President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Professor Edward Rugumayo Bitanyaine as the Chancellor of Mountains of the Moon University.
According to a statement issued by the university secretary Dr .Edmond Kabagambe, Professor Rugumayo has been appointed to serve as the university Chancellor for a four-year term of office.
Professor Rugumayo’s appointment follows the recommendation of the University council, based on section 30(1) of the universities and tertiary institutions Act, 2001 (as amended).
“We are thankful to the His Excellency the President of Uganda and the University Council for recognizing professor Edward Rugumayo Bitanyaine’s distinguished services as a politician, diplomat, author, academic and environmentalist and granting him the opportunity to serve Mountains of the Moon as its first chancellor as a public university,” the letter reads in part.
His appointment comes two months after the university was taken over by the government as a public institution.
Mountains of the Moon University is the 10th Public University in Uganda found in Kabarole district that became a Public University effective 1st July 2022 established under The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act as S.I. No. 2 of 2022 of Parliament of Uganda.
Rugumayo together with Fr. Albert Byaruhanga, Prof. Oswald Ndoleriire, Justice Seith Manyindo, Hon. Tom Butiime among others mooted the idea that started Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) in 2005. He has been the Chancellor and Chairperson Board of Directors of MMU since 2005 when the University was private and licensed by National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).
Professor Rugumayo attended Galihuma Primary School in Kyenjojo and Nyakasura School, before being admitted to Makerere University in the mid-1950s.
In 1958, he was given a scholarship to study in the United Kingdom.
Rugumayo holds a Diploma in Education from Chester College in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Ecology from the University of London.
After the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) and the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) captured power, Rugumayo became the chairman of the National Consultative Council (NCC), the parliament of the time.
He served as Minister of Education 1971, Chairman of the National Consultative Council in 1979, Uganda’s first Ambassador to South Africa in 1996, Minister of Internal Affairs in 1999 and Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry in 2000.
