KIGALI – The Managing editor of The New Times Publications SARL was yesterday elected as board member of the high council of the press (HCP) to represent private media houses to the state body.

The election, which was held at the Press House, was meant to elect replacements for former managing director of The New Times, David Kabuye and Fr Dominique Karekezi who have since resigned from the media regulatory body.

Ignatius Kabagambe was overwhelmingly elected by 50 scribes and the runner-up was Fr Pierre Celestin Nkusi of Kinyamateka newspaper, a local vernacular paper published by the Catholic Church.

They both became the nominees for the two vacant slots but they will have to be approved by the cabinet.

Kabagambe, who has for the last two years been manager at The New Times, which is Rwanda’s only daily newspaper, said that the vast knowledge he has acquired from his experience at the institution, and the fact that he is a professional journalist puts him in a better position to represent the private press.

He was appointed Managing Editor of The New Times in January 2006, a post he held until March last year when he became acting managing director, following the resignation of Kabuye.

He held this post until late last year when Joseph Bideri was appointed to head the institution.

"This is a challenge. The time I have spent working for the country’s biggest private media house (The New Times) puts me in better position to represent the private media,” Kabagambe said after his election. He added that he understands the environment into which the media operates in the country.

Kabagambe graduated from Makerere University in Uganda in 2006 with bachelors in Mass Communication.

At the time of his course, he was also working at the Rwandan embassy in Kampala, a job he kept until his appointment at The New Times.

Nkusi also said that he has practiced journalism in Europe.

"I know the transformation our media has gone through after the Genocide and I together with other members think we shall help to take the media to greater heights,” said Nkusi.

He added that he made different consultations from various people including his predecessor Karekezi, saying that the he would build on that knowledge to make his contribution to the media industry.

He has been the managing director of Kinyamateka for the last three months.
He added that his election is also a boost to the religious fraternity as it would be represented as well.
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