This Christmas issue of Stellar Woman Magazine invites reflection. In this conversation, Hon. Victoria speaks openly about identity, leadership, loss, purpose, and the quiet wisdom that comes with time. What follows is her story, in her own words.
WHO IS HON. VICTORIA ?
“Thank you very much. It is really a pleasure to be here. I am happy that as we talk now, I am not only a mother, I am a grandmother. But I think the role I have learned to enjoy most is being a foster mother. It is interesting how we all love that mother figure wherever we are. One of my greatest joys, which I cannot put in my CV, is being a foster mother.
Besides that, the fact that I am retired but extremely busy is something I would like to share with others. Because if you want to know the most difficult part of retirement, it is not about money or not having a tie to wear. It is not being able to wake up with a purpose. Every morning becomes the same. If you have nothing to do on Monday, nothing on Tuesday, by Friday you are wondering, are you going to live like this until death corrects you?
So right now, I am just me. A retired Ugandan who is really enjoying her time. I have a kitchen garden where I grow all the vegetables and most of the fruits I eat. The joy of harvesting my greens straight from my garden to my pot. The joy of hosting friends at a whim. I sit there and decide, what is so and so doing? Why don’t we get together and just have fun?
The joy of being able to just get up and go and visit my sister. I call her and say, ‘I’m coming. Don’t prepare lunch. I’m bringing something.’ I spend the afternoon with her. These are things you cannot do when you are in school, at university, working, or when you are a minister. Now, I am enjoying my life as an old retired woman.”
“I honestly don’t remember having brilliant dreams. When you reach around ten years old, people ask what you want to be when you grow up. At that time, I knew what I did not want to be, but I didn’t know what I wanted to be.
I did not want to be a nurse. I told my father I did not want to deal with sick people from morning to evening, even when he explained that you make them better. I said no, I want to find them better. And that little cap they wear on the head, I told my mother I don’t think so.
At one point when I was at university, I thought men in uniform looked very smart and handsome and maybe I could have a husband in the army. That was before the wars in Uganda started. I quickly changed my mind because I did not want to have a husband whose life was always on the frontline.
Most of what I have achieved, I can safely say I found myself there. When I joined politics, it never occurred to me as a young girl that I would become a politician. So there goes my dream. What was clear was knowing what I did not want, so that I did not end up in the wrong place.”
QN. WHAT EARLY EXPERIENCES SHAPED THE WOMAN YOU BECAME?
“I come from Jinja, Uganda, where nearly everybody was in agriculture. The richest person in my region was Madhvani, and Madhvani is in agriculture. So growing up, I knew I would end up somewhere in agriculture. But again, I knew where I did not want to end up.
I did not want to be the woman who wakes up every morning to dig in order to eat. That was out. I also knew I did not want to be the woman who has to process all her food herself. Growing millet, harvesting it, grinding it. No. That was not going to be in my script.
When I was in high school and we studied domestic science, learning how food is procured, prepared, and consumed, it occurred to me that those chores I hated could actually be made simpler. That is what led me to study agriculture at university. I wanted to see how agriculture could become a joy and a commercial venture where one can earn money and live a comfortable life.
So that drudgery of my upbringing as a farmer’s daughter is what led me to end up as an agriculturalist.”
QN. WHAT VALUES HAVE GUIDED YOU THROUGH EVERY CHAPTER?
“My father was a policeman before retiring to become a farmer. My mother was a teacher before retiring to become a farmer. Putting a policeman and a teacher together equals discipline. Education was not negotiable.
The first thing my father taught me was to read, but more importantly, to listen. After reading, he would ask me what I understood, and he would bring my siblings to listen. It was uncomfortable, but his mantra was focus, focus, focus.
Integrity is non negotiable. My father used to say that when there is a complaint, many people may lie, but there is always some truth somewhere. His job was to find that tiny truth. He taught us that shortcuts are easy, but getting to the root requires honesty and focus.
For me, focusing and being honest are not negotiable. Everything else we can discuss.”
QN. WHAT DOES CHRISTMAS MEAN TO YOU, GIVEN YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCE?
“About thirty years ago, I lost my son. It was around Christmas time. What I want to share is that whether it is Christmas or Easter, life goes on. Since then, I have had many more Christmases. Other people have lost loved ones, and others have gained loved ones.
At Christmas, I think about real life. Saints were not born saints. I look at the year, I note the good and the not so good. I forgive. I take experience and decide to do better next year. For now, I focus and enjoy the moment.”
WHAT MOMENTS FROM YOUR CAREER STILL FILL YOU WITH PRIDE?
“There are many, but two stand out. Before becoming minister, I bought a cow with my savings. That one cow paid for my household needs. I realised if I could do it as an absentee farmer, poor women could do it too.
We started a project where 120 women received cows. That project is still ongoing nearly thirty years later. I meet people who tell me that cow sent them to school.
There was a woman who used to sell pancakes on credit, always in debt. When she got a cow, she paid school fees, cleared debts, and brought milk to the school bursar. Even now, that story warms my heart.
The second was agricultural competitions. Farmers won trips to the US, UK, Denmark, Egypt. I still meet people who say, ‘You sent me to the United States. I did not even have a passport.’ Those moments stay with me.”
QN. WHAT DID THESE EXPERIENCES TEACH YOU ABOUT PEOPLE?
“It is possible to change a whole village one homestead at a time. But you must find people where they are. Don’t dump something and disappear. Be there. Listen. Focus on them. Life happens.”
QN. WHO SHAPED YOU AS A LEADER?
“Some women shaped me, but most were men. When I became minister, there were no senior women ministers to sit with me. At the United Nations, I was lucky to have women who advised me, like Mary Chinery Hesse, who told me my health comes first.
Many people doubted my move into politics. But a friend told me, ‘If they managed, you will manage.’ I never forgot that.
Support does not always come from women. Sometimes men will hold your hand and take you there.”
QN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE A STELLAR WOMAN?
“The most important thing is knowing you cannot do it alone. Jobs at a certain level are not applied for. You are seen. At every stage, someone holds your hand.
Leave the little battles to little people. Focus. Follow your own path. You do not know it all, and you cannot do it alone.”
QN. A MOMENT YOU ROSE ABOVE FEAR OR DOUBT
“One thing you learn over time is that fear does not disappear. You just learn how to manage it,” she says.
Hon. Victoria explains that leadership places you in situations where you are constantly being watched, assessed, and sometimes misunderstood. Over the years, she learned that responding in the moment is not always wise. Sometimes restraint is power.
She recalls a moment early in her political career when she was the only woman in a room full of senior men. A visiting head of state kissed her in public. She chose not to react immediately.
“I did not make a scene. I kept quiet,” she says. “But later, I went to our president and said, ‘Please explain to your colleagues that I am your minister.’”
That single, measured action changed everything. “It never happened again,” she says. “You do not always need noise. Sometimes control is stronger.”
For her, leadership has never been about confrontation for its own sake. It is about choosing when and how to act, without losing dignity.
QN. HOW DO YOU STAY GROUNDED THROUGH ALL OF LIFE’S SEASONS?
Hon. Victoria smiles when she speaks about grounding. For her, it comes from realism.
“You tell yourself the path is not perfect,” she says. “Then potholes do not surprise you.”
She explains that many people struggle not because life is hard, but because they expected it to be smooth. Experience has taught her otherwise. Leadership, loss, joy, disappointment, and success all sit on the same road.
“When you know that challenges will come, you are not shaken when they arrive,” she says. “You deal with them and move on.”
Grounding, for her, also comes from staying connected to ordinary life. Gardening, cooking, hosting friends, visiting family without ceremony. These simple acts keep her centred and present.
QN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE A STELLAR WOMAN?
She answers this without hesitation.
“The most important thing is knowing that nobody does it alone,” she says.
Hon. Victoria explains that at senior levels, opportunities are rarely applied for. “You are seen,” she says. “And when you are seen, it is because someone before you noticed your work.”
At every stage of her life, someone held her hand. Sometimes it was a woman. Many times, it was a man. What mattered was not gender, but guidance.
“Leave the little battles to little people,” she advises. “Focus. Follow your own path.”
She believes many women exhaust themselves fighting every small resistance instead of protecting their energy for what truly matters. Wisdom, she says, is knowing where to invest yourself.
QN. WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF WOMEN?
Her voice softens, but her message is firm.
“Do not ever think of giving up,” she says.
Hon. Victoria believes deeply in lifting others as you rise. Progress, in her view, is collective. “Find just one hand that is looking to be held,” she says. “So that person can thrive and go with it.”
She reminds young women that leadership is not glamorous. It requires patience, focus, and discipline. But it is also deeply rewarding when done with purpose.
CLOSING REFLECTION
As the conversation comes to an end, Hon. Victoria does not speak like someone looking back with regret or nostalgia. She speaks like someone fully at peace with her journey.
Her life is a lesson in focus, integrity, restraint, and humanity. She reminds us that leadership is not about perfection, but preparation. Not about noise, but clarity. Not about doing it alone, but knowing when to reach out and when to hold steady.
In this season of reflection, her story stands as a reminder that true radiance is not rushed. It is earned, sustained, and shared.
