A passion for business and a faith in books

PAULUS KAYIGGWA meets Arthur Barigye Mugunga the General Manager of Macmillan Rwanda Publishers When I asked him what he wants to become in the future, Arthur Barigye Mugunga relaxed back in his office chair and replied, “I want to become a prominent business man not only in the country but in the region” “I acquired business knowledge during my studies and I have also acquired enough experience of doing business,” confident Mugunga said. Mugunga was born in Uganda-Rungujja in 1970 to father Augustine Karekyezi and mother Angelline Nyirabudeyi. He was born third in a family of nine children, six boy and three girls. When I told him to describe his father, he said that his father was a hard working man and always wanted to raise his children in a God fearing manner. “In the past, my father worked as a farm manager in Mukono, Uganda and his now a business man in Kampala,” Mugunga explained. Mugunga studied primary level at Rubaga Boys in Entebbe and Kyandera Primary school in Mbarara. Mugunga studied ordinary level at Ntale Secondary School in Mbarara and later advanced level at Makerere High School in Kampala. “I was marvelous at Mathematics and I used to emerge the best student at ordinary and advanced levels in all schools I went to,” Mugunga explained. Mugunga further studied at Makerere University Business School formally the National College for Business Studies in Nakawa, Kampala and graduated with a high diploma in marketing in 1995. When I asked him his strengths he replied, “I performed best in economics.” Until 1999, he worked with the Cambridge University Press in Kampala. “From there, I was appointed the general manager of Macmillan Rwanda Publishers Limited and I have so far served the company for nine years,” he said. Mugunga is married to Jane Uwera and has three children, two boys and a girl. As General Manager of Macmillan Rwanda, Mugunga is also studying by correspondence programme a Master’s degree of business administration at Cambridge University, United Kingdom. When asked what he plans for Macmillan, he replied in a slow but confident tone, “I want the company to become the reference centre for educational books not only in the country but also in the Great Lakes region”. Mugunga admires President Paul Kagame.“I respect him so much because of his ambitions of making the country a batter place and I regard him as an icon of hope and a person who has done everything for this country,” he said. Mugunga spends his leisure time with his family and sometimes he plays golf or tennis and watches football matches. He also enjoys reading newspapers and other materials. “I spend most of my free time playing with my children, they are still young and the need my presence,” he explained. He hates people who fix appointments with him and don’t honor the time. “I hate to work with people who are not serious, trustworthy and lazy, they always deter the company’s progress,” Mugunga said. Ends