gahakwa grew up in uganda, and graduated from makerere university with a bachelor of science in 1996. she went on to earn an msc in plant breeding (1997) and phd (2001) from the university of east anglia in england. her phd was entitled "molecular and biochemical studies of transgene expression in rice and maize". she was appointed minister of education following a cabinet reshuffle in march 2008, having previously been minister of state for agriculture. in july 2009, she was replaced as minister of education by charles murigande. she also served as chancellor of the national university of rwanda.