Wilbrord Turimaso

During nine years as District Water Officer and District Engineer in Kisoro, Wilbrord Turimaso learned firsthand that district water coverage can jump from 28% to 65%, not just by building infrastructure, but by also fixing the management and operational systems behind it.

Before taking on his current role as Programmes Coordinator, Wilbrord spent years on the ground as a civil engineer and professional, supporting designing, and supervising large-scale engineering projects and strengthening systems for sustainable water and sanitation services at district and national level. He brought that technical foundation into his current work, and it continues to shape how he works today. He believes that sustainable services are not achieved through engineering design alone. They last when effective operational systems, stakeholder coordination, and enabling institutional frameworks are in place.

Wilbrord bridges the gap between technical infrastructure development and systemic institutional reform. He’s equally at home leading the engineering design of a multi-million-euro water system for refugee settlements as he is representing Riva at high-level national sector working groups with government ministries and bilateral donors. What connects these roles is his conviction that equitable service improvement is only possible if no one is left behind, and the technical and managerial expertise to make that happen do exist.

Twenty years of working across government, donor agencies, international NGOs, and the private sector have given Wilbrord a depth of relationships and operational understanding that goes well beyond his formal roles. He has managed portfolios ranging from a €33 million EU water and sanitation projects reaching half a million people, to a €4.9 million emergency water and sanitation response for 160,000 refugees. Wilbrord holds an MSc in Water and Environmental Engineering from the University of Surrey (UK) and a BSc in Civil Engineering from Makerere University. He is based in Kampala.

Some highlights

• 20+ years’ leadership in programme management across water and sanitation, roads, housing, and energy in Uganda 
• Managed large-scale water and sanitation portfolios, including a €4.9M Australian Development Agency (ADA)/European Union humanitarian response in eight refugee settlements, and a €33M ADA infrastructure project across 57 towns reaching 497,000 people 
• Member of task teams that developed the Rural Water O&M framework manuals and currently guiding their implementation
• Working languages: English, Luganda, Runyankore/Rukiga, Rufumbira/Runyarwanda