The Upper Chamber of Parliament has approved the appointment of Igor Marara Kayinamura, as the new ambassador to Qatar. Marara was nominated by the Cabinet meeting that convened on April 9. He will be replacing Francois Nkulikiyimfura, who was the first ambassador since Rwanda opened its embassy in the Middle East state. Nkulikiyimfura will replace Francois Ngarambe as the head of Rwandas diplomatic mission in France. Prior to his appointment, Marara was serving as counsellor of the Rwandan High Commission in Canada since 2018. He has also worked as an administrative assistant in different government ministries from 2009 to 2017 and for five years, he worked as the senior manager for PSI Rwanda (an international health organisation). The 38-year old holds a Masters of Business Administration from Oklahoma University, and a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. MP John Bonds Bideri, the chairperson of the committee on foreign affairs, cooperation and security, while presenting the report on the profile of the candidate, expressed confidence that Marara will fulfil his duties. “We realised his competencies, skills and experience shall allow him to fulfil his duties as the new ambassador,” Bideri said, after presenting the report. Another member of parliament, Innocent Nkurunziza, who is also a colleague to Marara approved his suitability for the position. “Reading the key responsibilities of an embassy looks like reading the profile of Marara, because he has been experienced in this field for a long time. As a person who has been close to him, I can testify to his attention to detail and loyalty,” he said. The new ambassador has vowed to promote the sale of Rwandan horticultural products to the country and scale up employment and education opportunities for Rwandans in the Middle-East state. So far, 700 Rwandan students have secured employment opportunities in Qatar’s tourism industry. Rwanda and Qatar have signed up to 11 bilateral agreements in different sectors like education, tourism, business and security among others, while four others are in the pipeline. Rwanda opened its embassy in Qatar in 2019, months before the latter did the same in November of the same year.
