A cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, November 11, appointed Madeleine Nirere as the new Ombudsman and Dr. Christian Sekomo Birame as the new Director-General of the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA), among other appointments.

Nirere replaces former premier Anastase Murekezi who held the docket since 2017.

Becoming the fourth Ombudsman in the country, Nirere’s previous duties include being at the helm of the National Human Rights Commission for two four-year terms that completed in May this year.

She also worked in the Parliament in both chambers; as Deputy Secretary-General of the Senate in Charge of Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs, and as a Senior Legal Advisor to the Parliament (Transitional National Assembly) between 2000 and 2003.

The Office of the Ombudsman acts as a link between the citizen, public and private institutions in preventing and fighting injustice, corruption and other related offenses.

Nirere has a Master's degree in Public Administration and another one in International Human rights Law and Criminal Justice.

Meanwhile, the new NIRDA Director-General, Birame, was a senior lecturer at the University of Rwanda (UR) in the College of Science and Technology, School of Science Department of Chemistry.

The post fell vacant in December last year when the former Director-General, Kampeta Pitchette Sayinzoga was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD).

The cabinet has also appointed Robert Masozera as the Director-General of the newly created Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy. 

He was serving as the Director-General of the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR), which is one of the bodies merged to create the academy.

The appointment follows a decision announced in July this year to merge three agencies; Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC), Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR) and Rwanda Archives and Library Services Authority (RALSA) to form one public institution.

Another new institution, the National Child Development Agency, was put under Dr Anita Asiimwe as Director-General.

Meanwhile, Solange Tetero and Aimable Twahirwa who is well-known in the local music industry have been appointed Director Generals of Youth Empowerment, and Culture Promotion in the Ministry of Youth and Culture respectively.