Uganda's richest man appoints daughter to council seat of Victoria University following his son's death

Less than a year after Rajiv Ruparelia died in a Kampala road accident, Victoria University, founded by Uganda's richest man Sudhir Ruparelia, has installed his elder sister Meera in the council seat he occupied, marking the latest move in what observers are calling a deliberate transfer of family stewardship over one of Uganda's most strategically positioned private universities.

Meera Ruparelia was sworn in as Representative of the Directors to the University Council on April 16, a ceremony confirmed by the university in a press statement the same day and first reported by the Nile Post. She steps into the position Rajiv held until his death in May 2025, when his Nissan GTR crashed in Kampala at the age of 35. He was the Ruparelia Group's Managing Director and had been closely associated with Victoria University's growth and modernisation over the preceding years.

"It is an honour and a responsibility to take on this role," Meera said at the swearing-in. "I will uphold the values of innovation, resilience, and practical learning that define Victoria University."

She was accompanied at the ceremony by her brother-in-law Jay Sakaria.

What the role means

The position of Representative of the Directors carries governance weight. As a council member, Meera will be directly involved in setting strategic direction for the institution, overseeing management performance and ensuring the university remains aligned with the vision its family has invested in building. Her appointment was framed by the university not as a routine administrative transition but as a statement of intent.

"With this appointment, we are not just maintaining continuity, we are strengthening our resolve to innovate, grow and lead," Vice Chancellor Dr. Lawrence Muganga said at the event, where he also paid tribute to Rajiv. "Rajiv's vision transformed not just an institution, but the entire approach to modern education in Uganda. His legacy remains deeply embedded in everything we do."

The university said it is confident in Meera's leadership, describing her as someone who "steps into this role with a deep understanding of the institution's mission."

Meera was direct about what she intends to do with it. "Our goal is to keep Victoria University at the centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by closing the gap between what students learn and what industry needs," she said.

Who Meera Ruparelia is

Meera, born in December 1985, is the eldest of three children of Uganda's richest person, Sudhir Ruparelia, and his wife Jyotsna. Her siblings were Rajiv, who preceded her in the council role, and Sheena. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Investment and Financial Risk Management from City, University of London and has spent more than 15 years working in the family's real estate operations.

She serves as Head of Developments at Meera Investments Limited, the real estate arm of the Ruparelia Group, which was founded in 1994. The company manages and develops a portfolio of over 400 residential and commercial properties across Uganda, Dubai and London. She is also a senior property manager at Crane Management Services, where she has been active since 2010. Her work spans mixed-use developments, luxury apartments, commercial complexes and hospitality projects across Kampala and beyond.

While her brother Rajiv was the more public face of the next Ruparelia generation, serving as the group's Managing Director and appearing regularly in business and institutional settings, Meera has operated with a lower public profile, focused primarily on execution inside the property portfolio. This appointment places her more visibly in the Ruparelia Group's institutional governance structure at a time when the family is clearly thinking carefully about how it distributes responsibility in Rajiv's absence.

The family behind the institution

Victoria University sits within a wider portfolio of education assets held by the Ruparelia Group, the conglomerate built by Sudhir Ruparelia from a $25,000 stake he brought back to Uganda in 1985 after his family was expelled by Idi Amin in 1972. From beer trading and foreign exchange into banking, real estate, insurance, hospitality and education, Sudhir built what is now estimated to be a $1.6 billion empire that touches nearly every major sector of Uganda's economy. He is widely described as Kampala's most prominent landlord and holds ownership in a significant portion of the central business district's commercial buildings.

Victoria University itself received its full university charter in July 2022 after the National Council for Higher Education approved it and President Museveni signed the certificate. Located at Victoria Towers on Jinja Road in Kampala, it has positioned itself around practical, industry-linked education rather than the more traditional academic model. Rajiv was widely credited with driving that direction during his time on the council.

To mark his passing, the university established the Rajiv Ruparelia Bursary at its 9th convocation in October 2025, providing 100 fully funded Master's scholarships to high-performing undergraduates. The bursary was funded by Sudhir and Jyotsna, and it stands as the most visible institutional expression of how the family has chosen to honour him.

Victoria University separately gained a significant accreditation on the same day Meera's appointment was announced. The Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda confirmed on April 16 that the institution is now approved to offer a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree, placing it alongside Makerere University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology among the institutions cleared to train pharmacists in the country.