The Zimbabwean ambassador to Rwanda, Charity Manyeruke on Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to the Secretary-General of RPF-Inkotanyi, Francois Ngarambe, at the ruling party’s headquarters in Rusororo. During the visit, the Zimbabwean envoy thanked President Paul Kagame, who is also the Chairman of RPF-Inkotanyi, for his continued advocacy to have the international economic sanctions against Zimbabwe lifted. The sanctions against Zimbabwe were imposed in 2002 under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe, and have been blamed for the economic downturn seen in the southern African country for nearly two decades. “It speaks to African solidarity espoused by President Kagame,” said Manyeruke. Concerning bilateral ties, the envoy said that much has been achieved since the two countries a few years back committed to enhancing bilateral ties that saw each have a resident ambassador in either capital. “So far, we have signed six bilateral agreements in different areas of cooperation with more to follow. I promise to do my best during my tenure to advance these ties,” she said, adding that many more areas of cooperation were still being explored, with more agreements in the pipeline. Ngarambe thanked the envoy for the courtesy call, adding that there is so much that both countries can do – both under the state-to-state framework and on the party basis between RPF-Inkotanyi and ZANU-PF, the ruling parties of both countries – to advance the welfare of their peoples. “Through our party-to-party cooperation, there is much we can do to advance bilateral relations between both our countries in the interest of our people. We want to see growth in bilateral trade and other areas of cooperation.” He also emphasized the importance of the continued collaboration between both countries and deepening of the south-to-south collaboration in the spirit of furthering the liberation struggle of the African people. Ngarambe said that RPF-Inkotanyi and ZANU-PF have a lot in common, a relationship that both countries can exploit to advance the common struggle of the liberation of the wider Africa, which he said is a continuous process. He promised the Zimbabwean envoy all the support she will need in her mandate adding that as the ruling party, they will continue following up on the implementation of bilateral projects agreed upon between the two countries. “I take this opportunity to ask the people of Zimbabwe currently living in Rwanda to feel at home.” Manyeruke presented her credentials to President Kagame in November 2019, becoming the first Zimbabwean ambassador to Rwanda with residence in Kigali. Earlier, Ambassador James Musoni had taken residence in Harare, also as the country’s first resident envoy.
