By Rose Spaziani

As mother, wife, and United Nations goodwill ambassador, Sylvia Nagginda Luswata (M.A. ’89) is skilled in many roles. Yet she is best known as Nnabagereka—or queen of Buganda, the largest tribal kingdom in the African country of Uganda. When the American-educated Luswata married King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II in 1999, she became the first queen of Buganda in nearly 30 years, a milestone she saw as an opportunity to embrace goals she set during her days as an NYIT student.

“While studying in the United States, I always kept at the forefront my return to Uganda to help people,” says Luswata, who studied communication arts at the Manhattan campus. 

Twenty-five percent of Uganda’s mostly rural population lives in Buganda. The country itself has faced tremendous hardship over the years, mostly in the forms of a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic and rebel militants who have, according to the U.S. State Department, terrorized and murdered tens of thousands of Ugandans from 1986 to 2006.

Luswata is attuned to her country’s challenges. Her first act as queen was to set up the Office of the Nnabagereka and establish the Nnabagereka Development Foundation (NDF) to promote socioeconomic development through education and health initiatives, environmental conservation, community empowerment, and good cultural values and practices. NDF now has a U.S. branch in Washington, D.C.

“In doing my work, I travel to different parts of Uganda,” she says. “I address people in workshops, seminars, public rallies, and various events both large and small. I reach thousands of people each year directly and many more through the media.”

She developed her media skills by producing ads and public service announcements in class at NYIT, and by working as a teaching assistant with Felisa Kaplan, Ph.D., professor of communication arts. 

“I remember Sylvia first of all as a very composed, beautiful young lady,” Kaplan says. “She was regal even then and I am not surprised that she is a queen now. She is highly intelligent, and we worked together more as a team than as a professor and assistant.”

While at NYIT, Luswata researched and presented a paper on using communication for development in Uganda, exploring how governments build support for policies and programs. 

“Without knowing it, I was preparing for this role,” she says. “Just about every course I took has helped me in my work as queen of Buganda.”

She also puts these global communications skills to use as a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Population Fund, supporting the education of girls, HIV/AIDS prevention, maternal health, and gender equality. 

“My interest in increasing women’s access to health care stems from my personal observations while visiting hospitals and clinics around the country, from talking to people about the kind of treatment they get, and from the apparent lack of affordable quality medical care throughout the country,” she says. 

Born in England and raised in Uganda by her paternal grandparents, she lived a comfortable life compared to those afflicted by poverty in her community. “My grandparents helped [less-privileged] people in many ways, including educating children, so I grew up seeing a lot of giving and caring,” she says. 

She came to the United States to attend college and stayed for 18 years before returning to Uganda. In addition to NYIT, she earned degrees from City University of New York and New York University, and later worked in public relations, business development, and economic research. 

The next step for Luswata is launching a chapter of the NDF in England, where she traveled to fundraise in July. She continues to improve the lives of others, especially those seeking to balance traditional beliefs with the global demands of the 21st century.

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