Skip to main content

KEY POLITICAL RISKS TO WATCH IN RWANDA



 

Share to Facebook Share to twitter Email this story
Rwanda has warned it will not tolerate attempts to blame it for a rebel insurgency in eastern Congo but vowed to use its two-year U.N. Security Council stint to seek an end to the conflict that has destabilised its much larger neighbour.
Western donors, including the European Union, suspended some financial support in the wake of a U.N .-commissioned report that accused Kigali of backing the M23 rebels. Germany, however, has now unblocked its aid, signalling the aid freeze may end soon.
Kigali has repeatedly rejected the allegations that senior Rwandan military officials have created, equipped, trained and directly commanded M23.
International Pressure
A delayed U.N. mediated regional peace deal aimed at end a two-decade long cycle of violence in eastern Congo could be ready for signing later this month. The deal is expected to pave the way for the deployment of a regional intervention force.
Meanwhile, in Uganda talks between the Kinshasa government and M23 rebels continue at a snail pace.
What to watch:
- Will Rwanda use its position at the U.N. Security Council to defuse the crisis? Kigali has backed down in its opposition to a U.N. proposal to use drones in eastern Congo.
- Will a U.N. peace deal put an end to foreign involvement in eastern Congo?
- Will the intervention brigade be able to "neutralise" eastern Congo's armed groups?
Economic Hardship Ahead?
Rwanda may have to slash its 2013 economic growth forecast if $240 million in international aid remains delayed or suspended.
Finance Minister John Rwangombwa said the aid suspensions might cost the economy about 1.5 percentage points. Late last year he said Rwanda had put on hold plans to issue a Eurobond.
What to watch:
- Will other donor countries follow Germany and unblock suspended funds?
- An official GDP revision downwards.
Political Opponents, Internal Rifts
Critics have accused President Paul Kagame of being authoritarian and stifling media and political freedoms. He rejects the accusations, and points to his record of leading his country's recovery from the 1994 genocide.
A Rwandan court last year jailed opposition politician Victoire Ingabire to eight years in prison in a case linked to the genocide. Ingabire was accused of transferring money to FDLR Hutu rebels. Both Ingabire and the prosecution are appealing.
What to watch:
- Will the Ingabire appeals be successful?
- Will the West pressure Kagame to open up Rwanda's political space? If they do, how will the president react?
-REUTERS

__._,_.___


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[AFRICAFORUM] Tr : [hinterland1] Tr : L'OCCUPATION RWANDAISE EN MARCHE

  ----- Mail transféré ----- De : Mpania Jean <drjeanmpania@yahoo.fr> À : Hinterland <hinterland1@yahoogroupes.fr> Envoyé le : Mercredi 26 février 2014 17h13 Objet : [hinterland1] Tr : L'OCCUPATION RWANDAISE EN MARCHE   Le Mercredi 26 février 2014 9h56, congokdp <congokdp@gmail.com> a écrit : L'OCCUPATION RWANDAISE EN MARCHE :   Voici comment les institutions et tout le système de sécurité de la RDC sont sous contrôle du Rwanda et les officiels congolais infiltrés par des «hirondelles» rwandaises! L'OCCUPATION RWANDAISE EN MARCHE :  Voici comment les institutions et tout le système de sécurité de la RDC sont sous contrôle du Rwanda et les officiels congolais infiltrés par des «hirondelles» rwandaises! Le processus d'occupation de la RDC par le lobby tutsi rwandais passe par le...
1 comment
Read more

[haguruka.com] Fw: *DHR* New Vision, Uganda @Gen Fred Rwigyema's untold story.

  On Sunday, 22 November 2015, 18:52, "Jean Bosco Sibomana sibomanaxyz999@gmail.com [Democracy_Human_Rights]" <Democracy_Human_Rights@yahoogroupes.fr> wrote:   Gen Fred Rwigyemas untold story By Muwonge Magembe The death of Gen. Aronda Nyakairima on September 12; eclipsed the 25th year death memorial of Maj. Gen. Fred Rwigyema which is commemorated every October. Rwigyema died strangely in October, 1990, after launching a military invasion against President Juvenal Habyarimana. Before he left for Rwanda, Rwigyema parked a coffee brown Mercedes Benz (G-Class) near the residence of then special administrator for Mbarara district, Henry Rwigyemera. Rwigyema started living in Uganda when he was only three years following his parents' relocation from Mukiranze village, Kamonyi district, Rwanda to Nshungerezi refuge camp, Ankole and Kahungye, Toro. Their relocation was motiv...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fw: [ibukabose_rengerabose] Fw: Rwanda: deteriorating human rights and security situation

 Rwanda: deteriorating human rights and security situation   r w an d ab ri d ge b u il d er s@ gmail.c om H.E. Amb. Smail Chergui, Commissioner, Peace and Security, African Union (AU) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia October 20, 2020 Your Excellency, We, a coalition of 37 organizations, write to you in your capacity as the Ch airperson of the African Commission on Peace and Security (The Commission), to appeal you to urgently address the deteriorating human rights and security situation in Rwanda. We reiterate that Rwanda continues to face allegations of human rights violations that are of an extremely serious nature. These allegations have been found credible by none less than Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and UN panel on human rights. Several well-grounded allegations exist about the extreme lack of fundamental freedoms in Rwanda, which it is charged, has resulted in serio us violation...
Post a Comment
Read more