Certified Master Trainer and expert working in both Private and Public sectors. 

Ms. Katantazi holds an MBA and Diploma in Leadership and Development from Eastern University St. Davis' Pennsylvania (USA); A Master’s Degree in Accounting and Development Finance from the University of Birmingham (UK) and a Bachelors Degree of Commerce (B-Com) from Makerere University, Kampala (Uganda).

Ms. Katantazi is GMAH’s Lead Certified Master Trainer and field expert for East Africa.

  Mr. Aldrin Sikala brings 12 years of practical experience working with Local Government Authorities in Africa focusing on quantitative analysis, economic and environmental forecasting. Mr. Aldrin Sikala is Registered Environmental Engineer who specializes in Climate change, Environment Management, Public Health and Safety and has thorough understanding of Local Government regulations.

Aldrin’s current interests are in:

Implementing water, sanitation & hygiene promotion programmes in Local Government Councils.

Designing and monitoring & evaluating projects using participatory approaches.

Community mobilization and facilitating implementation of community projects.

Innovative financing of Local Government Authorities.

Citizen dialogue and inclusive governance.

Conducting feasibility studies in Climate change, Environment Management, Public Health and Safety.

Conducting risk analysis and providing risk mitigation measures.

Writing project proposals.

His qualifications include Bachelor of EnvironmentalEngineering, Master of Science in Project Management, MBA, Post Graduate Diploma in Monitoring & Evaluation, Certificate in Public Policy Analysis, Certificate in Citizen Participation and Inclusive Governance and Certificate in Organizational Change Management.

Aldrin is GMAH’s Lead Scientist in Climate Change and Environmental Management in Local Government Authorities and field expert for Southern Africa.

Mr. Francis Nuwame is an accomplished qualitative and quantitative Monitoring and Evaluations Expert, Institutional Capacity Development and Management Trainer and coach. He is fluent in French and English. As a seasoned professional farmer of 50 irrigated hectares and an owner-manager of an agricultural training centre. His domain of professional competencies includes agri-business value chain analysis, gender responsive farming systems, micro enterprises, and credit systems, as well as project design, coaching and leadership skills. He has a strong cross cultural and cross religion development facilitation skills.

Mr. Francis Nuwame obtained his university education in Canada and acquired vast field experience in North America and Africa. He holds a M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics, B.A. in Business Administration, Diploma in Marketing and Management, Diploma in Small Business Management and is a Certified Practitioner for Myer-Briggs Type Indicators.

Mr. Nuwame is GMAH’s Myer-Briggs Type Indicators Practitioner and field expert for West Africa. 

Ms. Susan Upton brings 35 years in monitoring and evaluation of child labor, youth and adult literacy and non-formal education sectors across 13 countries funded by the USA Department of Labour, DFID and ILO, in West, East and Southern Africa. Fluent in French and English, Ms. Upton is a specialist social worker, child rights practitioner and consultant in institutional capacity building and training in participatory community development approaches, including Participatory Rural Appraisal and the Reflection approach to social change working in the UK and across Africa.

Ms. Upton obtained her educational training in the UK. Her professional experience is in Africa and Europe. She holds degrees in Social Work, Social Studies, Play Leadership and is an expert in English-French Translations.

Ms. Upton is GMAH’s field expert for West Africa.

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Ms. Rita Mazzocchi is an expert in Human Rights law, Humanitarian law, Social Protection, and Civil-Military coordination. She brings 30 years’ experience in gender empowerment, programme planning, and managing development work as well as responding to emergencies in all countries of the Horn of Africa. 

Ms. Mazzocchi holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Bachelor of Law, Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Biochemistry, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Ms. Rita Mazzocchi is currently working on her PhD in Human Rights Law.

Ms. Mazzocchi is GMAH’s Human Rights and Emergencies Lead and field expert for the Horn of Africa.