President Paul Kagame has appointed Dr. Edward Kadozi as the Director-General of the Higher Education Council (HEC), replacing Dr. Rose Mukankomeje who has held the position since 2019.
The changes are contained in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on January 17, 2025.
Dr. Kadozi, who was appointed, has 14 years of experience in capacity building in business, economics, energy, environmental conservation, and others.
He also has years of experience in teaching and research in higher education institutions and other major research institutions.
He was a lecturer at the University of Rwanda and the Independent University of Kigali (ULK), where he taught master’s students in economics and development; his work was accompanied by other training activities in various fields.
He has assisted over 50 students in their research at various levels of university, including Master’s, Doctoral and PhD. The research was conducted by students from universities in Rwanda, Europe and the United States.
In 2019, he obtained his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands in Economics. He also holds a Master’s degree from Tsinghua University in China and a Master’s degree from the University of Rwanda.
Other institutions of the Ministry of Education, MINEDUC, have seen leaders including the National Board of Basic Education, REB, which appointed Dr. Flora Mutezigaju as Deputy Director General.
Dr. Mutezigaju holds a PhD in Disability Education from Kenyatta University in Kenya. He also holds a Master’s degree from the same university in the same field.
He was with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, as an education specialist, a position he was appointed to in August 2023.
In 2021, Dr. Mutezigaju worked at the World Bank, where he was responsible for the promotion of non-compulsory education. In 2018, he also worked at REB as the Director of Non-Compulsory Education Promotion.
Among others who received new assignments is Carlène Seconde Umutoni, who was appointed Deputy Director General of the National Examinations and Educational Supervision Agency, NESA, from MINEDUC, where she had been working since 2021.
From 2018 to 2021, he was the Project Manager at MTN Rwanda. Umutoni holds a third and second degree from AUCA.
In other changes at MINEDUC, Rose Baguma has been appointed Director General of the Education Policy Department in the ministry, a position she took up from the position of Director General of Policy and Planning also at MINEDUC.
Also at MINEDUC, Adia Umulisa has been appointed Director of Planning and Monitoring in Education, Jimmy Christian Byukusenge has been appointed Director General of Corporate Services, Esther Shaban Tuyizere has been appointed Advisor to the Minister of Education, while Jean Baptiste Doxa Niyibizi has been appointed Legal Analyst.
Provincial education coordinators have also been appointed, including Emmanuel Butera for the Eastern Province, Augustin Uwimana for the Northern Province, Christophe Nsengiyaremye for the Southern Province, Eric Niyongabo for Kigali City while Jean de Dieu Ntaganira has been appointed as the Western Province education coordinator.
These changes also see Dr. Edgar Kalimba appointed as the Deputy Director General of King Faisal Hospital, KFH, in charge of medical services.
KFH also appointed members of the board of directors, including Dr. Thierry Kalisa as its President and Dr. Natalie McCall, Vice President.
The members of the board also include Israel Bimpe, currently the CEO of Irembo, Dr Sanctus Musafiri, Dr Regis Hitiman, Flora Nsinga, Theogene Maniragaba, Jeannette Rwigamba and Natacha Butera.
The department responsible for monitoring the respect for gender equality and the equality of women and men in national development has been assigned to Agnes Muhongerwa as Deputy Inspector General for Combating Injustice and Gender-Based Violence.
