Governance Council

Ambassador Prof. Charles MURIGANDE served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor (i.e Vice President) for Institutional Advancement of the University of Rwanda from August 2016 until June 2020 when he retired from Public Service.  Prior to this appointment, 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. 

Ambassador Dr. Charles MURIGANDE has also held various Ministerial portfolios in the Government of Rwanda, including Education (2009-2011), Cabinet Affairs (2008-2009), Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2002-2008) and Transport and Communication (1995-1997). He served as Advisor to the President of Rwanda (1994-1995).  He was elected as Secretary General of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) in February 1998 and reelected in December 2001. 

Ambassador Dr. Charles MURIGANDE holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics (summa cum laude) from University of Namur, Belgium, in 1986 and an MBA (Leadership and Innovation) from University of Canberra, 2017. He has worked as Scientific Advisor at the Geographic Institute of Burundi (1986-1988) and Researcher at Howard University in Washington D.C (1989-1994) where he held the post of Director of the Biostatistics Unit of Howard University Cancer Center and was an adjunct Assistant Professor of Probability in the Department of Mathematics. Ambassador Dr. Charles MURIGANDE has also served as Rector (e.g. Vice Chancellor) of the former National University of Rwanda (1997-1998). During his academic life, he published several papers in international peer-reviewed journals and holds the rank of Associate Professor from the former National University of Rwanda.  

Ambassador Dr. MURIGANDE has served on the Board of Directors of the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (Rwanda), the Kigali Free University (Rwanda), the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (Rwanda) and is the founder member of Transparency International – Rwanda, an affiliated organization of Transparency International.  He is also a founder member of the Rwanda Leaders Fellowship, an organization which aims at instilling godly values in the leadership of Rwanda.  He serves on the International Advisory Council of Ashinaga Foundation, Japan.