User:Ssemmanda will
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Ssemmanda Will is a Ugandan educator, journalist, and senior Wikimedian. He is the **Community Manager** of the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda (WCUGU) and a former Team Lead of Luganda Wikipedia.
With over 34,000 edits across Wikimedia projects, he is one of the most experienced contributors in the Ugandan Wikimedia community. He joined the movement in 2016 while studying at Makerere University and has since become a respected mentor, trainer, and strategist.
Wikimedia roles and contributions
[edit]Ssemmanda Will has held several leadership positions, including:
- **Community Manager**, Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda — leading strategic implementation, communications, and community growth.
- **Former Team Lead** of Luganda Wikipedia (since 2020) — where he grew the active editing team from a small group to over 40 contributors through training, recruitment, and quality improvement campaigns.
- Contributor to the incubation of **Runyankole Wikipedia** — including article translation, training editors, and improving content quality.
- Trainer and mentor for new contributors in Luganda and Runyankole-Rukiga Wikipedia projects.
- Active supporter of multi-university Wikimedia clubs and capacity-building initiatives across Uganda.
He is particularly passionate about promoting African languages, cultures, and local knowledge on Wikimedia projects. His work focuses on empowering underrepresented communities to document and share their own stories.
Professional background
[edit]Ssemmanda Will is an educator and journalist from **Mityana District**, Uganda. He currently lives in Kampala. As a journalist, he has worked with major Luganda-language media outlets, including Bukedde News Paper.
He strongly believes in the power of open knowledge for cultural preservation and identity. One of his notable statements is:
> “Open knowledge isn’t just about facts—it’s about identity, language, and giving communities the tools to tell their stories.”
Languages
[edit]- Luganda (lg-N) — Native speaker
- English (en-4) — Near-native proficiency (British English)
- Beginner level in French and Swahili