Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe

Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe is a Ugandan feminist activist, international development consultant, and thought leader with over three decades of experience advancing women’s rights, gender equality, and social justice across Africa. She has held leadership positions in major women’s rights organisations and has contributed to policy development, movement building, and feminist scholarship.

Quotes

• I became a feminist because I was angry; very angry and filled with positive anger that took a better part of my life.
  • Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe explaining the personal experiences that shaped her commitment to feminism and women's rights activism.

• I always felt I had to do something to change the status quo.
  • Explaining why she became involved in the women's movement after observing gender inequalities in society.

• To me feminism means women’s universal freedom from oppression of the mind, soul, thought, body, sexuality and spirit.
  • Defining her understanding of feminism and the liberation of women from different forms of oppression.

• It means daring to be different and question authority, speaking out, claiming my space and being autonomous.
  • Describing feminism as a commitment to challenging restrictive norms and asserting women's autonomy.

• No woman is free until all women are free.
  • Summarising her belief in collective liberation and solidarity among women regardless of identity or background.

• It means sisterhood – that collectivity, bonding, the power and energies of sisters ever flowing, networks and understanding each other.
  • Continuing her explanation of feminism, Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe described sisterhood as collective strength, solidarity, and mutual understanding among women.

• At a personal level, it means reclaiming back my sexuality and bodily autonomy, and bringing to light the politics of sexuality and how it is used to control women's lives.
  • Reflecting on the personal meaning of feminism, she emphasized bodily autonomy and challenging the use of sexuality as a tool of oppression.

• Have you ever heard of inviting your oppressor to join you? In every sense of the word they have screwed us up.
  • Speaking during the Second African Feminist Forum in Kampala (2008), she challenged the idea that feminist movements should rely on their oppressors for liberation.

• If someone hasn't felt how it feels to eat last, to work more and to earn less, how do you expect them to support you?
  • Addressing structural inequality at the Second African Feminist Forum, she argued that people who have never experienced gender discrimination often struggle to understand it.

• The time has come for us as a women's movement and as feminists to talk about our non-negotiables and the fact that we should not let the church define our rights.
  • Quoted in a study on Christian fundamentalisms and women's rights in Africa, Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe called on feminists to clearly articulate non-negotiable rights and resist religious institutions defining women's rights.