Shaka Ssali
Veteran journalist Shaka Ssali serves as Host and Senior Editor of Straight Talk Africa. With 20 years of reporting experience, Mr. Ssali has interviewed hundreds of influential and interesting people, including more than 15 African heads-of-state.
A native of Uganda, Mr. Ssali is also a managing editor for the Voice of America's English-to-Africa Service. He supervises the work of staff reporters who produce four hours of radio programming daily. Mr. Ssali is also an analyst on VOA's Africa Journal program.
Previous broadcasting positions held by Mr. Ssali include Deputy Director of Radio Unamir in Kigali, Rwanda; Regional Editor for Eastern Africa at VOA; Film and Television Producer for the New York State Public Broadcasting Co.; and Writer, Presenter and Editor for Sauti za Africa a radio program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Mr. Ssali's print media experience includes several publications. Among them are Ufahamu [Journal of the African Activists Association] at UCLA; The Marcus Garvey Papers Project and Newsday at the United Nations Bureau in New York. Mr. Ssali attended school in Uganda and the United States. He received a Ph.D. in Cross-cultural Communication from the University of California [UCLA] in 1988.
Mr. Ssali has received several awards, including the Annual Language Service Broadcasting Award at VOA in February 2000 and the Special Achievement Award in International Journalism for the Ugandan Association of Albany, N.Y. in 1998. Mr. Ssali speaks Kiswahili, Kinyarwanda, Luganda, Unyankore/Rukiga, and English.
