Jean-Damascène Ntawukuriryayo (born 8 August 1961) is a Rwandan politician who served as President of the

Senate of Rwanda The upper house of the Parliament of Rwanda ( rw, Inteko Ishinga Amategeko; french: Parlement) is the Senate (''Sena''/''Sénat''). The Senate has 26 members elected or appointed for eight-year terms: 12 elected by provincial councils, eight appoi ...

from 2011 to 2014. He also served as Minister of

Health in Rwanda The quality of health in Rwanda has historically been very low, both before and immediately after the 1994 genocide. In 1998, more than one in five children died before their fifth birthday, often from malaria. But in recent years Rwanda has seen i ...

. He became President of the Senate in October 2011, and also served for a time as Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies.

Background

Ntawukuriryayo was born in Runyinya Rwanda in 8 August 1961.

Education

He earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in pharmacy from the

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; rw, Kaminuza nkuru y’u Rwanda, french: Université nationale du Rwanda, UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government i ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in pharmaceutical technology from

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Career

Ntawukuriryayo ran for

2010 Rwandan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Rwanda on 2010, the second since the Rwandan Civil War. Incumbent President Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was re-elected for a second seven-year term with 93% of the vote. Background Paul K ...

s, where he failed (getting 5 percent of votes), and

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

was re-elected with more than 90% of votes. From 1997 to 1999, he was Vice Rector in charge of Administration and Finance at the National University of Rwanda. He was appointed as Minister of State in charge of

Higher Education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

and Scientific Research in 1999. Later he was appointed Minister of Infrastructure. In November 2002, Ntawukuliryayo was appointed to Minister of Infrastructure. He served also as Minister of State for Higher Education. On September 28, 2004, he was appointed Minister of Health. During his tenure in that position, he expanded the social security system to cover over 80% of the population. In 2008 he was elected Vice President of the Rwandan National Assembly. As presidential candidate for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(PSD) in 2010, Ntawukuriryayo promised to develop tourism, add value to products exported to the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, fight soil erosion, improve banana yields and build roads. His platform was much the same as that of the incumbent

, causing some to say he was a stooge for the president. In the election, Kagame gained 93% of the vote and Ntawukuriryayo came second with 4.9%. Following allegations of abuse of office and citing personal reasons, Ntawukuriryayo resigned as President of the Senate on 17 September 2014.

References

1961 births Living people People from Southern Province, Rwanda Social Democratic Party (Rwanda) politicians Health ministers of Rwanda Higher education ministers of Rwanda Infrastructure ministers of Rwanda Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Rwanda) Presidents of the Senate (Rwanda) National University of Rwanda alumni Ghent University alumni Candidates for President of Rwanda {{Rwanda-politician-stub