Prof. Wilfred Lajul

Professor


Wilfred Lajul is a Professor of Philosophy and current Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy Department, at Gulu University. He is a Catholic priest who was ordained in 1987. From 1988- 1990 and later 1995-1997, he taught philosophy at Katigondo National Major Seminary (Masaka), and from 1997-1999, he taught at Alokolum National Major Seminary (Gulu). From 2001 – 2020, he taught Philosophy at Makerere University Kampala, and since 2020-2024, he is teaching philosophy and Religious Studies at Gulu University.

Wilfred has two undergraduate degrees: one in philosophy and the other in Theology, besides he has an MA in Philosophy (1992) and PhD in Philosophy – (1994), all obtained from Urban University Rome. He also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (obtained from Makerere University in 2000). Since 1988, when he started teaching, he taught various subjects in the area of philosophy, ethics, human rights, and religious studies. Over the years, he supervised several MA and PhD students to completion.

He is a member of several international professional bodies, like African Philosophy Society. From 2021 to date, he has been heavily involved in training the religious leaders in Gulu, Omoro, Lamwo, and Kitgum districts in the Right to Freedom of Religion and Belief. Besides the several national and international conferences, he organized and attended, Wilfred has published 4 books, 10 book chapters, and over 20 Journal Articles in the areas of African Philosophy, Ethics, Human Rights, and general philosophy.

Some of his book publications are; African Philosophy: Critical Dimensions (2014), Contemporary African Philosophers: A Critical Appraisal (2018), African Philosophical Sagacity in Selected African Languages and Proverbs (2024), and Philosophy, Language and Literature in an African Context (2025). Apart from these books, he has also written several and book chapters and articles. Some of the articles are on: “Critical Evaluation and Foundation of the Theory of a Just War”, (2004), “Conflicts Resolution and Human Rights in Uganda: A Philosophical Analysis,” (2005), “Conflicts and the Right to Food in the IDP Camps in Northern Uganda,” (2008), “Justice and Post LRA War in Northern Uganda: ICC Versus Acholi Traditional Justice System” (2017), and with his PhD student Mastullah Mwanga, “Governance Challenges to Women’s Realization of the Rights to sexual and Reproductive Health: The Case of Women in Polygamous Marriages in Uganda” (2021).

Download CV

Qualifications

Institution Period Degree obtained
Urban University, Rome 1992–1994
1990–1992
1983–1987
1980–1983		 PhD. in Philosophy
M.A. Philosophy
B.A. Theology
B.A. Philosophy
Ggaba National Major Seminary 1983–1987 Diploma in Theological and Pastoral Studies
Alokolum National Major Seminary 1980–1983 Diploma in Philosophical & Pastoral Studies
Makerere University 1999–2000 Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)

 

Details of Qualifications

Period Award Institution/University Course Comments
1992–1994 PhD in Philosophy (by coursework and dissertation) Urban University, Rome – Italy Philosophy First Class with Honors (Summa Cum Laude)
1990–1992 MA in Philosophy (by coursework and dissertation) Urban University, Rome – Italy Philosophy Second Class Upper Division (Magna Cum Laude)
1984–1987 BA in Theology Urban University, Rome – Italy (by affiliation) Theology Second Class Upper Division (Magna Cum Laude)
1980–1983 BA in Philosophy Urban University, Rome – Italy (by affiliation) Philosophy Second Class Upper Division (Magna Cum Laude)
1999–2000 P.G.D.E Makerere University, Kampala – Uganda Education Division
1984–1987 Diploma in Theological and Pastoral Studies Ggaba National Major Seminary, Kampala – Uganda Theological and Pastoral Studies Credit (B+)
1980–1983 Diploma in Philosophical and Pastoral Studies Alokolum National Major Seminary, Gulu – Uganda Philosophical and Pastoral Studies Credit (58.85) (5th Best in Class)

Research Interests


My research interests are; African philosophy in general, but more specifically, African ethics, African epistemology, philosophy of development, economic philosophy, African philosophic sagacity, African ethnophilosophy, African political philosophy, and also Western philosophy with its different branches in general.

Publications

Ajok, B. A., Akello, G. R., Amarorwot, S., Malagala, A. T., Metz, T., Mirembe, D. D., ... & Yikiru, P. (2024) . (2025) . Philosophy, Language, and Literature in an African Context . London: The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing.. Available at: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/philosophy-language-and-literature-in-an-african-context-9781666952100/
Aciro, T., Alidri, A., Nuwategeka, E., & Lajul, W. (2025). . (2025) . A critical analysis of western environmental knowledge as a neocolonial strategy: The case of Uganda . Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Education, [online] Volume 4(2). Available at: https://ir.gu.ac.ug/items/d78b7872-db88-4749-9b73-d4ca9f6cfb98
Lajul, W., (2025). . (2025) . Africa’s future: political and the economic discourse . In: Joseph A. Agbakoba & Marita Rainsborough (eds.), Beyond decolonial African philosophy: Africanity, Afrotopia, and transcolonial perspectives. , pp. 101-121
Wilfred Lajul . (2024) . Philosophical analysis of ethnicity in modern African politics, leadership and governance
Prof. Wilfred Lajul . (2024) . Ethical Challenges in Uganda – Updated 2024
. (2024) . African Philosophic Sagacity in Selected African Languages and Proverbs . London: Palgrave Macmillan Cham. Available at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-3-031-54524-5/1
Lajul, W., (2024) . (2024) . The meaning of Life and Population Issues from an African Perspective . In: Mwipikeni P., & Okyere-Manu B. (eds), , Population Ethics brewed in Africa: Issues, Questions and Perspectives, Palgrave
Lajul, W., . (2024) . Pre-Scientific and Scientific Theories of Human Dream: An African Philosophical Perspective . International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review (IJSSMR), 7(3), pp. 134-144
Lajul, W., (2024), . (2024) . African Ethics and Population Issues . In: Mwipikeni P., & Okyere-Manu B. (eds), Population Ethics brewed in Africa: Issues, Questions and Perspectives, Palgrave
Lajul, W., (2024) . (2024) . Philosophy of Development: An African Philosophical Perspective . In: Ihuah S. Alloy, and Idachaba A. Philip, (eds), Contemporary African Philosophy and Trans-colonial Interventions on the Development of Africa: Essays in Honour of Joseph C. A. Agbakoba, Palgrave
Wilfred Lajul . (2023) . A critical analysis of Political Philosophy in African Political Discourses
Alule, J. R, Nuwategeka, E., Oriangi, G., & Lajul, W. (2023) . (2023) . Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge in Sustainable Management of Forest Resources in the 21st Century Uganda . East African Journal of Environment and Natural Resources, 6(1)
Emmanuel Odit, John Bismarck Okumu, Wilfred Lajul, George Opio, Denis Omara . (2023) . The Influence of School Internal Factors on Teacher Effectiveness: A Case Study from Secondary Schools in Lira District, Uganda . In: Dr. Veronica Mîndrescu, Research Highlights in Language, Literature, and Education., pp. 54-67. Available at: https://stm.bookpi.org/RHLLE-V7/article/view/11154
Emmanuel Odit, John Bismarck Okumu, Wilfred Lajul, George Opio, Denis Omara. . (2023) . School External Factors and Teacher Effectiveness in Enhancement of Learners’ Academic Achievement of Government Aided Secondary Schools in Lira District, Uganda , pp. 21-27
Odit, E., Okumu, J.B., Lajul, W., Opio, G., Omara D., (2023) . (2023) . School Internal Factors and Teacher Effectiveness in Secondary Schools in Lira District, Uganda . Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 40(1), pp. 44-51
Emmanuel Odit, John Bismarck Okumu, Wilfred Lajul, George Opio, Denis Omara,2023 . (2023) . School internal factors and teacher effectiveness in Secondary schools in Lira District Uganda. . Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 40(1), pp. 44-51
Emmanuel Odit, John Bismarck Okumu, Wilfred Lajul, George Opio,Denis Omara,2023 . (2023) . School External Factors and Teacher Effectiveness in Enhancement of Learners’ Academic Achievement of Government Aided Secondary Schools in Lira District, Uganda . Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 45(1), pp. 21-27
Lajul, W., (2023) . (2023) . Philosophy of Race in the Melting Pot of Globalization and its implications for Africa . In: B. Bateye, M. Masaeli, L. Müller, A. Roothaan (Eds), , Wellbeing in African Philosophy, Insights for a Global Ethics of Development. Lanham, Maryland.: The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group
B. Bateye, M. Masaeli, L. Müller, A. Roothaan (Eds) . (2023) . African Metaphysics as a Basis of African Human and Economic Development . In: B. Bateye, M. Masaeli, L. Müller, A. Roothaan (Eds), , Beauty in African Thought – Critique of the Western Idea of Development. Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, pp. 69-90
Lajul, W., (2023) . (2023) . Being as the Object of Knowledge in Africa Spaces . In: P. A. Ikhane, & I. E. Ukpokolo (Eds), African Epistemology: Essays on Being and Knowledge, pp. 79-90
Lajul, W., & Lanfranchi, B., (2022) . (2022) . Philosophizing Acholi Culture as a Way of Life”. In Philosophy Re-Engaging Cultures and Ways of Life . In: Edited by William Sweet and George F. McLean, Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series I. Culture and Values, pp. 400-417
Lajul, W., (2022) . (2022) . Intercultural Concepts of Personhood for African Modern Living: Traditional and Modern Discussions . In: , African Philosophy and Interculturality, by Dutch Philosophical Journal, Philosophy and Practice “A Special Issue on African Philosophy, pp. 117-132
Lajul, W., (2021) . (2021) . Bioethics and Technology: An African Perspective . In: Okyere-Manu, D.B. (ed), African Values, Ethics and Technology: Questions, Issues, and Approaches, Palgrave Macmillan
Lajul, W., (2021) . (2021) . Early Childhood Moral Education in Pre-Colonial Africa in Relation to Modern Africa: Case Study of Acholi and Ganda in Uganda . In: Ssebbunga-Masembe & S. N. Siminyu (eds), Contemporary Issues in Educational Research, Policies, and Practices in the Global South. Kampala, Uganda: Makerere University Press, pp. 153-182
Lajul, W., (2020) . (2020) . Africa in the Politics, Ethics, and Justice System of an Open Borders World . Art & Humanities Open Journal, 4(3), pp. 166-174
Lajul, W., (2020) . (2020) . A critical analysis of political philosophy in African political discourses . Art & Humanities Open Journal, 4(5), pp. 176-185
Lajul, W., (2019), . (2019) . The Moral Question of Addiction: An African Philosophical Perspective”, in Addiction in South and East Africa: Interdisciplinary Approaches . In: , Addiction in South and East Africa, pp. 49-69
Lajul, W., (2019), . (2019) . Philosophical Foundations of Democracy: A Challenge for Africa . MAWAZO, The Journal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(1), pp. 84-103
Lajul, W., (2019) . (2019) . A Critical Analysis on the Emerging Issues at the Sectorial Levels of Health and Associated Industries . In: Lajul, W., (2019), UNESCO: Ethical and Professional Dilemmas in Uganda in the Face of Liberalized and Highly Competitive Markets, Proceedings of a Workshop held in Kampala from 18th to 19th May, 2017, pp. 10-14
Lajul, W., (2018) . (2018) . African Values in Global Ethics and the Emerging New World Order . Journal of Research in Philosophy and History, 1(2), pp. 81-98
Lajul, W., (2018) . (2018) . Reconstructing African Fractured Epistemologies for African Development , pp. 51-76
Wilfred Lajul. . (2018) . Contemporary African Philosophers: A Critical Appraisal . Kampala, Uganda: Makerere University Press, p. 334
Lajul, W., (2018) . (2018) . Contemporary African Philosophers: A Critical Appraisal . Kampala: Makerere University Press . Available at: https://press.mak.ac.ug/book/contemporary-african-philosophers-a-critical-appraisal/
Lajul, W., (2017) . (2017) . African Metaphysics: Traditional and Modern Discussions . In: Ukpokolo E. Isaac, Themes, Issues and Problems in African Philosophy, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 19-48
Lajul, W., (2016) . (2016) . The Market Economy and its Role in Poverty in Africa: Myths and Realities” Journal of Business and Economics . Journal of Business and Economics, 7(8). USA: Academic Star Publishing Company, pp. 1377-1386
Lajul, W . (2016) . Justice and Post LRA War in Northern Uganda: ICC Versus Acholi Traditional Justice System . IAFOR Journal of Ethics, Religion and Philosophy, 3(2), pp. 21-33
Wilfred Lajul . (2014) . African philosophy critical dimensions . Kampala, Uganda: Fountain Publishers
Lajul, W., (2014) . (2014) . Management of the African Knowledge System and the Future of Africa in the World . Pilosophia Africana, [online] Volume 16(1), pp. 43-57. Available at: https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/philosophia-africana/article-abstract/16/1/43/254696/Management-of-the-African-Knowledge-System-and-the?redirectedFrom=PDF
Lajul, W., (2012) . (2012) . The Right to Food in Northern Uganda: Realities in Conflict Prone Areas . In: , African Journal of Ethics and Human Rights: The Right to Adequate Food. Nairobi: LawAfrica, pp. 335-370
Lajul, W., & Namara B. R., (2012), . (2012) . Ethics in Public Administration in Uganda; Where is the Challenge? . In: , Public Administration in Uganda: Theory and Practice. Germany: LAP Lambert Academic Publication, Saarbrŭken, pp. 266-292
Lajul, W., (2011) . (2011) . Impact of African traditional ethics on behaviour in Uganda . The Journal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, 10(3)
Lajul, W., (2011) . (2011) . Global economic philosophy and challenges to African development . The Journal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, 10(1), pp. 1-9
Lajul, W., (2008) . (2008) . Conflicts and the Right to Food in the IDP Camps in Northern Uganda . African Journal of Ethics and Human Rights, 1, pp. 153-171
Lajul, W., (2005) . (2005) . Conflicts Resolution and Human Rights in Uganda: A Philosophical Analysis . African Journal of Leadership and Conflict Management, 2(2). Kampala, Uganda: Makerere University Printery, pp. 43-56
Lajul, W., (2004) . (2004) . Critical Evaluation and Foundation of the Theory of a Just War”, in Towards a Culture of Peace and non-Violent Action in Uganda: African Peace Series , pp. 181-210
Lajul, W., (1994) . (1994) . The Role of Man in the Dynamics of History: Reflections on Kant, Rome: Urban University Press.

Supervision

PhD Students Supervised or Being Supervised

Name of Student Registration Number Title of Thesis Program Comments
Miyingo Anthony 23/U/4063/PHD/HU/PS Catholicism and Secularism: a Philosophical, Theological and Ethical Synthesis to Reality in Uganda PhD in Religious Studies Writing his research proposal
Nalubowa Grace Yumah 20/U/0005/PHD/PS Psychosocial Support Services and Well-being of Survivors of Sexual Gender-Based Violence in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement – Yumbe District PhD in Peace Studies Writing her research proposal
Onek Richard Aure 23/U/4079/PHD-HU/PS Revisiting the History of Lord Resistance Army Rebel Governance: A Native Perspective PhD in History Working on his Research Proposal
Nyafwono Catherine 23/U/4060/PHD/PS “They shall be known by their fruits”: A theoretical question PhD in Religious Studies Working on her Research Proposal
Ezama Ruffino 2011/HD03/18273U Hermeneutic Phenomenological Investigation of the Christianity-Lugbara Culture Dialectic PhD in Philosophy Graduated on 19th January, 2018

M.A. Students Supervised

Name of Student Registration Number Title of Dissertation Program Comments
Nyarugoye Priscilla 2010/HD03/1057U Factors hindering the Realization of Health for Children Living with HIV/AIDS: A Case Study of Bukuuku Sub-County, Kabarole District M.A. Human Rights Graduated 2018
Wamamela Nixon 2014/HD03/2641U The Ideal of Constitutionalism in Promoting Liberal Democracy in Uganda M.A. Philosophy Graduated 2018
Nyeitera Phionah 2012/HD03/1282U Human rights and sexual Abuse of children in Uganda: A Case Study of Mukono District (2000-2013) M.A. Human Rights Graduated 2018
Okware John Wycliffe 2005/HD03/1724U Health Service Delivery by NGOs: A Case Study of Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) MA EPM Graduated 2017

 

More Information