Mushikiwabo speaks out on Rwanda-Belgium ties

Foreign Affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo yesterday said that Belgium has every right to determine whether, when and how to disburse its aid money. She was responding to recent reports that the Kingdom of Belgium had decided to withhold Euro40 million in bilateral aid to Rwanda on grounds that the latter had not met certain targets in the area of governance or that the indicators previously agreed between the two parties were no longer relevant. Mushikiwabo, who was addressing an end of year news conference at her office in Kimihurura, said the decision solely fell within Belgium’s sovereign rights and had nothing to do with how Rwanda relates with the former. However, she said the issue had also been blown out of proportion as the money in question was never part of the agreed bilateral support, since it was only a bonus. “In our last discussions with Belgium on the three year cooperation programme, we agreed on a package of Euro160 million over a period of three years. Then there was an extra Euro40 million that was pledged as an incentive for what Belgium thought was an area Rwanda needed to improve, the area of rights, liberties and politics,” Mushikiwabo, who doubles as the government spokesperson, said. She also disclosed that Belgium had recently had pledged to release Euro18 million of the Euro 40 million “incentive” package. “Nonetheless, Belgium has every right to release aid money or not, it’s their sovereign decision, they do what they want with their money,” she said. But she also noted that aid money is disbursed within an agreed framework, including how and where to spend it. “On the Rwandan side, there is not a single condition that we have not fulfilled,” she said in relation to the Rwanda-Belgium cooperation arrangement. Journalists attend the press conference. Mushikiwabo added: “It’s also important for the public to see that there is a level of manipulation with these amounts and that some interests in Belgium, not necessarily within the Belgian government, always look for small, petty fights to create tension but as far as Rwanda is concerned, there is no issue between the two countries.” The Belgian embassy in Kigali issued a statement recently clarifying circumstances under which the money had been withheld. It indicated that, the 2011 bilateral cooperation agreement provided for a mid-term review which could result in additional maximum of Euro40 million based on some criteria. “After an assessment of those criteria, the Belgian side has found that the extra budget could not be disbursed since some criteria are no longer relevant and other criteria have not entirely been met. It does not mean that no progress has been made, but instead that the threshold that had been decided upon in 2011 has not been attained,” the statement reads in part. FDLR deadline a hoax? Meanwhile, Mushikiwabo maintained that Kigali was still skeptical about the genuineness of the six-month deadline given to the FDLR militia to voluntarily disarm or face military action. The deadline, which ends next week on January 2, was set by regional countries under the ICGLR and SADC groupings, but with just a week to the close of the disarmament window there is no sign of progress on the ground, according to the Foreign Affairs minister. Based in DR Congo, FDLR was set up and is largely constituted by elements blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda that claimed at least one million people. A cameraman captures Minister Mushikiwabo as she addresses the press.(All photos by John Mbanda) “January 2, 2015 is not a magic date, what would be magical would be a change of attitude by some countries and leaders, especially on this continent, vis-à-vis this genocidal group, otherwise, as a government we are not fazed by this deadline,” she said. “We knew when this deadline was set that nothing would happen and I think we’ve been vindicated, unless something happens in the next one week.” She added: “What is important to us is whether there is a military action against FDLR on January 3 or not, otherwise Rwanda has always known that we could only count on ourselves and some of our good friends who have been putting a lot of pressure on some of the actors,” she said. In the end, Rwandans will be protected by Rwandans and on that front there is nothing to worry about, Mushikiwabo said, adding that the FDLR’s main threat was in the form of its continued sowing of genocide ideology across the region. The mandate to disarm the militia lies principally with Congolese army and a UN brigade that helped defeat M23 rebels last year, but questions abound about their commitment to forcefully disarm FDLR, with certain troop-contributing countries and Kinshasa thought to be sympathetic toward the genocidal militia.

News

Mushikiwabo speaks out on Rwanda-Belgium ties