“Back home after a happy 2 days-visit in Uganda for Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba birthday during which I had productive discussions with H.E President Kaguta Museveni on bilateral, regional and global issues,” Kagame tweeted on Monday night.
Kagame started his visit in Uganda on Sunday 24th April which he concluded on 25th April 2022.
Upon arrival, he was received by the Minister for National Security, Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi and Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
On the same day, Kagame was hosted by his counterpart of Uganda, Museveni and his wife Janet Museveni with whom they held talks on different issues including regional peace, stability and cooperation.
He also attended the birthday of Lt Gen Muhoozi which was also attended by different dignitaries from Uganda.
On Monday, Museveni revealed via Twitter handle that President Kagame has long history with Muhoozi and thanked him for accepting the invitation of his son.
Lt Gen Muhoozi disclosed that he decided to organize a formal birthday party to celebrate achieved progress towards restoring bilateral relations to normal.
President Kagame was last in Uganda on 25th March 2018 for discussions on spoiled relations between both countries.
The Head of State visited Uganda at a time when relations between both countries is on the mend following talks with envoys from Uganda including Muhoozi and Uganda’s Permanent Representative to UN, Adonia Ayebare.
Lt Gen Muhoozi has come to Rwanda two times this year on a mission to mend ties between Uganda and Rwanda that had worsened since 2017.
Since he was involved in the process to restore relations to normal, Lt Gen Muhoozi has been warning Rwanda’s dissidents that they have no place in Uganda. He recently revealed that no official fighting Rwanda would retain job in Uganda.
He also echoed similar message in February where he warned Kayumba against using his country to threaten Rwanda’s security.
His previous visit to Rwanda was on 22nd January 2022, a move that was followed by the reopening of Gatuna border.
Later on, Rwanda reopened all land borders on 7th March 2022.
On the occasion of his birthday celebration, Lt Gen Muhoozi said that both countries currently have good relations with optimism that the situation shall improve further in the future.
Museveni made the appreciation through a long Twitter thread in which he talked about his life in exile before taking power and expressed gratefulness for Kagame’s visit to Uganda who attended the 48th birthday anniversary of his first born, Lt Gen Muhoozu Kainerugaba.
The celebration took place at State House in Entebbe.
Museveni has said that Lt Gen Muhoozi Lt Gen Muhoozi was a gift to him and his wife in young days of struggle.
He was born on 24th April 1974 at Kurasini, Dar es Salam, the capital of Tanzania.
Museveni has revealed that his wife Janet Museveni was driven to the hospital by a Dutch Lady.
At the time, Museveni was among rebel outfits that had plans to overthrow the leadership of Idi Amin Dada who led Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He was replaced by Milton Obote who led the country from who had governed the country between 1966 – 1971 and regained power between 1980 and 1985.
When he was arrested and rescued by soldiers, Museveni revealed that Muhoozi was a little boy.
“He was the earliest Kadogo of the Resistance (only second to Julius Kategaya who took another path). He is also an early veteran at 5 years when we were arrested in Kireka by our UPC allies, they were planning to send us to God but our force with Kagame and Saleh rescued us,” he tweeted.
Museveni went on to explain that he doesn’t know what impact that scenario had on Lt Gen Muhoozi, because he was a prisoner of war. He also thanked Janet Museveni ‘who looked after him and his siblings right all through these situations, even in exile’.
“I would like to thank H.E Paul Kagame, we are happy that you responded to Lt Gen Muhoozi’s invitation and came. President Kagame and Muhoozi have a long history together. They are old friends,” he added.
“Congratulations on your well-deserved re-election President @EmmanuelMacron. This is a testament to your visionary leadership that seeks to unite and not divide. Rwanda looks forward to even more and stronger partnerships between our people and nations,” he tweeted.
Rwanda, France relations wavered in the past over the role France is accused to have played during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
However, both countries’ relations have been on good progress since Macron took office in 2017.
In 2021, Macron came to Rwanda for a two-day maiden visit from 27th to 28th May where he admitted his country’s responsibility during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
“Standing here today, with humility and respect, by your side, I have come to recognize our responsibilities,” said Macron as he visited Kigali Genocide Memorial.
At the time, he said that France had a duty to admit the “suffering it inflicted on the Rwandan people by too long valuing silence over the examination of the truth.”
Macron said that only those who had survived the horrors “can perhaps forgive ; give us the gift of forgiveness”.
The visit was held shortly after the release of Duclert report that reviewed archives on France’s role during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
It was made by an expert committee of French historians led by Prof. Vincent Duclert.
The report by French historians revealed that France bears “heavy and overwhelming responsibilities” over tragic history that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi which took lives of over 1 million victims.
The report blames the then French President, François Mitterrand, for a “failure” of policy towards Rwanda in 1994. The findings were made public after years of French official secrecy over links to the Government led by Juvenal Habyarimana.
On the first day of his visit to Rwanda last year, Macron visited Kigali Genocide Memorial where he paid tribute to over 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
He also participated in a joint press conference with his host, President Paul Kagame, visited Tumba College of Technology where a Department of Mechatronics would be set up through a partnership with French Agency for Development (AFD).
On the same day, Macron visited Gikondo Health Center before officiating the launch of French Cultural Center located near Kigali Convention Center, Kimihurura Sector, Gasabo District.
The center has a section dedicated to learning French, culture-based training and providing official French language certification, boasts a large outdoor stage that can host shows and concerts.
On Thursday night, Macron and Kagame also watched quarter-finals of the inaugural season of Basketball Africa League (BAL) during which Patriots BBC representing Rwanda beat Ferroviário de Maputo representing Mozambique73-71 at Kigali Arena.
Among others, his visit left various agreements signed between both countries. The pacts include a framework for bilateral cooperation signed between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta.
The two countries signed an agreement for sports and talent development which saw Rwanda receiving €1.5 million (approximately Rwf1.84 billion) for sport and talent development.
Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana also signed a Euro 60 million financing agreement with Rémy Rioux the Director-General of French Agency for Development (AFD).
His coming to Rwanda was considered a major milestone to turning a new page for both countries relations blurred by France’s failure to admit its role during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Rwanda, France diplomatic relations date back in 1962 after obtaining Independence.
Kagame arrived at Entebbe in Uganda in the afternoon of Sunday 24th April 2022 where he was received by Lt Gen Muhoozi and the Minister for National Security, Maj Gen Jim K Mugwezi.
Apart from attending the birthday celebrations, the Head of State also met with his counterpart of Uganda with whom they discussed on bilateral relations.
Following the discussions, Museveni revelead via Twitter handle that he held ‘bilateral talks with H.E President Paul Kagame on a number of issues, especially on regional peace, stability and cooperation. I welcome H.E Kagame to Uganda’.
President Paul Kagame was last in Uganda on 25th March 2018 for discussions on spoiled relations between both countries.
Towards the beginning of April 2022, Lt Gen Muhoozi announced that President Kagame was on the list of dignitaries he wanted to invite during celebrations of his 48th birthday.
Kagame attended the birthday party, few days after the first born of Museveni visited Rwanda for the second time to mend spoiled between Rwanda and Uganda that had deteriorated since 2017. At the time, Kagame gifted ten cows to Lt Gen Muhoozi.
The Head of State visits Uganda at a time when relations between both countries is on the mend following talks with envoys from Uganda including Muhoozi and Uganda’s Permanent Representative to UN, Adonia Ayebare.
Lt Gen Muhoozi has also revealed that he decided to organize a formal birthday party to celebrate achieved progress towards restoring bilateral relations to normal.
He has come to Rwanda two times this year on a mission to mend ties between Uganda and Rwanda that had worsened since 2017.
Since he was involved in the process to restore relations to normal, Lt Gen Muhoozi has been warning Rwanda’s dissidents that they have no place in Uganda. He recently revealed that no official fighting Rwanda would retain job in Uganda.
He also echoed similar message in February where he warned Kayumba against using his country to threaten Rwanda’s security.
His previous visit to Rwanda was on 22nd January 2022, a move that was followed by the reopening of Gatuna border.
Later on, Rwanda reopened all land borders on 7th March 2022.
On the occasion of his birthday celebration, Lt Gen Muhoozi said that both countries currently have good relations with optimism that the situation shall improve further in the future.
Lt Gen Muhoozi, the first born of Museveni was born in Tanzania on 24th April 1974. He is a father of three.
The centrist incumbent swept to victory by a comfortable margin, with some 58.5 percent of the electorate backing him versus 41.5 percent for Le Pen, according to a preliminary tally. That gives Macron a second five-year term.
But the president’s victory is clouded by the fact that his rival — an anti-immigration, nationalist candidate who advocates banning the Islamic headscarf in public, has courted Russian President Vladimir Putin and wants to turn the European Union into an “alliance of European nations” — won more votes than any far-right candidate in the history of the French Republic.
More than 12 million people chose Le Pen, about five million more than during her last presidential bid in 2017 — an increase that suggests that her strategy of trying to bring her party into the political mainstream has been largely successful.
The result carries also warnings for the EU and NATO.
In the midst of Russia’s war on Ukraine, with footage of bombed-out cities featured daily on TV news, a huge chunk of the French electorate backed a candidate who has called for forming an alliance with Moscow and said she would pull France out of NATO’s integrated command if elected.
In one of the EU’s founding countries, millions voted for a candidate whose campaign platform advocates dismantling the EU from within by suspending its free-travel rules and downgrading the supremacy of EU law.
“This result is [the sign] of a great mistrust against our leaders and against European leaders, a message they cannot ignore,” Le Pen told supporters in her concession speech. “Voters have shown they want a strong opposition power to Macron.”
Her strong showing will be seen as a warning in Brussels, which is still rattled by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and is locked in judicial battles with Poland and Hungary over rule-of-law disputes.
But the most immediate challenge will be for Macron, who embarks on his second term in a deeply divided country where political anger could easily boil over into street protests and violence.
The president acknowledged those divisions in his victory speech.
“Our country is full of doubts and divisions, so we will need to be strong. But nobody will be left by the wayside,” he said from an octagon-shaped stage set in front of the Eiffel Tower.
{{Unrest around the corner}}
While the vote means continuity will prevail in France, it also shows that divisions that have plagued French politics for decades are not shrinking, but getting larger with every successive election.
Le Pen is on her third presidential campaign but she has not ruled out another and is by no means finished politically. She has recovered from her defeat in 2017 and significantly expanded her party’s base. In her concession speech, the National Rally party chief struck a combative tone and hinted that she would be leading her troops into battle when voters elect a new French parliament in June.
“It’s a striking victory,” Le Pen told cheering supporters in Boulogne, a suburb of Paris that has historically been her party’s home base.
Hinting at potential alliances that could strengthen Le Pen’s party even further, far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who was knocked out in the election’s first round, called for the formation of a “patriotic bloc” uniting his and Le Pen’s supporters.
“We must forget our quarrels and unite our forces. It is possible, it is essential, it is our duty. Let’s build the first coalition of the right and the patriots as soon as possible,” Zemmour said after the election results were announced.
Macron crippled the mainstream center-left and center-right forces during his rise to power and Sunday’s vote showed that the once-powerful Socialist and Les Républicains parties are beyond saving. Neither party was able to gather more than five percent of votes in the first round, meaning that they will not be eligible to have their campaign expenses reimbursed by the state.
Their collapse accelerates the reformatting of France’s political landscape, away from a right-left divide, toward a split between nationalist anti-establishment populists and centrist pro-European progressives.
Embarking on his second term fresh from two years of COVID policies, amid high inflation and the war in Ukraine, Macron is unlikely to enjoy any sort of honeymoon period. Calls have already gone up to kickstart what’s known in France as a “social third round” of the presidential election — one that takes place in the streets, in the form of protests. Left-wing voters who held their noses and voted for Macron to keep the far right out of power are particularly motivated to apply pressure to Macron’s administration.
“It’s going to be a rocky ride,” a top official at Macron’s La République en Marche party told POLITICO ahead of Sunday’s vote.
“I don’t think there’ll be a big wide-ranging protest movement, but I do think we see a range of protests in different parts of the country, some like the Yellow Jacket [grassroots protest movement].”
Protests have already kicked off in French universities, with activists angry about having to choose between the far right and a pro-business candidate. Some leaders of the Yellow Jacket movement, which rocked France in 2018 and 2019, are already calling on citizens to take to the streets.
Discontent has also spread among leftwing voters, whose candidates were all knocked out of the first round of voting on April 10. Twenty-two percent of the electorate voted for far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round and were particularly divided over options in the second.
The France Unbowed party leader emerged as a champion of the left-leaning anti-Macron crowd, scoring highly in suburbs with a large immigrant population and with youth across the country, thanks in part to his green agenda.
As Macron enters his second term, there will be plenty of opportunities for protest. The president was elected on a platform of reforming state pensions and pushing back the retirement age from 62 to 64 or 65 years old. He also wants to reform and introduce more autonomy in French schools, an ambition that will put him on a collision course with France’s powerful teachers’ unions.
Macron’s first mandate was hardly easy, marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Yellow Jacket protests that began over a green fuel tax. This time around, he vows that he has learned from mistakes, and promises a new method aimed at building consensus to push through reforms.
But with inflation and energy prices going up, many observers believe the country is being primed for a backlash.
{{The third round}}
In the short term, Macron’s opponents are already readying for battle ahead of the parliamentary election in June. The president needs a majority in the National Assembly to be able to push through his reforms and campaigning is not expected to be easy.
Traditionally, French voters tend to vote the same way in presidential and parliamentary elections, so that the elected president and his government aren’t at loggerheads as they begin their term.
But for France’s left, the parliamentary election offers an opportunity for revenge. Mélenchon came a close third in the first round of the presidential election and his camp hopes to capitalize on his success and thwart Macron’s reform plans.
Much attention will also be on Le Pen’s National Rally, which will face competition or cooperation in the parliamentary election with Zemmour, who garnered 7 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election.
The hard right usually fares badly in parliamentary elections as mainstream parties tend to unite to block them out of office. In 2017, the National Rally only got eight seats out of 577, though Le Pen got 33 percent of the vote in the presidential election that year.
Le Pen pitched herself as the spokesperson for the downtrodden, the forgotten French against the urban elites. The French president has vowed to unite the country, but questions over how those voices are heard have never been more acute.
The event to be hosted in Rwanda for the first time will see 18 Commonwealth Africa Nations from the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies convening in Kigali to share expertize and innovations in combatting corruption.
The association was established in 2011 to foster collaboration of the Nations. The general objective of this year’s conference is to bring together member countries to concretize the strategies in the fight against corruption under the theme “Combating Corruption for Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa”.
It is being organized by the Office of The Ombudsman of Rwanda in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat. During the conference, every Head of the Anti-Corruption Agency will make a presentation on Innovative Projects done in the fight against Corruption.
There will be two set of presentations including Practitioners and Experts presentations. The practitioners’ presentations will be delivered by the Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies, to fulfil the aim of the Association of Anti-corruption Agencies of sharing experiences and learning from each other.
On another other hand, the Experts presentations will be delivered by experts from international organisations and other institutions. These presentations will enrich the conference discussions with current work and thinking in regional or global anti-corruption effort.
{{Guests welcomed}}
As we are few days to go for the conference to kick off in Kigali, Rwanda’s Chief Ombudsman, Madeleine Nirere has welcomed guests; shed light on expected outcomes, experiences to be shared and the advantages to pull from it.
“I am very pleased to welcome participants to Rwanda and I hope the conference will be successful and more relevant to the good and shared cause of preventing and fighting corruption. It is a great opportunity for Rwanda to showcase the best of our culture, promote Made in Rwanda and our home grown innovations. We also encourage Rwandan people to remain welcoming to make guests’ stay a memorable one,” she said.
More participants from international organizations in anti-corruption sectors will also attend the event.
{{Outcomes}}
Nirere has disclosed that ‘the conference is expected to come up with important resolutions useful in the fight against corruption, particularly, strengthening good governance to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16’.
The latter is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015 ‘to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’.
According to the Chief Ombudsman, participants of the conference will learn from each other to be able to initiate or update strategies in the fight against corruption in their respective countries.
Among others, Nirere said, the capacity of anti-corruption agencies will also be strengthened through international collaboration.
{{Rwanda’s best practices}}
The Chief Ombudsman has explained that Rwanda has achieved a lot along the journey to eliminate corruption noting that making the crime imprescriptible is one of best ways to discourage people promising, offering or soliciting bribes.
Other measures put in place include the establishment of anti-corruption committees among public and institutions, private sector, and civil society organizations as well as assets recovery.
For instance, Rwf1, 659,097,164 was recovered in the fiscal year 2020/2021. The Chief Ombudsman revealed that the country had cumulatively recovered Rwf6, 062,387,129; Euro 3,729 ; US$14,743 and a property worth Rwf100,994,000 from 2014 to August 2021 where assets recovery process abided by legal provisions.
More efforts were put in the sensitization of the adverse effects of corruption to different segments of the population through different communication channels.
Under the Vision 2050, Rwanda seeks to become the leading country globally in the fight against corruption. Else, the country’ has set an ambitious target under the Seven Years National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) 2017-2024 to fight corruption by 92.5% in 2024 from 86.56% of 2016 through collaboration with different stakeholders and church leaders to denounce the vice among others.
“This 12th conference will be an opportunity to learn from others and share Rwanda’s experience in combatting corruption. Rwanda has registered good records in combatting corruption at international and regional level which was possible because of the visionary leadership. We will also share how good leadership plays a big role in fighting corruption and the collaboration of stakeholders in this journey,” Nirere noted.
The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020 by Transparency International indicated that Rwanda ranked the 4th least corrupt country in Africa with 54 percent points, following Seychelles, Botswana and Cape Verde.
The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International also indicated that Rwanda is the 52nd least corrupt nation out of 180 countries globally.
{{Rwanda’s advantages}}
The Chief Ombudsman, Nirere has explained that selecting Rwanda as a host of the upcoming conference reflects the country’s reputation in fighting corruption to promote good governance.
As she said, Rwanda will also learn from other countries’ experiences in the fight against corruption, hence adding up to its bold ambitions to advance the cause.
“This will reinforce Rwanda’s commendable program to always create avenues aimed at fostering Zero Tolerance to Corruption policy,” noted Nirere.
{{Previous host}}
The annual Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in The Commonwealth Africa in 2019 was held in Kampala, Uganda where Members agreed that the next Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa in 2020 would be hosted by Rwanda in partnership with The Commonwealth Secretariat.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Conferences of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa for 2020 and 2021 took place virtually.
This year’s conference comes to Rwanda following fruitful efforts to fight the pandemic globally.
The weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 released by the World Health Organization (WHO) as of 20th April 2022, shows that the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths has continued to decline globally since the end of March 2022.
During the week of 11 through 17 April 2022, over 5 million cases and over 18 000 deaths were reported across the six WHO regions, a 24% and 12% decrease respectively, as compared to the previous week.
As of 17 April 2022, over 500 million confirmed cases and over 6 million deaths have been reported globally since March 2020.
The Association of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in The Commonwealth Africa is composed of Anti-Corruption Agencies from 18 African countries namely; Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
“My sincere condolences to the people of Kenya and to the family of President Kibaki. His dedication to the economic transformation of Kenya and his work towards regional integration will be remembered for many generations. The people of Rwanda stand with Kenya during this time,” Kagame tweeted.
Former President Kibaki died at the age of 90.
President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a presidential proclamation on Friday announcing the passing on of the retired President who also served as Kenya’s fourth Vice President.
Kibaki ended the late President Moi’s more than two decades rules in 2002 when he took over power as Kenya’s third President.
“We remember the values by which he lived, the ideals he embraced, his dignity and diligence, his candour and concern for the well-being of all Kenyans,” said President Kenyatta on Friday.
“His contributions as minister of finance and vice president saw Kenya’s economy grow steadily fueled by a commodities boom as well as fiscal and monetary policies that were the backbone of his economic philosophy.”
President Kibaki was the only surviving former president after the second president Daniel Moi died in 2020.
During the proclamation, President Kenyatta announced a period of national mourning in respect of Mr Kibaki who is credited for transforming the country following decades of KANU misrule.
Kibaki is survived by four children : Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagi and Tony Githinji.
His career started in the lecture halls of Makerere University and later in KANU as the executive officer.
The journey took him to the Treasury as the country’s second Finance minister after Mr James Gichuru, a job which thrust him into the international limelight.
Some key projects he initiated during his time at the Treasury include Mumias and Nzoia sugar mills, Webuye Pan Paper , construction of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, and the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba highway.
He also conceived the failed Kenya Fertiliser plant in Mombasa and Kenya Furfural in Eldoret.
Kibaki had a bachelor’s degree in economics and boasted a political career spanning two eras — the Jomo Kenyatta and Moi administrations. He took power as third President at the age of 71.
The ambassadors received on Friday afternoon at Urugwiro Village include Kevin Colgan of the Republic of Ireland, Katarína Žuffa Leligdonová of the Slovak Republic and Andrii Pravednyk of Ukraine.
The Head of State also received letters of credence from new High Commissioners; Christopher Thornley of the Dominion of Canada, Isatu Aminata Bundu of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Jaspal Singh of the Republic of Singapore and Michael Ian Upton of New Zealand.
Among others; Kagame received credentials from new Ambassadors; Abdi Mahamoud Eybe of the Republic of Djibouti and Mónica de Greiff Lindo of the Republic of Colombia.
The new envoys are familiar with East Africa where they have been representing their countries. For instance, Kevin Colgan has been overseeing the interests of Ireland in Uganda while Katarína Žuffa Leligdonová and Andrii Pravednyk have represented their countries to Kenya.
The new envoy form Ireland will have residence in Kampala, the capital of Uganda while Slovakian Ukrainian ambassadors will oversee their countries’ interests in Rwanda with residence in Kenya.
Among others, Christopher Thornley of Canada will be based in Kenya along with Isatu Aminata Bundu of Sierra Leone, Jaspal Singh will have residence in Singapore, while Michael Ian Upton of New Zealand and Abdi Mohamoud Eybe of Djibouti will have residence in Ethiopia.
Monica de Greiff Lindo of Colombia will also represent his country with residence in Kenya.
Lt Gen Muhoozi has come to Rwanda two times this year on a mission to mend ties between Uganda and Rwanda that had worsened since 2017.
Since he was involved in the process to restore relations to normal, Lt Gen Muhoozi has been warning Rwanda’s dissidents that they have no place in Uganda.
He also echoed similar message in February where he warned Kayumba against using his country to threaten Rwanda’s security.
His previous visit to Rwanda was on 22nd January 2022, a move that was followed by the reopening of Gatuna border.
Later on, Rwanda reopened all land borders on 7th March 2022.
During his second visit to Rwanda which lasted three days, Lt Gen Muhoozi met with President Paul Kagame who also gifted him cows before returning to Uganda.
At the time, the Presidency revealed via Twitter handle that discussions revolved around bilateral relations.
Gen Muhoozi who often uses his Twitter handle to express views on issues including relations with Rwanda has posted a message detailing topics of discussions with Kagame during his first visit.
“The first day I reconnected with my uncle 3 months ago, I promised him a number of things. First of all, as Commander Land Forces, UPDF, my army would never attack Rwanda. Secondly, no security official of Uganda who fights Rwanda would retain his job. More to follow…” he tweeted.
Lt Gen Muhoozi posted the message along his pictures with President Kagame on his first visit.
Rwanda had voiced concerns over Uganda’s collaboration with dissidents, abducting, torturing Rwandans and obstructing Rwanda’s trade interests.
Following the first visit of Lt Gen Muhoozi, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Government of Rwanda, Alain Mukuralinda said that Rwanda had already raised concerns of dissidents with intentions to threaten Rwanda’s security operating in Uganda and highlighted that it is time to put into action what is needed most to bring the situation to normal following discussions, signed agreements, transmission of messages through envoys.
Under this program, the UK will provide an upfront investment of £120 million to fund invaluable opportunities for Rwandans and migrants including secondary qualifications, vocational and skills training, language lessons, and higher education.
These asylum seekers from African countries and others outside the continent will be treated decently like Rwandans upon arrival. It is expected that those willing to return to their mother lands will be helped to do so.
Unlike asylum seekers and refugees from Libya living in Gashora Transit Camp, the ones from UK will be housed in specially-selected accommodation facilities where they will wait for asylum claims to be processed.
Following agreements between both countries on 14th April 2022, different media houses and individuals majority of whom being from the western part of the world relentlessly criticized the deal for personal reasons.
Sources reveal that Hope House, in Gasabo District is one of buildings expected to accommodate these asylum seekers.
It is said that two more buildings will be built in coming years for the same purpose.
The Mirror media house recently ran a story indicating that the building known as ‘One Dollar Campaign Project’, normally accommodates orphans who survived the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The publication however distorted the truth explaining that beneficiaries were booted out from the building to make a way for refugees and asylum seekers.
The media house also wrote that some beneficiaries claimed that they have nowhere to stay after they were given a tight deadline to have left the building.
The Mirror’s article supports reactions of individuals from the UK and others from Europe expressing frustration over the country’s approach to resolve the issue of asylum seekers and refugees.
One of these people who opposed the decision is the leader of the Anglican church who strongly criticized the British government’s plan to put some asylum-seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda, saying “sub-contracting out our responsibilities” to refugees can’t stand up to God’s scrutiny.
According to the Washington Post, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby made the direct political intervention in his Easter Sunday sermon at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England, saying there are “serious ethical questions about sending asylum-seekers overseas.”
He said “sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well, like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God who himself took responsibility for our failures.”
{{Serving the right purpose}}
The major purpose of Hope House was to provide vulnerable orphans of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi with shelter during holidays and leave the building after graduation as they can apply for jobs and live without dependence.
This means, the facility was used as a transit for beneficiaries before starting to live on their own.
The building used to accommodate AERG students from secondary schools and universities. AERG (Association des Etudiants et Eleves Rescapes du Genocide) is a body that brings together genocide survivors studying in university and secondary schools.
The Spokesperson of the Government of Rwanda, Yolande Makolo recently reacted to the article run by The Mirror via Twitter handle saying that “the Genocide against the Tutsi ended 28 years ago & this hostel has been almost empty for the last 5 years, the last few remaining tenants are graduating & being facilitated to move to a new life.”
The Coordinator of AERG, Audace Mudaheranwa has told IGIHE that Genocide orphans have been accommodated in the building on rotational basis where few beneficiaries remain in the building.
“There are few beneficiaries who are also in the phase of making their way out. There are processes in place to help them move to a new life. We already had the program before the migration partnership,” he said.
Mudaheranwa revealed that the building has been previously accommodating only 22 individuals yet it has the capacity for 200 people.
“We had talked to the remaining few beneficiaries, showed how the building is large enough. They told us that they were ready to seek shelters elsewhere. They are mature people who can receive support the same way it is extended to university graduates,” he noted.
Genocide orphans in Hope House are preparing to leave because they are mature people aged 29 and above who need to live on their own.
“They were not forced to leave because of refugees. We engaged with beneficiaries who suggested that we should help them to move to a new life if possible and get support their survival outside. They said that they were ready to leave the building so that it can be used for income generating activities whereby revenues can be used to support them and others,” said Mudaheranwa.
Today, the management of Hope House is being discussed to seek how it can be used appropriately.
The five-storey building constructed between 2010 and 2014 has all necessary equipment including beds.
It is built on 2000 square meters. Two individuals will share one room with separate beds.
Asylum seekers to be hosted at the facility will be fed thrice a day.
Hope House also has a large room that can serve as a refectory and multipurpose hall where asylum seekers will turn up for social interactions.
