Perezi K. Kamunanwire has served as Uganda’s ambassador to the United States since May 15, 2006. He previously served as ambassador to Austria, Germany, and the Holy See (1986-1988), and as Uganda’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York (1988-1996). In 1990, he was the 45th chairman of the UN General Assembly Special Political Committee.
Kamunanwire was the chair of the Uganda People’s Congress Youth League (1958-1963) and the Pan-African Students’ Organization in Amsterdam (1965-1970).
Educated at Columbia University, Kamunanwire received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Masters of Arts in International Relations. He earned a Doctor of Laws at Ignatius College in New York.
He taught at City College of the City University of New York (1974-1986), where he also directed programs in black studies and international relations. Starting in 2003, he has served as an adjunct professor at the Center for Conflict Management and Organizational Research associated with Sofia University in Bulgaria.
Kamunanwire wrote the foreword to We, the PanAfrikans: Essays on the Black Experience in 1992.
He is fluent in English and five African languages (Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Luganda, Runyankole, and Swahili).
Kamunanwire is married and has two children.