[1] After serving a full four year-term, he was re-appointed for another term in 2011,[2][3] and was re-installed in January 2012.

[4] Kagonyer was born in Kabuga Village, Rukungiri District, in the Western Region of Uganda, circa 1941, to Zakaria Kagonyera and Elizabeth Kirihura.

He studied at the University of Nairobi, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine in the early 1960s.

Later, he went on to obtain a Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine, from the University of California Davis, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy from the same institution.

[2][3] He also served as the deputy managing director of the Ugandan National Social Security Fund from 2006 until 2008.