Two senior judicial officials Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice of Supreme Court have been nominated by President Paul Kagame and have been approved by the Cabinet.
Sam Rugege has been nominated as Chief Justice and Zainabo Sylvie Kayitesi as Deputy Chief Justice of Supreme Court, according to the cabinet meeting statement that sat this Wednesday.
Sam Rugege will upon senate approval replace Aloysea Cyanzayire who has served for 8 years which will end by the end of this month.
Rugege and his deputy have been nominated after the approval of Supreme Council of the Judiciary.
He was appointed as a deputy Chief Justice at the Supreme Court 2004, following the appointment of the incumbent Chief Justice Cyanzaire who was appointed into the office in 2003, when Rugege was a Professor of Law at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Kayitesi, Rugege’s nominated deputy is the chairperson of the Rwanda National Human Rights Commission.
Rugege studied law at Makerere University in Uganda, Yale Law School in the United States of America and Oxford University in England where he obtained LLB, LLM and D.Phil. degrees respectively.
He started his law career as a lecturer at Makerere University, he then taught at the National University of Lesotho and University of Swaziland, rising to the position of Associate Professor.
During 1995 as visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School where he taught African Law.
His last teaching post before being elevated to the bench was in Cape Town, South Africa, as Professor of Law at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
Justice Rugege was appointed to the Supreme Court of Rwanda in 2004 and since 2005, he is also the Principal Judge of the First Instance Division of the Court of Justice of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Other appointments included Valens Munyabagisha as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Security, replacing Penelope Kantarama who now a Senator.
Dr. James Vuningoma, former Vice Rector of Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), has been appointed the Executive Secretary of the newly created Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture.
Regis Gatarayiha, was confirmed as Director General of Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA) while Yusuf Murangwa replaces Diane Karusisi as the Director General of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
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