The State Minister for Energy and Communications, Eng. Albert Butare, will be holding a professional PhD in the field of engineering policies next year, The New Times has learnt.

The Minister said yesterday that a United Kingdom based university, Glasgow Caledonian University, sent him a message four days ago informing him that he has passed his exam to receive the degree on which he has been working for the last six years.

"The PhD is related to matters of engineering policies,” he explained in a telephone interview with The New Times.

Eng. Butare said that he conducted his doctoral research on ‘Mechanisms and Instruments of Implementing Energy Policy in Rwanda’ with focus on renewable energies.

He embarked on the study when he was still working at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) but he could not finish it in time after he was appointed State Minister, where he started to face the challenges he was going to talk about in his study.

Prior to becoming State Minister, he was the Vice Rector in Charge of Academics at KIST.

"Policies are always good but implementing them and coming up with tangible deliveries is another thing,” he said while explaining some of his study’s findings.

He said that there is need for countries to have a clear vision for what they need their energy sector to be, a political good will, people’s commitment, and resources in order to implement energy policies.

The Minister said it was not easy for him to complete his doctoral thesis because he was always busy with government work, but he was quick to deliver the message that with courage all is possible.

"It [studying] just requires dedication and commitment,” he said.

During his research, the minister discovered that every country has a ‘good’ policy that is mostly designed by hired consultants, but countries face challenges while implementing them.

”It is the country’s top administration that has a big role to play in making the implementation of the policies possible,” he said.

Butare said that he will get his professional doctorate in the middle of next year.

Eng. Albert Butare has been overseeing the country’s energy and communication sector since 2005.

Ends