Ziria Tibalwa Waako is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

corporate executive Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit or ...

, who serves as the

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Electricity Regulatory Authority The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) is a government agency that regulates, licenses, and supervises the generation, transmission, distribution, sale, export, and importation of electrical energy in Uganda. Location The offices of the ERA ...

, since November 2016. She replaced Benon Mutambi, who was appointed the Permanent Secretary of the Uganda Ministry of Internal Affairs. For the first four months, from November 2016 until March 2017, she served in an acting capacity, until her confirmation on 27 March 2017.

Background and education

She holds an ordinary diploma in electrical engineering and an advanced diploma in electrical engineering, both obtained from ''Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo'' (today

Kyambogo University Kyambogo University (KYU) is a public university in Uganda. It is one of the eight public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country with the motto, "Knowledge and Skills for Service." History Kyambogo University was establishe ...

). She also has a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

, both in

Electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, and both obtained from

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. In addition, she has a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in Leadership, awarded by

Walden University Walden University is a private online for-profit university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Health, E ...

, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, United States.

Career

Tibalwa Waako's career is long, going back for over 23 years. All her adult working life has been spent in Uganda's electricity sector. She worked with the now defunct Uganda Electricity Board (UEB). When UEB was dissolved in 2001, she transferred to the

Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) is a parastatal company whose primary purpose is to make bulk electricity purchases and transmit the electricity along high voltage wires to local and foreign distribution points. UETCL ...

(UETCL). In 2012 was appointed as Director of technical regulation at the Electricity Regulatory Authority, serving in that capacity until she was promoted to CEO at the regulatory agency. In her role as the director of technical regulation at the ERA, she has been a strong promoter of the use of energy-saving bulbs to save electricity consumption. As a result of her recommendation, the

government of Uganda Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...

spent US$4.1 million to purchase

LED bulb An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

s which were distributed to grid-connected customers, from October 2014 until April 2016. This saved an estimated .

Family

Engineer Waako is married to Professor

Paul Waako Professor Paul Waako (born 20 February 1967), is a Ugandan pharmacologist, academic and academic administrator, who serves as the Vice Chancellor of Busitema University, a public university in the Eastern Region of Uganda, since 1 May 2019. B ...

, a clinical pharmacologist and academic administrator, who since 1 May 2019, serves as the

Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

Busitema University Busitema University (BU) is a university in Uganda. It is one of the eight public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country. BU has its main focus on the instruction of agricultural sciences, agricultural engineering, agricult ...

, a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

in the Eastern Region of Uganda. Together, they are parents to five children.

Other considerations

Engineer Ziria Tibalwa Waako is a member of the "Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers".

References

External links