Susan Mweheire Kitariko has over 14 years experience in the telecom sector in Uganda. She became interested in ICT when she joined Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL) at the time of its privatisation, when the mobile section Mango was being launched and integrated into the old fixed line infrastructure of UTL.

She recently joined Google Uganda as the country manager and is at the forefront of pushing for an industry-wide shift to infrastructure sharing, whose objective is to facilitate Internet penetration in Uganda through the Google Project Link.

Growing up, wanted to be a lawyer, but her first degree was in mass communications from Makerere University and she later obtained a Masters in business administration (MBA) from Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School in Scotland.

Ms Kitariko has built a reputation for successfully developing telecoms business strategies, incubating new business models and building customer-channel programmes for two startup telecom companies in Uganda.

She is currently involved in pushing new data-driven opportunities, products, processes and customer service improvements in a demanding, complex, multinational and multicultural environment.

With Google Project Link, a metro-fibre network, Ms Kitariko is using the initiative to connect more people to fast and affordable broadband Internet through the Wi-Fi hotzone network.

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What’s your off-duty passion?

My family. It’s about enjoying the blessing of having a family and forgetting the hustle and bustle that comes with work and other professional responsibilities. I spend the time bonding and engaging with family.

What would you have been if you were not an IT executive today?

I had always thought of two careers. I had thought that my first degree would be in law but instead I studied mass communication and then I did a second degree and majored in ICT. I have done an MBA specialising in marketing and communication with a bias towards ICT from the Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh Business School.

What signifies your personal style?

It’s about being smart and trendy while presenting myself in society as a modern professional lady.

How do you manage your wardrobe?

It is about planning and separating my wardrobe into different compartments by purpose, ranging from work to party wear, sports wear and clothes for relaxing at home.

While in East Africa, where are you most likely to spend your Saturday afternoon?

This is referred to as ‘me-time.’ I spend it in a hair and beauty salon pampering myself and thereafter shopping for groceries.

Describe your best destination yet in East Africa?

Definitely, the White Sands Hotel in Mombasa. I enjoyed the beautiful and sandy white beaches and the amazing sea food.

Do you have a must-visit list?

I’d like to experience the wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya. As well as bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls in Zambia. Some people say it is the best bungee in the world, being 111 metres below the Victoria Falls Bridge.

Which is East Africa’s greatest strength?

I think it is the people and diversity now being enhanced by the East African Community that promotes integration of the different people.

What is your best collection? This can be books, music or anything else.

A compilation of my family photos and videos collected over the years right from my wedding day to the birth of my lastborn son.

What’s the most thoughtful gift you’ve received?

It was my 40th surprise birthday party hosted by my husband. He invited my close friends and family and topped that with a private performance by my best local artist Chameleone, who performed live.    

What’s the best gift you’ve given?

The mentorship and coaching that I have provided to young teams that I have worked with over time. They have grown from junior entry level jobs to supervisory and managerial positions today with a sense of direction of their future.  

Which is the big book you have read recently?

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Ferrazzi discovered early in life that what distinguishes highly successful people from others is the way they employ the power of relations.

Which film has impacted you the most?

The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith and his son. It is about a man’s one-year struggle with homelessness and bringing up a son as a single jobless father.

What’s your favourite music?

Local Ugandan music with the Afrigo Band topping the list of my favourite bands for their timeless music.

Which is your favourite website?

The British Broadcasting Corporation website for is my source of current news in the world — given the lack of time to watch news on television, and considering that when at home I share the screen with the children.

What is never missing from your fridge?

Fresh juice, fruit, white wine and homemade chilli sauce.