Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi became the seventh Secretary-General of UNCTAD on 1 September 2013. He has an extensive background as an elected official, academic and holder of high government office. Dr. Kituyi was elected to the Parliament of Kenya in 1992 and was twice re-elected. He was the Minister of Trade and Industry of Kenya from 2002 to 2007. During this period, Dr. Kituyi chaired and participated in a variety of ministerial-level initiatives, including for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the 2005 Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization. Immediately prior to becoming Secretary-General, Dr. Kituyi was Chief Executive of the Kenya Institute of Governance and a Fellow of the Brookings Institution. From 2008 to 2012, Dr. Kituyi was a member of a team of experts advising the presidents of the nations of the East African Community on how to establish more effective regional economic links. From 2011 to 2012, he was a consultant for the African Union Commission, where he helped to develop the structure for a pan-African free trade area. Dr. Kituyi studied political science and international relations at the University of Nairobi and at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, receiving a BA in 1982. He went on to earn a Master of Philosophy and a PhD from the University of Bergen.