Rwanda
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame on Thursday appointed a new foreign affairs minister, to replace Louise Mushikiwabo, in a mini cabinet reshuffle that also included a new defence minister.
Following Mushikiwabo’s election as secretary-general of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) last week, a replacement foreign affairs minister was expected.
Kagame, whose country has commendable diplomatic credentials named Richard Sezibera, a former secretary general of the East African Community regional bloc, as the new foreign minister.
54-year-old Sezibera also previously served as health minister.
New defence minister
The president’s office also announced that Albert Murasira, an army general, would replace long-serving James Kabarebe as defense minister, without giving a reason for the decision.
Kabarebe, an influential figure in the restive Great Lakes region, will now serve as a presidential advisor on security affairs.
He was one of seven close associates of Kagame, charged in France with instigating the 1994 attack on the Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane, considered to be the trigger for the genocide that killed 800,000 people according to the UN, mainly in the Tutsi minority.
Last week, the state prosecutor in France, request that charges against Kabarebe and his colleagues are dropped because of lack of ‘sufficient evidence’.
The president also named new ministers for local government, trade and industry, ICT and innovation, gender and family promotion, and sports and culture, as well as a new police chief and an external security head.
Oil search: Rwanda may invite investors for exploration https://t.co/Q4U3Ksn7N6
— africanews (@africanews) 18 octobre 2018
01:12
Eastern DRC tensions: UN points to Rwanda's role in AFC/M23 conflict
01:52
In Goma, solar power brings light and hope in Ndosho neighbourhood
01:47
'Minerals': Researcher explains U.S. interest in DRC-Rwanda truce
02:13
Congo and Rwanda sign a US-mediated peace deal aimed at ending decades of bloody conflict
00:54
African Human Rights court says it can hear case brought by DRC against Rwanda
01:20
Somalia launches Centennial Vision 2060 roadmap for 'peace, prospertity and progress'