CUEA: Rev. Proff. Elias Omondi Opongo, SJ Appointed Vice Chancellor
The appointment follows a rigorous selection process involving extensive interviewing, due diligence, and thorough dialogue between AMECEA and the Jesuit Province of Eastern Africa (AOR).
Fr. Opongo is a Kenyan Jesuit priest and an internationally recognized scholar in peace studies and international relations. He currently serves as an associate professor and Director of the Centre for Research, Training, and Publications at Hekima University College, where he also lectures at the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations (HIPSIR). A former Dean of HIPSIR, he has played a key role in institutional development and leadership at Hekima University College, including overseeing administration, finance, and human resources.
His academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, an M.A. in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and advanced theological training from Weston Jesuit School of Theology and Hekima University College. With over two decades of leadership in higher education, research, and community engagement, he is widely recognized for advancing social justice, reconciliation, and transformative peace processes across Africa.
As a practitioner-scholar, Fr. Opongo has expertise in conflict resolution, mediation, transitional justice, humanitarian action, and climate resilience. He has served in key advisory and leadership roles within Jesuit and international organizations and has trained diverse stakeholders, including policymakers, civil society actors, and grassroots communities. He sits on the advisory board of the Kroc Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame and has over 80 academic publications, including recent books such as Decolonizing NGO Peacebuilding and Liberal Peace Agenda in Northern Uganda (Bloomsbury, 2026) and The Palgrave Handbook on Peace, Conflict and Security in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025).
His journey to this appointment is rooted in a deep commitment to peacebuilding that was shaped early in his Jesuit life. While working at a radio station in 1996, following the Rwanda genocide, he found himself surrounded by the realities of violence and refugees—an experience that shifted his focus from media to peace and conflict. This led him to found the Hekima Peace Forum, a reflection group that brought together social justice advocates, NGOs, and civil society groups. His work has since taken him across the continent and beyond, including training teachers in peace education in Somalia and Yemen.
The appointment reflects the collaborative spirit between AMECEA, which owns the university, and the Jesuit Province of Eastern Africa. The University was established in 1984 as the Catholic Higher Institute of Eastern Africa (CHIEA) before receiving its civil charter from the Government of Kenya in 1992, becoming the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). It serves the Eastern Africa region, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
The Provincial of the Jesuit Eastern Africa Province, Rev. Fr. Kizito Kiyimba, SJ, has welcomed the appointment as "an opportunity for sharing resources in a way that is beneficial to all and in a spirit of synodality". The announcement comes as AMECEA gathered for the 21st Plenary Assembly at CUEA, where delegates discussed priorities including youth accompaniment, family life, and education and skills development.
Details of Fr. Opongo's mandate, including the start and duration of his term, will be communicated in due course. The Jesuit Province has invited all to pray for Fr. Opongo as he takes on this mission, "that God may work through him to uphold high standards of academic and human formation at this foremost university in the region".
His appointment represents a significant moment for CUEA and for Catholic higher education in Eastern Africa, bringing to the role a leader whose life and work embody the Jesuit intellectual tradition's commitment to rigorous academic inquiry, practical peacebuilding, and service to the Church and society.
