Professor Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, Uganda’s High Commissioner to India, has shared a remarkable journey of motherhood after giving birth to her first child at the age of 60, following more than three decades in a childless marriage.
Speaking at the 2026 National Prayer Breakfast Women’s Convocation on Wednesday, May 27, in Nairobi, the diplomat revealed that despite her academic and professional success, she faced societal stigma, but remained hopeful and continued praying that she would one day become a mother.
For over 30 years, Kikafunda endured emotional pain and social stigma linked to her inability to conceive, saying she was often subjected to questions and criticism that deeply affected her wellbeing.
Despite the long wait, she later defied medical expectations when she successfully conceived and delivered her first child via Caesarean section at 60 years old.
Her story did not end there. At 63, she shocked many again after giving birth to quadruplets, completing a rare and extraordinary journey into motherhood.
She has five children in total: Blessing Kezia Faith, Samuel Josephson, Amazing Grace, Joyce Patience and Hope Mercy.
Kikafunda has since documented her experience in her book Giving Hope, where she opens up about her emotional struggles and medical journey, while also challenging the stigma surrounding infertility in African societies.
She continues to advocate for greater respect and mental health support for women facing infertility, emphasizing that a woman’s value is not defined by childbearing, but by her broader purpose in society.
The senior diplomat has a distinguished career spanning academia, international research, and high-level foreign service.
Before joining diplomacy, she built a strong academic reputation at Makerere University, where she became a professor of food science and played a pioneering role in strengthening agricultural science and nutrition studies.
She is also recognised as one of East Africa’s earliest women to achieve a first-class degree in agriculture, marking a major milestone in her academic journey.
Her career later transitioned into diplomacy, where she has served in several key postings, including as Uganda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and currently India.
Beyond diplomacy and academia, she has also contributed to global agricultural research, including serving on the Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute, where she supported initiatives aimed at improving food security and reducing poverty.
