Who is Joyce Bagala? Flash Uganda Media looks at her biography, husband, children, family, work and experience, political career, early life and education of the current Woman Member of Parliament, representing Mityana District.
Joyce Bagala is a Ugandan Journalist, Politician and Woman legislator for Mityana District (2021-2026) and a passionate member of the National Unity Platform (NUP).
Before she turned political, Bagala served as the news manager at Next Media Services (NBS Television) based in Kampala Uganda.
Joyce Bagala is a faithful journalist who loves her career, the people she serves and is very passionate about work. Her radio and TV career made her famous and paved the way for her political career.
She used her position as a journalist to highlight issues affecting Ugandans particularly the health system, and the poor roads network.
Early Life and Education
Joyce Bagala hails from the famous family of the late Petero Ntwatwa in the Mityana District.
Ntwatwa is a former Buganda Lukiiko Speaker in the Buganda government who served in the 1960s and Rev William Ssewanyana Katula, Bagala’s maternal grandfather who was the former Mityana diocesan secretary.
Bagala grew up as an orphan; she lost her biological parents at a tender age, so she was raised by Josephine Esther Nansikombi, her maternal aunt.
Bagala attended Mityana Junior School, from where she completed her Primary education, then Gombe SS where she completed both O’ and A’ Level education.
After, Bagala joined UMCAT School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Kampala from where she graduated with a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Later, Bagala got admitted to Makerere University graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication.
Work and Experience
Bagala has worked as a news reporter and anchor of the Amasengejje, Luganda news broadcast at NBS TV airing every day at 7 pm and News Manager. She began her TV career in 2016.
Before joining NBS TV, Bagala worked as a Luganda news anchor at Beat FM, Budu FM in Masaka, Sanyu FM and Akaboozi FM. Bagala began reading Luganda at Sanyu FM.
While at Radio One, Bagala served as an English news anchor.
In 2019, Bagala was suspended as a news manager alongside other stations managers who were in charge of the broadcast for airing live coverage of Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, National Unity Platform (NUP) President and former Kyadondo East legislator on the directive of the Uganda Communications Commission’s (UCC).
Bagala then threatened to sue NBS for illegal suspension, a threat that went futile.
Other Responsibilities
Joyce Bagala has skilled women, cared for the orphans reached out to the orphaned, talking to girls on the relevance of education.
Bagala has also used her position as a journalist to highlight issues affecting residents in Mityana District.
These include land conflicts, lack of clean water in various localities in the district, prevalent poverty, and non-communicable diseases, among others.
Politics
Joyce Bagala is the current Woman legislator of Mityana District voted into power in the 2021 general elections on the NUP ticket.
In the 2016 general elections, she contested for the position of Mityana Woman Legislator but lost the race to the Minister of Information, ICT and Communication, Judith Nabakooba.
She raced together with her cousin Namuleme Ntwatwa and they both lost to Minister Nabakooba.
Bagala in the 11th Parliament is the Shadow Minister for Information and Anti-Corruption.
According to Bagala, her family legacy drove her to participate in elective politics to continue the family legacy of leadership.
On her political agenda, Bagala promised to monitor government projects, holding people in authority accountable, keep in touch with her people on the ground and working together with fellow legislators from Mityana District.
Election Petition
Minister Nabakooba after losing the vote to Bagala sought nullification of Bagala’s victory as Mityana Woman MP at Mubende High Court citing election malpractice.
The petition indicated that Electoral Commission (EC) and Ms Bagala (respondent) conspired and rigged votes. Nabakooba in the 2021 general election came second after she scored 48,079 votes while her immediate rival Bagala scored 64,305 making her the winner.
Family
Joyce Bagala is a married woman with two children.
Achievements
Joyce Baagala was listed among the top 200 most influential African Women on Twitter in 2021, a publication produced by Smart Data Power drawn from various fields across African countries that includes; politics, business, media, health among others.
This was in partnership with Women in Africa, a joint initiative for the economic development and support of African Women entrepreneurs.
.){kind=link}