She was born Ann Mary Musani on 4th September 1944 at Nyondo Missionary Hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Benua Musani of Nyondo in Mbale District as a first born in a family of 12 children. Her Father,the late Benua Musani was a Clerk at Buwalasi Technical College and later Quarter Master at St. John Bosco Teacher’s Training College in Nyondo. Her mother was a house wife.
Ann Mary started her school at Nyondo Demonstration School in 1951 sitting her Primary Leaving Examinations in 1956. She then joined St. Mary’s Junior Secondary School in 1957 for 3 years till 1959. Being the first born,her Father decided that she would pursue a teaching career after Junior Secondary instead of proceeding to Mt.St Mary’s Namagunga so that she would earn a living to support her siblings.
She joined St. Ursula Primary Teacher’s College,Nyondo and graduated as a Grade 2 teacher at the age of 19. While at the Teacher’s College,she was very active in sports. She participated in the 1962 Independence games at Nakibuvubo Stadium emerging the best in the 80M hurdles. After graduation, she was posted to Nyondo Demonstration School. Here,she participated in the National Athletics team qualifiers for the 1964 Olympics where she emerged as one of the only two female athletes to represent Uganda at the Olympics in Tokyo,Japan. No female had ever represented Uganda at the Olympics. Other athletes included Aggrey Awori,Frank Nyangweso and many others. They were 13 athletes in total. Ann Mary says she struggled with a torn muscle during her heat and run 12.9 seconds for the 80M hurdles. She had never run on an Olympic track before. A year later in 1965, she again participated in the first ever All Africa Games in Congo Brazaville.
She retired from active sports duty to focus on her teaching career. She joined Buwalasi Teachers Training College in 1974-75 to upgrade to a Grade 3 teacher. She was later transferred to North Road Annex (Current Namatala Primary) as an English Language and Music teacher and eventually to Northroad Primary School where she taught English.
She was appointed Head Teacher of Busamaga Primary School in 1990 then moved to Maluku Primary School until her retirement. She acquired a Diploma in Education Management from Nkozi University. In 2019, the International Association of Olympians awarded her a new title~”Olympian”(OLY) in recognition of her history making appearance at the Olympics.
She is retired and lives in Mbale Municipality and is also an active parishioner of St. Austin’s Catholic Parish. She is married to Mr.Victor Kyemuswa Wanyoto with 7 Children.
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