Kantarama: Embracing the challenge

PAULUS KAYIGGWA meets Penelope Kantarama the new SG in the Internal Security Ministry Until last Saturday Kantarama was the Governor of the Western province. She was appointed a Secretary General in the Internal Security Ministry in a mini cabinet reshuffle. It is in a low tone that she speaks about her new appointment. “Hard work pays,” says Kantarama in an interview on Thursday at her office in Kacyiru. “It is a new challenge but I am very excited,” adds Kantarama. During her childhood, she wanted to become a leader in society and she has worked hard to achieve it. “I have been a leader even during my school time. At one point, I was elected a class representative, I felt extremely delighted,” she recalls happily. Kantarama was born in 1967 to Simon Balinda and mother Jane Murekeyisoni in Rwamagana district, Eastern Province. She is the fourth in a family of nine children. Kantarama speaks of a not rich but a happy childhood. “Dad loved us so much,” Kantarama recalls. She went Rutonde primary school and later joined Social Institute in Rurindo district in the Northern Province. “Life at school was very interesting. I never repeated any class,” Kantarama recalls. After, she went to the University of Ukraine where she graduated with a Bachelors and Masters degree in agro industry. She was appointed a Western Province Governor in 2006 and before she was working in the Lower Chamber of Parliament. Asked about the worst moment in her life, Kantarama keeps quiet for a moment before she replies. “It was recently. We had earth quake. It was a terrible situation, I was overwhelmed and I don’t want even to recall.” It is in such times that Kantarama feels the pressure of being a leader. She explains that people expect quick assistance, looking to you for all the answers. “It is a challenge. [In this instance] it was beyond my control,” says Kantarama sadly. Ends