The East African University Rwanda (EAUR) has installed the former University of Tourism and Business (UTB) rector as its third Vice Chancellor. Professor Callixte Kabera shall take over from his Predecessor, Marcellin Kitambala who was in an acting role for the past 18 months. From now on, Kitambara will serve as the Deputy Vice Chancellor in Charge of Academic research. Presiding over the handover, Jolly Iradukunda Kateregga, the founder and Chief Executive Director of the University’s Board of Trustees wished all her best luck to the incoming Vice Chancellor and laid out some of the grounds for his appointment. Prof Callixte Kabera “In him, we saw a competent and experienced man, with team working abilities. We also appreciated his passion for education development, courtesy to his previous experience, so we hope he will take this university very far by providing quality education needed to spearhead the job market,” she explained. Kateregga also pledged her full support to the incoming Vice Chancellor to help him spearhead the quality education needed by the younger professionals. The University is currently providing scholarships to students who had been greatly affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The incoming University President, Callixte Kabera lauded the Board of Trustees for entrusting him with his duties. “I salute the board of this varsity that has had confidence in me, it is of a great honor for me to serve this institution and I know what is expected of me is hard, but doable,” he said. He them highlighted some of his priorities: “During my responsibilities, I will focus on enhancing the quality of education, because it is the foundation of each institution, and the rest of the developments will follow after having attained the quality education milestone,” added Kabera. Kitambala, the outgoing Vice Chancellor tasked his successor to respect the duties, and called on the rest of the staff to support the incoming rector. “When the board decides to give you power, it is neither a joke nor a favor, it is because they have observed and identified potential in you, so you need to demonstrate that potential and touch what is expected of you,” he observed. “To the rest of the staff, the president can’t work alone, he will need your inputs as lecturers, deans, heads of departments and the students as well, so you should be close to him,” he emphasized. Who is Professor Kabera? Callixte Kabera is an experienced economist with a vast experience of spanning two decades in the academia field. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the Independent University of Kigali (ULK) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Maastricht School of Management in Netherlands. The 56-year old is also a PhD holder of Entrepreneurship and Tourism from the VU Amsterdam University. He had been the head of Finance Departments in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, King Faisal Hospital and Rwanda Medical Supply Limited among others. He will take on the East African University Rwanda after being the Vice Chancellor of the University of Tourism and Business (UTB) since 2007. The East African University Rwanda has been in place since 2015 with two campuses (Kigali and Nyagatare). It provides faculties of Business studies, Leisure, Tourism and Hotel Management, Journalism and Mass Communication, Film making and Film production, Education and Industrial art with design.
