Charles Murigande (born August 15, 1958) is a

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n political veteran (currently in retirement) who served in the government of Rwanda as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 2002 to 2008, as Minister of Governmental Affairs from 2008 to 2009, and as Minister of Education from 2009 to 2011. His last position was a Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Institutional Advancement of the University of Rwanda. Prior to being appointed to his current post, he served as Ambassador of Rwanda to Japan with concurrent accreditation to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines from August 2011 to April 2015.Currently, Ambassador Charles Murigande is the Chairman of the Kepler College’s Governance Council(Rwanda).

Early life and education

Murigande was born in

Butare Butare (), also known as Huye and formerly known as Astrida, is a city with a population of 62,823 (2022 census) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the seventh largest town in Rwanda by population. Histo ...

. In 1960 following the civil strife that preceded Rwanda's independence, his family fled to

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

, where he grew up as refugee. He did his primary, secondary and part of his

university education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational school ...

in Burundi. He did his graduate and

post-graduate studies Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

in Belgium where he obtained in 1986 (with the Greatest Distinction/Sum

Cum Laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

), a Ph.D in Mathematics from the Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix, in Namur.

Career

From 1986 to 1988 he worked as a scientific adviser to the Director General of the Geographical Institute of Burundi (IGEBU) and was at the same time Head of the Computing Center of the Institute. He joined

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, Washington D.C., U.S.A in January 1989 as a

Post-doctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

fellow, where he later became an

Assistant Professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

and Head of the Biostatistical Division of College of Medicine. Following the 1994

genocide in Rwanda The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa ...

which claimed about one million lives, Murigande abandoned his academic career at Howard University and went back to Rwanda to contribute to the reconstruction of his country. During the

Rwandan Civil War The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the country's government, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war arose ...

, he was the Spokesperson of the

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi; , FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. The RPF was founded in December 1987 by Rwandan Tutsi in exile in Uganda because of the ethnic violence that had occurred during the Rwandan Hutu Revo ...

(RPF) in the United States. Since 1994, Murigande has served in the following positions: * From September 1994 to August 1995, Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs * From September 1995 to March 1997,

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

and Communications * From April 1997 to May 1998, Rector of the

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; , , UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Provin ...

* Murigande was elected Secretary General of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) on February 15, 1998 and was reelected on December 23, 2002 * On November 15, 2002, Murigande became

and Regional Cooperation After more than five years as Foreign Minister, Murigande was moved to the position of Minister of Governmental Affairs in the government named on March 8, 2008. He was moved to the post of Minister of Education on July 26, 2009. Murigande was Minister of Education for nearly two years before being replaced by

Pierre Habumuremyi Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi (born 20 February 1961) is a Rwandan politician who served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 7 October 2011 until 24 July 2014. He previously served as Minister of Education from May 2011 to October 2011. Early life Pi ...

in May 2011. He was then appointed as Ambassador to Japan. He presented his credentials to Emperor

Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

on 4 October 2011."Murigande presents credentials in Japan"
''The New Times'', 5 October 2011. During his academic life, Murigande has published several papers in international

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

Scientific Journals Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murigande, Charles 1958 births Living people Education ministers of Rwanda Foreign ministers of Rwanda Government ministers of Rwanda Rwandan refugees Rwandan expatriates in Belgium Rwandan expatriates in the United States Ambassadors of Rwanda to Japan High commissioners of Rwanda to Australia High commissioners of Rwanda to New Zealand Ambassadors of Rwanda to Thailand Ambassadors of Rwanda to the Philippines