The University of Kigali Graduate School has commenced its Master of Public Policy and Management Programme with the September 2022 Cohort. The School’s Dean, Dr. Kwena Ronald made the announcement at a leadership Workshop on Thursday September 8, 2022. The one-day workshop was organized for the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) September 2022 COHORT. Participants at the workshop included Directors in the Public Sector, Private Sector and International NGOs. The theme of the workshop was “Leadership, Organizational Development and Change Management in the Corporate World” and the keynote speaker was Dr. Willy Mugenzi, a World Bank Leadership, Peace and Conflict expert. In his opening remarks, Dr. Mugenzi noted that Rwanda is at a point where it needs corporate leaders who can drive the country’s transformation agenda as the country positions itself to become a middle-income economy. “Rwanda is at a strategic point where you are the leaders who will champion achievement of the National Strategic Transformation Agenda.” The discussions opened with a focus on underpinning the dynamism of leadership in the current volatile environment. The participants were implored to develop copping strategies in the rapidly-changing environment, a ‘Crisis mindset’ of staff vs. effective planning and have an understanding of stress & emotional burdens of staff as well as external shareholders such as suppliers and customers. The participants were also encouraged to bridge the generational gap between the digitally-versatile age group and the digitally-averse group, communicate long-term strategies and be quick in decision-making. These assertions were supported by Dr. Wabala Samuel, a Human Resource Management expert and Dr. Dushimimana Jean De Dieu, a Management and Development Expert who were in attendance. Dr. Mugenzi also emphasized that leadership must incorporate a Human-centric approach – ‘people first’, Effective communication strategy – responding to internal and external stakeholders, Cost-cutting strategies, Mainstream Change Management and Train old generations to adapt to digitization. Dr. Kwena Ronald pointed out that the workshop had addressed critical aspects of leadership. He noted that key among the discussions was conflict management. “Organizations face conflicts due to the nature of multiple stakeholders.” He further alluded to the fact that the EMBA participants were the leaders to make the desired change. The Dean also announced that the School just completed revising its curricula to meet industry needs and the workshop was among the initiatives to provide learners with practical industry dynamics. He added that a similar workshop would be organized for the Master of Public Policy and Management September 2022 COHORT. University of Kigali is still welcoming new students for the ongoing September 2022 Intake. Apply now and get the UoK Advantage! Apply online via: mis.uok.ac.rw/apply Call: +250 788 303 386/ +250 789 009 221. Email: admissions@uok.ac.rw Website: www.uok.ac.rw
