Rwandan President Paul Kagame has granted a charter to Mount Kigali University, formerly Mount Kenya University Rwanda(MKUR), which allows it to operate as a fully-fledged institution.

MKU becomes the first cross-border campus in Rwanda to attain a charter.

Through the Prime Minister's office, the Rwandan government announced the news on Friday following a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame.

Mount Kigali University Vice-Chancellor designate Prof. Edwin Odhuno assured the Rwandan government that the learning institution would improve its services as they have in almost a decade.

“We are extremely grateful to the Ministry of Education for this recognition. As an institution, we are happy with this achievement and will work even harder to expand access to higher education,” he added.

Further, Oduno noted that the charter award was a challenging development because the University is responsible for delivering much more in teaching research and community outreach.

“To whom much has been given much is expected from,” he noted

According to MKU regional marketing and communications director Henry Musisi, the rebranding will allow the institution to operate autonomously across Rwanda and independently from its counterpart in Thika, Kenya.

Musisi said the university's new status will enable the institution to produce graduates with employability skills relevant to the market and simplify the learning process and graduation procedures.

In addition, the university recently initiated the construction of Kes 500 million Kigali Paramount Hotel, which is expected to function as the regional training centre for hospitality and tourism programmes.

It will target the broader East African market and is scheduled to be fully completed by the end of this year.

Benson Abuto, who heads MKU Rwanda’s Hospitality and Tourism Department, said the department, backed by the hotel, could perform a similar role as Kenya Utalii College, training for the region.