Great Lakes: Kagame wants "constant collaboration" in the fight against insecurity

Rwandan President Paul Kagame during a visit to Nairobi on April 9, 2022 (illustration image).

AFP - TONY KARUMBA

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Arrived Monday, April 11 in Brazzaville for a three-day visit, the Rwandan Head of State Paul Kagame addressed the Congolese Parliament meeting in congress.

In his speech focusing on security, peace, regional integration and African unity, he called for "

 " to fight against insecurity in the Great Lakes region.  

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With our correspondent in Brazzaville,

The Rwandan leader delivered his 18-minute speech in English, after brief greetings in French.

He then noted that within the Great Lakes region some pockets of insecurity persist, believing that the fight against this scourge required constant regional collaboration, particularly in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,

Paul Kagame said that 5,000 Rwandan troops were stationed on the continent, in the Central African Republic and South Sudan in particular, where they operate as part of United Nations peacekeeping missions.

“

,” he said. 

In the midst of global insecurity and Covid-19, the partnership between Kigali and Brazzaville can be a source of stability, growth and prosperity within the region, according to Paul Kagame who will sign this Tuesday with his Congolese counterpart Denis Sassou-Nguesso a series of agreements on cooperation, security or even in the field of land. 

►Also read: Paul Kagame visits Congo where more than 8,000 Rwandans await their regularization

• The issue of Rwandan refugees

Another subject should be at the heart of Paul Kagame's visit: these are the Rwandan refugees.

About 8,500 of his compatriots based in the country, having fled the 1994 genocide, have lost their refugee status since the end of 2017. The Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Claude Gakosso, wishes to reassure them.

There will be no forced return to Rwanda.

People can go to Rwanda if they want to.

But we will never do charters, force people onto planes.

It would be totally contrary to our philosophy.

We are a host country.

They are free to go to Rwanda which is their homeland.

Indeed, the United Nations has terminated refugee status for Rwandans for the simple reason that the situation is completely stable in Rwanda.

President Kagame himself had been here in Brazzaville.

Its ambassador also led an awareness campaign throughout Congo-Brazzaville.

So a number came in.

But the bulk of the contingent still remained in the country.

It is a quiet community that engages in agricultural work in general,

who is well integrated into Congolese society.

We try to encourage them to have dual nationality.

So it's a bit of a hybrid situation.

We are a host country.

We can't put people on charters to send them home.

Jean-Claude Gakosso, Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs

Sebastien Nemeth

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• Congo Brazzaville

• Rwanda

• Paul Kagame

• Denis Sassou-Nguesso