Tecla Namachanja Wanjala (born 1962) is a conflict resolution, post-conflict rehabilitation, and development worker from Kenya. She was the Acting Chair of

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. She has five children

Early life and education

Tecla Namachanja Wanjala was born in 1962 in the Bungoma District of Western Province in Kenya. After finishing her secondary education Wanjala pursued further training in social work, concluding in 1991. She received her master's degree in Conflict Transformation from the

Center for Justice and Peacebuilding Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) is an accredited graduate-level program founded in 1994. It also offers non-credit training. The program specializes in conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, equitable developmen ...

Eastern Mennonite University Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) is a private Mennonite university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The university also operates a satellite campus in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which primarily caters to working adults. EMU is known for its Center f ...

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

, in 2003. After returning to Kenya she continued her education, completing her Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies at

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology or MMUST, formerly Western University College of Science and Technology, is a non-profit public university in Kenya. The university is named after Masinde Muliro, a Kenyan politician who helped f ...

in Kakamega,

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, in 2014.

Career

In war everybody is a victim. For one to reconcile communities, one needs to rise from being a wounded victim to a wounded healer. I am a wounded healer. - Tecla Wanjala

After completing her social work degree she began working in a refugee camp in Bungoma, Kenya teaching

Kiswahili Swahili, also known as as it is referred to in the Swahili language, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral i ...

to children there. While working as a teacher she organized refugees into farming projects in order to help relieve the hunger and deprivation of the camp. In 1992 she took as position as Relief and Reconciliation Coordinator for the Bungoma Diocese of the Catholic Church where she continued her work in caring for refugee families. During her time in the refugee camps she was able to resettle and reintegrate nearly all internally displaced victims into their original, or new communities. In 1996 Wanjala began work with the Peace and Development Network of the NGO Council, known as PeaceNet. In this position she coordinated member activities, fundraising, and ran trainings for hundreds of workers in conflict transformation. She left this position to pursue a master's degree in the United States. Upon returning to Kenya after her studies at the

she began working for the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

(JICA). It was during her work at JICA that she was nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

as one of the 1000 women of peace. In 2010 Wanjala began serving as Vice Chair, then Acting Chair on

. She was the first woman to lead a truth commission. The commission’s work focused on addressing issues of justice and reconciliation from 12 December 1963 and 28 February 2008. Their report was presented to President

Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta ( born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he previously served as Prime Minister of Kenya, Deputy Pri ...

in 2013. During her career Wanjala has also participated in negotiations and trainings in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. She has also been a speaker at a variety of conferences including the International Conference on Peace and International Relations.

Works

Report of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (four volumes in six parts)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanjala, Tecla Namachanja 1962 births Living people People from Bungoma County Japan International Cooperation Agency