William Pike was born in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in 1952. His father was a British Colonial Officer at the time and after the family returned to the UK, William completed his schooling in the 1960s and 1970s.  After graduation he decided to become a freelance journalist and headed to Tanzania to focus on African issues. In 1982, however, he returned to London to undertake a masters in African studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies.  While there, he soon began meeting Ugandans longing for change in the wake of Idi Amin’s corrupt government and his replacement, Milton Obote.  Thus, in 1984, William found himself in Uganda linking-up with the National Resistance Army (NRA) then waging what would become a successful guerilla war against Obote’s government. In the infamous Luwero Triangle, an area notorious for the persecution of civilians during the fighting, he became the first journalist to interview the leader of the NRA, Yoweri Museveni who would go on to become Uganda’s president in 1986, a position he still holds today.

In 1986, William became the Editor-in-Chief of Uganda’s government newspaper, New Vision, a position he held until 2006. And today, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the Nairobi Star in Kenya.  With a national election in Uganda set for early 2021, William will look back on his time with the NRA and as Editor-in-Chief of New Vision and offer his views on what the future holds for Uganda and East Africa in general.