Irene Nafuna Muloni is a Ugandan

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, businesswoman and politician and also a senior

advisor An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs catego ...

to Ugandan

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third- longest consecutively serving current non-royal n ...

. She was previously Cabinet Minister for Energy and Minerals in the Ugandan cabinet until December 2019, serving from 27 May 2011. She retained her position in the new cabinet after the 2016 national elections. She served as the elected Member of Parliament for Bulambuli District Women's Representative, from 2011 until 2016 when she lost her seat to Independent candidate Sarah Wekomba. She regained her seat after the 2021 general elections.

Background and education

Muloni was born on 18 November 1960, in what is known today as

Bulambuli District Bulambuli District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Eastern Region, Uganda, Eastern Uganda. The district is named after 'chief town', Bulambuli, where the district headquarters are located. Location Bulambuli District is bordered by Nakapir ...

. She attended Budadiri Girls' Primary School before entering

Gayaza High School Gayaza High School is the oldest all-girls boarding secondary school covering grades 8 to 13 (Secondary 1 to 6) in Uganda. The school is Church of Uganda, Church-founded, government of Uganda, government-aided and accredited by the Ministry of Ed ...

. In 1982, she entered

Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

, the oldest university in East Africa, to study Engineering. In 1986, she graduated with an honours

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...

(BSc.E.Eng) degree. Later, she graduated with a degree of

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA), from

Capella University Capella University is a private for-profit, online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school is owned by the publicly traded Strategic Education, Inc. Capella has 47 degree programs with over 1,600 courses. Approximately ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota, United States. She is also a Certified Public-Private Partnership Specialist, accredited by the Institute for Public-Private Partnerships, Inc. (IP3) and the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) of

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

Career

Since 1986, Muloni has been working with the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL), a Ugandan

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

company responsible for distribution of electrical power to both commercial and retail customers nationwide. SHe rose to the position of managing director. In 2011, she entered elective politics, by successfully contesting for the

Women's Representative in the 9th Ugandan Parliament (2011–2016). On 27 May 2011, she was appointed Minister of Energy & Minerals by President Yoweri Museveni. She replaced Hilary Onek, who was appointed

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. In the cabinet changes made on 6 June 2016, she maintained her cabinet appointment.

References

External links

Full of List of Ugandan Cabinet Ministers May 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muloni, Irene 1960 births Living people Government ministers of Uganda Members of the 9th Parliament of Uganda 21st-century Ugandan women engineers 21st-century Ugandan engineers Ugandan electrical engineers People from Bulambuli District Makerere University alumni Capella University alumni Women government ministers of Uganda Women members of the Parliament of Uganda People educated at Gayaza High School National Resistance Movement politicians 21st-century Ugandan women politicians 21st-century Ugandan women scientists 21st-century Ugandan scientists Members of the 10th Parliament of Uganda Members of the 11th Parliament of Uganda