Shartsi Kutesa Musherure is the sister of Gen Muhoozi’s wife, Charlotte Kainerugaba. She is a Member of Parliament representing the ruling party, NRM, for the Mawogola North constituency in Uganda’s Parliament.
As Uganda gears up for parliamentary elections, it was expected that Shartsi Kutesa Musherure would seek re-election.
However, her re-election bid had put her at odds with Sodo Aine Kaguta, the younger brother of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and also Gen Muhoozi’s uncle, as he, too, is eyeing the same seat.
To ease tensions, on Sunday, June 22, 2025, Shartsi Musherure announced she would no longer contest for the seat, citing “respect for the President, Chairman of the NRM Party,” and a desire “to maintain the unity of the NRM party.”
In a message shared on Monday, Gen Muhoozi expressed appreciation for his sister-in-law’s decision to step aside.
“On Mawogola North, I applaud and congratulate my sister Hon.Shartsi. Government posts do not define a person. Shartsi is welcome to the struggle. I’m happy to have her as my fellow companion,” Gen Muhoozi wrote on X.
Following Musherure’s withdrawal, President Museveni’s younger brother visited Mawogola North on Monday to engage with local residents as he seeks to represent the area in Parliament.
The ceremony, held as part of the Dutch royal palace’s diplomatic engagements, sets the stage for Ambassador Dushimimana to deepen Rwanda–Netherlands cooperation across sectors such as trade, development, and diplomacy.
A seasoned public servant, Dushimimana previously served as a senator and the Governor of Western Province. He was appointed to the ambassadorial role in December 2024.
He replaces Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, who was named Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in June of the same year.
Beyond traditional diplomacy, Ambassador Dushimimana is expected to actively engage with the Rwandan community abroad and foster partnerships with Dutch institutions, with a focus on areas like education, climate action, and inclusive development.
Rwanda and the Netherlands established formal diplomatic relations on October 1, 1964. However, diplomatic engagement between the two countries started earlier, with the first contacts dating back to 1957 when the Heineken Group established a brewery in Rwanda.
Following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the Netherlands was among the first countries to offer humanitarian aid and has since become a reliable partner in Rwanda’s recovery and development.
The Rwandan Embassy in the Netherlands was established on November 1, 2006.
Speaking in a candid conversation on The Long Form podcast hosted by Sanny Ntayombya, Onyango-Obbo described the RPF as Africa’s first true statehood movement and shared vivid memories of encountering President Paul Kagame, who at the time was commander of its armed wing, the RPA, and whose quiet resolve in Rwanda’s rugged bush foretold his role in transforming a shattered nation.
Onyango-Obbo described the RPF’s struggle, which ended the 100-day Genocide against the Tutsi in July 1994, as unique.
“It was not a classical liberation movement against dictatorship,” he said. “It was to get the largely Tutsi refugee population to return home.”
He likened the movement’s geopolitical significance to the forces behind Israel’s founding, noting its improbable success. Operating deep in Rwanda’s hinterland, far from coastal supply lines, the RPF faced steep odds as a minority force, never exceeding 15% of Rwanda’s population even with full Tutsi support. Yet, under Kagame’s command, it triumphed.
Onyango-Obbo revealed that his access to the RPF, facilitated by childhood ties in Fort Portal and the group’s openness to African journalists, offered a rare perspective.
“The RPF was one of the first movements to give preference to African journalists to cover them,” he recalled.
Onyango-Obbo, then a budding journalist, travelled to Rwanda’s war-torn north and saw stark contrasts—abandoned government barracks stocked with beer and cigarettes, while barefoot RPF fighters in tattered t-shirts pushed forward.
Among them, Kagame, then a Major General, struck him as contemplative yet tough. His quiet resolve anchored the movement’s gruelling campaign after he stepped in to lead following the death of Fred Rwigema, just one day after the liberation war began.
“He was almost exactly as he is today,” he said, noting Kagame’s unassuming demeanour.
Unlike flamboyant rebel leaders like Angola’s Jonas Savimbi, Onyango-Obbo revealed, Kagame’s authority was subtle.
“He was contemplative, thoughtful, not rushed to judgment, but tough. Your first sense would be, ‘How is he the leader?’ He didn’t broadcast it visibly. As president, he has trappings that make him stand out, but back then, unlike Jonas Savimbi, who lived like a king in the bush, Kagame didn’t,” he observed.
“You needed to know him to understand his place. If you were a visitor, guessing the leader, you wouldn’t pick him.”
In the unforgiving Muhabura mountains, where RPF fighters endured brutal cold and some froze to death with guns still clutched in their hands, Paul Kagame’s unyielding grit stood out.
Onyango-Obbo, witnessing the rebels’ resilience in the mountains, became convinced of their unstoppable force.
“If they came down the mountain,” he believed, “they wouldn’t be stopped.”
Onyango-Obbo noted that Kagame’s relentless persistence, which later drove Rwanda’s successful methane extraction projects on Lake Kivu despite numerous failures, confirmed his unwavering belief that no challenge was insurmountable.
“His views have broadened, but he’s the same person. The idea of impossible doesn’t exist for him. He wouldn’t have succeeded if it did,” he explained.
“For example, after the war, they explored methane extraction. They had many failures, but he didn’t give up despite disappointments. Now, with methane plants on Lake Kivu, looking back to 2000, anyone would have thrown in the towel.”
He also shared his first impression of Rwigema, describing him as warm and easy to connect with, even from a distance.
“He was easily the most charismatic person I’ve met. He radiated it from a distance. He had a very easygoing personality. You wouldn’t imagine he was a soldier. It’s difficult for people who’ve been in the trenches to escape being soldiers, but he could,” he narrated.
The Ugandan author also shared a memory of seeing Rwigema in Kampala near the Diamond Bank building, heading to a bookstore.
“He drove up in a VW Golf, got out in jeans, an untucked shirt, and sandals, going to the bookshop. We shouted at him, he gave high-fives, greeted people in the street, alone, without guards. That’s the kind of person he was.”
In the interview, filmed in Nairobi, Kenya, the Ugandan journalist also recalled early warning signs of the Genocide against the Tutsi. Just weeks after the RPF’s October 1990 offensive, he visited a Ugandan border camp where Tutsi refugees bore machete wounds inflicted by Interahamwe militants.
“The infrastructure of the genocide was already baked into Rwandan society,” he said, lamenting journalists’ failure to foresee the horror.
Beyond Rwanda, Onyango-Obbo shared reflections on East Africa’s trajectory. He warned that Uganda, after nearly four decades under President Yoweri Museveni, faced a fractured future, potentially splintering into autonomous regions by 2070 due to regional distrust and unresolved grievances.
He predicted that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia could stabilise within 15 years, possibly through federalism or an al-Shabaab-led regime, while South Sudan and Burundi risked prolonged stagnation.
Speaking in an interview with the state broadcaster, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), on Sunday, Nduhungirehe described the DRC’s actions as “unacceptable” and indicative of a government that “seems not to want genuine peace.”
The minister’s remarks come on the heels of Rwanda’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on Saturday, June 7, 2025, during the 26th Ordinary Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Rwanda’s exit was prompted by what it called a deliberate violation of its rights under the ECCAS Treaty, particularly the DRC’s move to block Rwanda’s rightful turn to assume the rotating chairmanship of the organisation.
According to a statement from Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the DRC, supported by certain ECCAS member states, instrumentalised the regional bloc to impose its “diktat,” disregarding the treaty’s provision for chairmanship rotation based on French alphabetical order.
“Rwanda’s right to assume the rotating Chairmanship was deliberately ignored,” the ministry’s statement read.
Nduhungirehe elaborated during the RBA interview, stating that the DRC’s complaint against Rwanda’s alleged aggression was baseless and hypocritical, given the DRC’s own role in regional instability.
He accused the DRC of supporting the FDLR, a genocidal force linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, using mercenaries in violation of international law, and orchestrating attacks on Rwandan territory, including a January shelling near Goma that killed 16 people and wounded 160.
The minister highlighted Rwanda’s frustration with ECCAS’s governance failures, noting that the organisation has been dysfunctional for years, with issues of unaccounted finances, lack of audits since 2015, and ineffective leadership.
He cited a previous incident in 2023, when the DRC, as ECCAS chair, prevented Rwanda from speaking at the 22nd Summit in Kinshasa, an exclusion Rwanda protested in a letter to the African Union that went unaddressed.
Despite withdrawing from ECCAS, the minister affirmed that Rwanda remains committed to other regional economic communities, such as the East African Community and COMESA, and to peace processes aimed at resolving the conflict in eastern DRC.
Nduhungirehe emphasised Rwanda’s active participation in negotiations, including a March 18 meeting between Presidents Paul Kagame and Félix Tshisekedi in Doha, mediated by Qatar, and an April 25 declaration of principles signed with DRC’s Foreign Minister Kayikwamba in Washington.
The talks are part of ongoing efforts toward a broader peace agreement to be finalised at the White House in the United States.
“It’s strange and unacceptable that, while we are on the path of peace, the DRC is going around accusing Rwanda and calling for sanctions,” Nduhungirehe said, describing the DRC’s actions as unprincipled and counterproductive to regional stability.
“It’s sad to see a community of 11 member states being manipulated by a single country,” Nduhungirehe added, urging ECCAS members to recognise the organisation’s flawed trajectory.
He warned that the DRC’s behaviour risks derailing delicate peace negotiations, particularly as tensions persist over the M23 rebellion in North and South Kivu provinces.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied Kinshasa’s allegations of supporting M23, instead pointing to the DRC’s collaboration with the FDLR as a primary driver of the conflict and a direct threat to Rwanda’s security.
The escalating feud marks a stunning turn in a relationship that once saw the world’s richest man play a key role in Trump’s second-term administration and re-election effort. But what had been an uneasy partnership imploded this week in public, with blistering criticism exchanged across press conferences and social media platforms.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump’s threat came as tensions boiled over following Musk’s vocal opposition to a sweeping tax and spending bill championed by the president.
Musk, who previously led Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and donated nearly $300 million to support his campaign and GOP allies in 2024, responded sharply.
Just minutes after markets closed, following a staggering 14% drop in Tesla stock that erased over $150 billion in value, Musk replied “Yes” to a post on his platform X that called for Trump’s impeachment.
It was a previously unthinkable gesture, given the Republican Party’s control of both chambers of Congress.
The rift had been building. Days earlier, Musk denounced Trump’s legislation as a “disgusting abomination” that would dangerously inflate the national debt, now at $36.2 trillion.
While Trump initially refrained from responding, he broke his silence Thursday during a press appearance with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, expressing “very disappointed” feelings about Musk.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told reporters.
As the president spoke, Musk hit back on X, asserting: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election.” He also accused Trump of “ingratitude” and warned that the president’s economic policies, including his signature tariffs, would push the U.S. into a recession.
Further inflaming tensions, Musk appeared to reference Trump’s name in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein files in a cryptic post on X.
The files refer to recently unsealed court documents from a long-running case involving Epstein, a disgraced financier accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls.
The documents list names of high-profile individuals alleged to have had ties to Epstein. While Musk did not elaborate, the implication that Trump may be connected to the scandal added fuel to an already volatile exchange.
Meanwhile, the clash sent shockwaves through financial markets and the political landscape. Tesla’s historic single-day stock plunge rattled investors, while lawmakers expressed concern about how the feud could impact the Republican Party’s cohesion ahead of the midterms.
“Musk was a major player in the ground game last cycle,” one GOP strategist told Reuters. “If he sits out the midterms—or worse, turns on us—it’s a huge problem.”
Musk’s threats to decommission key assets from SpaceX, including the Dragon spacecraft used in NASA missions, also alarmed government agencies. Though he later walked back that statement, the uncertainty underscored how deeply intertwined Musk’s companies are with federal operations.
{{From influence to isolation
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Just last week, Trump had given Musk a ceremonial Oval Office send-off after his resignation from the Department of Government Efficiency. Yet behind the scenes, tensions had been growing, particularly after Trump rescinded the nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to lead NASA.
According to White House aides, Musk had begun to lose influence within the administration even before the public fallout, as senior officials worked to curtail his control over staffing and budgeting.
While Trump now insists that Elon “was wearing thin,” Musk’s team has stayed mostly silent. A White House statement called the split “an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.”
Still, the damage may be lasting. Musk has hinted at launching a new political movement and pledged to withhold future campaign donations. On Tuesday, he warned voters to oust any politicians who “betrayed the American people.”
Whether this political divorce is permanent or merely a prelude to a truce or part of Musk’s plan to distance himself from Trump’s controversial reforms remains to be seen.
With 94.4 percent of the votes counted after midnight, Lee won 48.8 percent and his major rival Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party took 42.0 percent, the National Election Commission data showed.
Even if all the remaining uncounted votes go to Kim, Lee will win the presidential by-election, confirming his victory.
Local broadcaster JTBC and three terrestrial broadcasters including KBS, MBC and SBS forecast earlier that Lee was certain to be elected the country’s 21st president.
Preliminary voter turnout reached 79.4 percent, marking the highest in 28 years since the voting rate recorded 80.7 percent in 1997.
Out of about 44.39 million eligible voters, some 35.24 million cast their ballots at 14,295 polling stations across the country.
The voter turnout, which included those who participated in early voting last Thursday and Friday, was up from 77.1 percent tallied in the previous presidential election in 2022.
The presidential race was triggered by the removal of former conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol from office over his botched martial law bid.
Recent surveys showed that Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party continued to have around 50 percent of support, holding a big lead over Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party with about 30 percent.
Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, then candidate of the People Power Party, by the country’s narrowest margin of 0.73 percentage points.
An early voting was carried out between May 29 and May 30. Among over 44 million eligible voters, 34.74 percent cast preliminary votes.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement released late on Saturday night, said the two leaders reviewed the evolving situation in Africa, with particular emphasis on diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the protracted conflict in eastern DRC.
The talks also focused on enhancing cooperation between Qatar and the AU in promoting peace and regional stability across the continent.
Chairperson Youssouf commended Qatar’s growing role in supporting African peace initiatives, especially its mediation efforts in the Great Lakes Region, where tensions between Rwanda and the DRC have persisted despite multiple peace attempts.
Qatar has taken a leading role in efforts to restore peace in the Great Lakes Region. Talks between the DRC government and the AFC/M23 rebel group, which says it’s fighting for the rights of marginalised Kinyarwanda-speaking communities in the eastern DRC, are being held in Qatar.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of aiding M23 hostilities in the eastern DRC. Rwanda has repeatedly dismissed the claims, insisting that its primary concern is the continued presence and collaboration between Congolese forces and the FDLR militia group. The group, linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, continues to pose a security threat on the border with Congo, fueling the conflict between Rwanda and the DRC.
Meanwhile, the African Union has also taken a central role in the region’s peace efforts following the early 2025 decision by the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to merge the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes into a unified framework. This unified initiative, coordinated by the AU, aims to streamline regional mediation efforts.
Togo is currently guiding the final stages of this mediation process, in coordination with a panel of distinguished African leaders who were appointed as facilitators of the process earlier this year. The leaders include former presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa), Catherine Samba-Panza (Central African Republic), and Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia).
The international community has also increased its engagement. In May, U.S. Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, announced that Washington had presented a draft peace agreement to the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC for their review.
A historic ceremony is scheduled for June at the White House, where Presidents Kagame and Tshisekedi are expected to formally sign the peace accord in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking at the 2025 Astana International Forum in Kazakhstan, Kagame warned that the prevailing model of conflict mediation, dominated by ceasefires and short-term diplomacy, has consistently failed to deliver lasting peace.
“There is more attention paid to managing conflicts rather than addressing the root causes,” Kagame told a packed plenary session, which included Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, North Macedonian President Gordana Davukova, and other global dignitaries.
“You can cool down the situation and a few months, a few years later, you have the same crisis getting worse or others emerging. So, you don’t just manage conflicts. You address the root causes.”
He pointed to longstanding unresolved issues and vested interests as the silent drivers of instability in various regions, including Africa, where conflicts continue to rage in Sudan and in Rwanda’s neighbour, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where M23 rebels have in recent months captured large swathes of territory.
In the eastern DRC, Kagame has in the past accused the government of failing to address the conflict rooted in colonial border drawing, which has led to the continued marginalisation of Kinyarwanda-speaking communities, some of whom have taken up arms to demand inclusivity.
Beyond the Great Lakes region, Kagame’s message struck a chord in a year marked by multiple conflicts, including wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The Astana International Forum, themed Connecting Minds, Shaping the Future, brought together over 5,000 global participants to tackle interlinked global crises—from climate and energy to geopolitical tensions and economic resilience.
During the plenary session, President Kagame also elaborated on Rwanda’s post-1994 Genocide against the Tutsi recovery journey, highlighting the importance of resilience and homegrown solutions.
“We learned from our history when genocide was taking place and the rest of the world looked the other way,” he said. “We began putting our pieces together, creating that level of trust that gave us an opportunity to build institutions accountable to our people’s needs.”
While acknowledging the importance of external support, Kagame stressed that such aid is only effective when coupled with strong domestic commitment.
“We got support from a number of friends and partners, but this would not have been helpful, would not have had an impact if we were not standing together ourselves and doing our part from within,” he remarked.
Kagame stressed that this principle applies across the board, not just for small or developing nations, but for all countries seeking to secure their futures in an increasingly volatile world.
The president also turned a critical eye to the global financial architecture, calling it both
“structurally flawed and politically biased.”
He argued that developing nations continue to suffer from outdated risk assessments and unequal enforcement of international financial rules, which restrict access to capital and hinder development.
“There has been much talk of reforming the global financial architecture… But the problem is not just structural, it is political,” Kagame said.
He called for renewed momentum in South-South cooperation, particularly between Africa and Central Asia, as a strategic complement, not an alternative, to global engagement.
The talks took place in areas under the control of the rebel group, just one day after AFC/M23 confirmed Kabila’s arrival in the region.
According to sources close to both camps, the former president held a meeting with Corneille Nangaa, the coalition’s political coordinator, along with his deputy Bertrand Bisimwa and another senior official.
The meeting was described as a courtesy exchange, a “salamalek” or peace greeting, but signalled a potentially deeper political engagement to come.
On the same day, Kabila also visited the AFC/M23’s military and ideological training base in Rumangabo, Rutshuru territory.
A source close to the former president said the visit aimed to assess the conditions under which Congolese citizens are trained after choosing to join the AFC/M23 “revolution.”
Kabila’s return to the Democratic Republic of Congo came just days after the Congolese Senate lifted his immunity as a senator for life, paving the way for legal proceedings against him over alleged ties to the M23 rebels.
In April, the Ministry of Justice accused the former head of state of colluding with the insurgency and ordered the seizure of his assets.
Since his arrival in Goma, no official photos or videos of Kabila have been released. Updates about his movements have come mainly from Reconstruire RDC, a platform he founded, and his close associates.
The platform announced last night that starting Wednesday, May 28, Kabila plans to begin a series of citizen consultations aimed at gathering concerns and proposals from various groups in response to the current security challenges facing the DRC.
The consultations are expected to guide the next phase of his political roadmap, centred on his proposed twelve-point plan to address the national crisis.
Kabila has been sharply critical of President Félix Tshisekedi’s administration, accusing it of corruption, mismanagement, and worsening insecurity in the eastern provinces. His return to Goma, particularly his engagement with M23 leadership, signals a major shift in the country’s political dynamics.
The former president is expected to address the nation once he concludes his consultations, during which he is likely to outline his vision and next steps amid a growing political crisis in the DRC.
