# Ernest Mberamiheto

Ernest Mberamiheto is a Burundian teacher and politician.

## Early years

Ernest Mberamiheto was born in the Commune of Bwambarangwe, Kirundo Province. He is a Hutu. He was a militant in the Jeunesse Révolutionnaire Rwagasore (JRR), the youth wing of the UPRONA party, and then a member of UPRONA. He graduated in English Languages and Literature, and in 1985 joined the Ecole de Formation des Instituteurs (EFI) in Muyago, Cankuzo Province. When the EFI changed its name to the Lycée pédagogique he was appointed prefect of studies. He is a father of four children, including three girls.

## Political career

From 1990 to 1992, Mberamiheto was administrator of the Commune of Gisagara, Cankuzo. He was transferred to become administrator of the Commune of Bwambarangwe, Kirundo, a few months before the 1993 elections. He was elected deputy for Kirundo Province on the UPRONA ticket (3rd on the list). He would not sit until 1994, after the deputies higher on the list had moved on. After the elections he was stripped of his duties and returned to teach in Kinyinya. He taught at the Lycée du Lac Tanganyika during the 1995-1996 school year, then for three months was director of the Lycée Sainte Famille in Kinama.
When President Pierre Buyoya returned to power in 1996, Mberamiheto was a representative of the people in Kigobe. While in Kigobe, he was support manager as advisor in charge of social issues, director general of the National Assembly, deputy protocol officer, and legislative director. He left UPRONA in 2004 and joined the Frodebu party of Dr Jean Minani: He became deputy chief of protocol for Dr Minani, who was president of the National Assembly.
On 14 November 2007 Mberamiheto was appointed deputy minister responsible for primary and secondary education in the government of Pierre Nkurunziza. He served until 2010. In January 2008 Mberamiheto spoke at a workshop on the new guide for teachers concerning HIV education, which the government had launched with the United Nations Children's Fund. He noted that a 2004 study had found that 23% of school children in Burundi had had sexual intercourse by the time they were aged 14. After the 2010 elections, Mberamiheto was a manager in the evaluation office at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, then Secretary General of the Senate.

## Minister of Good Governance and Privatization

On 17 February 2014 Ernest Mberamiheto was appointed Minister of Good Governance and Privatization. He replaced Issa Ngendakumana from the Frodebu Nyakuri party.
In July 2014 Mberamiheto answered questions in a National Assembly debate. Companies that had been recommended for privatization over a five-year period included SOSUMO, SIP, SRDI , OTB, ALM, COGERCO, LNBTP and ONATOUR. It was recommended that measures be put in place to prevent the assets of these companies being abused in the interim before privatization occurred. In September 2014 Mberamiheto participated in a session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Asset Recovery in Vienna, part of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
In November 2014 the National Assembly unanimously adopted the Protocol establishing the East African Community Monetary Union. Burundi would have a period of ten years to meet the prerequisites before accessing the single currency. Mberamiheto told the MPs that the goal was to achieve monetary and financial stability, necessary for sustainable growth. Membership would eliminate transition costs and exchange rate risk when payments were settled in the common currency.
In August 2018 Ernest Mberamiheto was president of the national commission for the state examination.