Office of the Chancellor

Professor Edward Bitanywaine Rugumayo is the Chancellor of Mountains of the Moon University and a Ugandan politician, diplomat, author, academic, community leader, and environmentalist.

He previously served as a Cabinet Minister in two Ugandan administrations, Chairman of the National Consultative Council, and Uganda’s Ambassador to South Africa. He played a vital role in founding Mountains of the Moon University as a community university alongside other colleagues in the Tooro region. He was formerly the Chancellor of Kampala University.

Professor Rugumayo attended Mukole Primary School in Kyenjojo District and Galihuma Primary School for his primary education, Kabarole Junior Secondary School, and Nyakasura School in Fort Portal for secondary education. He proceeded to Chester College, then a constituent college of the University of Liverpool, for a Diploma in Education (Sciences) and, after that, the University of London, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Ecology.

When he returned to Uganda in 1966, he briefly taught at Kyambogo National Teacher’s College before joining Makerere University as the warden of Mitchell Hall. He joined the Idi Amin administration as Minister of Education from 1971 until 1973 and then had to flee into exile. He spent six years in Zambia (1973-1979), working in the School of Education at the University of Zambia. In 1979, he was appointed the Chairman of the Uganda National Consultative Council, a position he held for one year until further exile in Kenya from 1980-1995. During this period, he worked with Moi University, UNEP, UNESCO, UNDP, the World Bank, and many other NGOs.

He was appointed Uganda’s first High Commissioner to South Africa (1995-1999). In 1999 he returned to Uganda, where he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs for one year and, after that, Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry, a post he held until his retirement in 2005.