A three-man taskforce that had been appointed by the government to run the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) relinquished its duties to a new board of Directors during a function that took place on Wednesday.

The taskforce set up two years ago to spearhead the establishment of WDA was headed by the Director General of the Multi-Sector Capacity Building Programme (MSCBP) Charles Karake who was assisted by Fatina Mukarubibi and Johnson Rutayisire.

The new board that has taken over is chaired by Francis Gatare, assisted by six other members.

WDA is an institutional framework that was set up to provide a strategic response to the skills development challenges, the country faces across all sectors of the economy with the use of a hands-on application other than the traditional theoretical knowledge provided by most educational institutions.

Officiating at the handover ceremony, the State Minister for Education, Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, said that the government has bigger ambitions within WDA of providing over five million people hands-on skills.

"The new board has a chance to make history by changing the trend; we should start producing for the region and international labour market.”

In his address, Karake listed six major pillars of the WDA saying that five of them have been achieved and that only one is remaining.

The six pillars are Skills Development through Vocational Training, Business Incubation (Entrepreneurship Development), Labour Market Information System, Setting Industry Standards and Regulation and Accreditation.

"You are faced by a difficult task that you will have to accomplish; my team will be close by you to ensure that we empower our people with required skills that would enable them compete on an international labour market” Karake told members of the new board.

The board headed by Gatare also includes Emma Rubagumya (Vice Chairperson), Etienne Ntagwirumugara, Dr Jean Damascène Gatabazi, Alexis Nsengumuremyi, Molly Rwigamba, and Liliane Sandra Kente.

In his acceptance speech, Gatare said; "we take this responsibility seriously and we are conveying our gratitude to the government for its utmost confidence in appointing us.”

He added that: "we realize and recognize the expertise invested by the outgoing management and we continue to make effective use of all the available resources.” He also recognized efforts of development partners saying that WDA will continue working closely with them.

"This is a customer driven business and we have to continue serving their interests the board pledges its commitment to work closely with management,” Gatare promised.

At the same function, the interim head of WDA, Chong Fook Yen, officially handed over to the Director General, Gatabazi.

Ends