State Minister for Agriculture: Agnes Kalibata

Agnes Kalibata read bio-chemistry at Makerere University, Kampala. She went on to complete a master’s degree in agriculture.

Later, Kalibata joined the University of Massachusetts in the United States where she completed a PhD in crop protection.

Before joining the ministry of agriculture as secretary general in 2005, Kalibata worked for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Uganda.

Minister of Infrastructure: Linda Bihire

Bihire takes over the ministry of infrastructure, succeeding Ambassador Stanislas Kamanzi. She has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Nottingham and a master’s degree in project management at the University of Portsmouth in UK.

She has worked for over ten years in related field. Bihire is currently based in Britain

Minister in charge of Primary and Secondary Education: Théoneste Mutsindashyaka

Théoneste Mutsindashyaka, 45, is the new minister in charge of primary and secondary education.

Mutsindashyaka graduated with a degree in physics from the National University of Rwanda. He has served in various capacities in different ministries.

He worked as Director of Cabinet in the ministry of youth and culture as well as the ministry of internal affairs, before he became the Secretary General in the ministry of public service and labour.

Mutsindashyaka was mayor of Kigali City for five years. Later, he was appointed governor of the Eastern Region.

The minister says the new appointment involves many challenges but he is determined to do his best.

Minister of Information in the Office of the Prime Minister: Louise Mushikiwabo

Louise Mushikiwabo was educated at the National University of Rwanda. Later, she joined the University of Delaware in the United States.

She is an active public speaker on Rwanda-related issues. Mushikiwabo, the youngest of nine children in her family, was living in Washington, D.C., at the time of the genocide.

She is co-founder and president of The Rwanda Children’s Fund, a charitable organization in the Washington area, U.S., which raises funds to sponsor Rwandan high school teenagers orphaned by the Genocide.

Until her appointment as minister, she was Communications Director at the African Development Bank.

Minister in charge of East African Community: Monique Mukaluriza

Mukaruliza attained degrees in accounting and management from the National University of Rwanda.

Before her appointment to Cabinet, she was deputy special representative of the chairperson of the African Union Commission in Sudan and deputy head of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).

Mukaruliza worked as a commissioner for the tax department and as a commissioner for the Internal Audit and Quality Assurance Department both in the Rwanda Revenue Authority.

She has also served as a vice-chairperson on the board of directors of the National Tender Board in Rwanda and as a member of the Control Commission of the Genocide Survivor’s Assistance Fund (FARG).

The former AMIS deputy head and head of the AMIS Liquidation Team recently resigned from her employment with the African Union to return home, after 27 months of service in Sudan.

Ends