President Kagame on Friday officiated at the swearing-in of newly appointed members of Cabinet and heads of the Rwanda National Police. The Sworn-in officials included six new Cabinet members appointed by President Kagame on Thursday, 18 October 2018.
These are Hon. Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Richard Sezibera, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation, Hon. Solina Nyirahabimana, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Hon. Anastase Shyaka, Minister of Local Governance and Hon. Albert Murasira, Minister of Defence.
Also sworn in were the DCG Dan Munyuza, Inspector General of Police and CP Felix Namuhoranye, Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations.
In his address, President Kagame stated that transforming Rwanda and the lives of Rwandans is work that must be carried out consistently, with leaders mindful of the fact that they are working to better the lives of citizens and not their own.
“We have all been gifted with different skills but the goals our nation strives to achieve cannot be realized by one individual alone. To achieve our vision, we all must work together, bring together our different strengths to serve our citizens and country” President Kagame said.
President Kagame also took the opportunity to congratulate Louise Mushikiwabo on behalf of the Government and the people of Rwanda, upon her election to lead Francophonie, and for her service to the people of Rwanda.
Who are the new Cabinet members?
Hon. Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry
Before her appointment, Soraya Hakuziyaremye was Senior Vice President at ING Bank in London. She also worked in senior management positions at BNP Paribas Group in Paris, and the Bank of New York Mellon in Brussels. Minister Hakuziyaremye also served as Senior Advisor to Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2014. She was a board member of Ngali Holdings as well as Brussels-Africa Hub. She holds a postgraduate degree in International Management from the Thunderbird Graduate School of Global Management and a Masters in Business Engineering from the Solvay Business School from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Hon. Richard Sezibera, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Before his appointment, Dr. Richard Sezibera was a Senator in the Rwandan Parliament, representing the Southern Province. Minister Sezibera was the 4th Secretary General of the East African Community from 2011 to 2016. A medical doctor, he served in different positions in the Government of Rwanda including as Minister of Health, Member of Parliament, Ambassador to the United States of America, and Presidential Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region. He is a long serving member of the GAVI Board and current Chair of GAVI Programme and Policy Committee.
Hon. Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation
Prior to her appointment, Minister Ingabire served as Head of the ICT Business Development Department of the Rwanda Development Board and Coordinator of the Kigali Innovation City Project. Minister Ingabire also worked as the Smart Africa coordinator, an initiative that seeks to leverage broadband infrastructure to drive Africa’s socio- economic growth. She is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Engineering & Sloan School of Management, in System Design and Management and holds a BS in Computer Engineering and Information Technology from the former Kigali Institute of Science and Technology.
Hon. Solina Nyirahabimana, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion
Solina Nyirahabimana served in different senior positions in the Government of Rwanda including as Minister in the President’s Office (previously Director General for Legal and Constitutional Affairs), and as Rwanda’s Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative of Rwanda to UN/Geneva Office. She holds a Masters degree in Social Sciences in Gender and Development.
Hon. Anastase Shyaka, Minister of Local Governance
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Local Government, Professor Anastase Shyaka was the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Governance Board since 2011. Prior to this, Prof Shyaka was the Executive Secretary of Rwanda Governance Advisory Council (2008-2011), and Professor of Political Science, as well as Director of the Center for Conflict Management at the National University of Rwanda. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Residence (2007) at George Mason University. He is also a member of the Board of the UN Global Center for Public Service Excellence based in Singapore. He holds a PhD in Political Science from University of Gda?sk in Poland, and a Masters in Chemical Technology.
Hon. Albert Murasira, Minister of Defence
Major General Albert Murasira is Rwanda’s tenth Minister of Defence, in office since October 2018. Commissioned as an officer in the Rwandan Army in 1989, Minister Murasira previously served as CEO of Zigama Credit and Savings Society, Chief of Administration and Human Resources (J1) on the RDF Joint General Staff, Deputy Commandant of Rwanda Military Academy Gako, and Director of Planning in the Ministry of Defence. He also served as a staff officer in the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). Minister Murasira earned an MSc in Project Management from the University of Liverpool, and a BSc and an MSc in Mathematics from the National University of Rwanda. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, and a Diploma in Defence and Strategic Studies from the PLA National Defence University in China.
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