By William Opio
A family of nine children in Kasese district could not manage to raise them all. At different intervals, it lost four of the nine due to limited access to healthcare services. Zakayo Black Masereka was among the five who lived to adulthood.
That experience of losing siblings did not leave Masereka, who is the fifth born of Eriya Muhongya and Mbambu Gladys. A desire to become part of the solution to the pain that his family had endured was thus planted in him.
Born and raised in Buzira village, Kasese district, Masereka grew up in a rural, mountainous environment that demanded hard work and community cooperation. Children contributed to family life by fetching water, collecting firewood and grazing animals after school. The wider community, too, had its share of tasks. It played a central role in shaping values, with every adult taking responsibility for guiding children into responsible adulthood.
Beyond the loss of his siblings, Masereka chose to pursue nursing as a career because of the professionalism exhibited by healthcare workers. Seeing nurses and doctors in their uniforms stirred something within him. Over time, mentors and tutors recognized his potential not just as a nurse, but also as a future educator.
Today, he is a nurse and also a teacher of nurses at Uganda Christian University (UCU) Kagando University College, a role he describes as fulfilling. He believes that through teaching, he is contributing to improving healthcare education. UCU Kagando University College, located in Kasese, western Uganda, was inaugurated in April 2025 as a constituent college of the university.
Before joining the academia, Masereka made a deliberate effort to skill himself in clinical practice. After training in anesthesia and being appointed a Senior Anesthetic Officer at Fort Portal Regional Hospital, he was also admitted to pursue a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree. Despite the prestige and the financial security that came with his promotion, he chose to step away from it and pursue further education.
“For me, it was about passion,” Masereka explains. “I wanted to grow my nursing career in the direction I believed in.”
In 2009, he joined UCU, drawn by its strong Christian values and commitment to holistic education. He later pursued a Master of Science in Nursing at the same institution. Masereka describes UCU as a family environment where both academic and spiritual growth is nurtured. Community worship, particularly the Tuesday and Thursday lunch hour fellowship at Nkoyoyo Hall, he says, left a lasting impact on him.
Masereka also benefited from global exposure during his studies. Through international learning platforms and academic exchanges, including time at Bethel University in the United States of America, he gained a broader perspective on healthcare systems and nursing education, equipping him to think beyond local challenges and to contribute to global conversations in healthcare.
Over the years, he has taken up numerous leadership roles that have shaped his nursing profession. For the five years he served as the General Secretary of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) Masereka advocated for the welfare and professional recognition of nurses. UNMU is a professional labor union representing nurses and midwives in Uganda. He also mentored student leaders across the country and contributed to regional collaborations, including supporting the launch of a student-nurses association in South Sudan.
In 2018, he was awarded a national Independence Medal by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, for his exemplary service. He later received the internationally recognized Daisy Award for outstanding nursing service. The citation that the Daisy Foundation based its decision on to give him the award read: “Masereka has served as a nurse and mentor for nurses both in wards and nurse training school settings. He has promoted professional development through research and has enhanced continuous medical education among nurses and midwives.”
In a remarkable gesture of appreciation, his home district of Kasese honored him by naming a street, the Zakayo Black Street in Kisinga Town Council after Masereka.
He says his wife, Laheri, and their children have played a vital role in his journey, often sacrificing comfort so he could pursue further education.
“They stood with me,” he says. “They created space for me to study, even when it meant being away from them.”
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