As they say, behind every successful man there is a woman, we can also say, behind every education sector, there is a man behind. Rwakabamba is also a man behind Rwanda’s education sector but majorly the higher learning institutions.
Simply put, one would say, Rwanda’s higher learning institution and education sector at large is inseparable from the physicist Rwakabamba, the man who has also garnered a lot of praise in the sector.
From the founding Rector at KIST to the University of Rwanda as a vice-chancellor, Rwakabamba has impacted positively the growth and made the former National University of Rwanda now (University of Rwanda) to the top list of the global ranking.
He was the Minister of Education and the Minister of Infrastructure between the years 2013-2016.
Prof. Silas Lwakabamba is currently the Regional Managing Director of the newly opened African Hub in Kigali for Coventry University Group, a globally famous higher learning institution.
Professor Lwakabamba has been a member of several boards and committees, National, Sub-regional and International. This included being a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Virtual University (AVU) and a member of various national commissions and steering committees on economic affairs, information and communication technology, human resource development and higher education.
Prof. Silas Lwakabamba (born in 1947) is a Rwandan professor of Tanzanian origin. He was born and educated in Tanzania in his primary and secondary education before joining University.
Prof. Silas Lwakabamba went to the University of Leeds in England where he studied engineering, graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1971 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1975.
He later returned to Tanzania where he joined the staff of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam where he attained his professorship in 1981.
In 1985, he joined the UN-sponsored African Regional Centre for Engineering Design and Manufacturing (ARCEDEM) based in Nigeria as a founding Director of Training and Extension Services.
He became the founding Rector of Rwanda’s Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 1997 and was appointed the Rector of the National University of Rwanda in 2006. He occupied this position until his appointment in February 2013 as Minister of Infrastructure in the Cabinet of the Rwandan government.
In June 2021, he was named as the co-chair of the Advisory Board of the US Africa Higher Education Initiative and later named the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Inter-University Council of East Africa.