This evening in Kigali, President Kagame met with Bill Gates, Founder and Chair of the Gates Foundation. They discussed strengthening the Foundation’s longstanding partnership with Rwanda, including accelerating collaboration in health, agricultural transformation, AI, and digital public infrastructure to advance Rwanda’s development priorities.
This afternoon in Doha, President Kagame met with HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani @TamimBinHamad, the Amir of Qatar, and expressed brotherly solidarity on his own behalf and on behalf of the people of Rwanda following attack(s) on Qatar. President Kagame also extended his condolences for the loss of lives.
Their discussions highlighted the need for accountability and the pursuit of a just resolution to the ongoing regional conflict.
President Kagame also expressed appreciation for Qatar’s vital role in mediation efforts across various conflicts, including in the Great Lakes Region.
President Kagame has arrived in Doha where he was welcomed by Sultan bin Saad bin Sultan Al Muraikhi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, ahead of his meeting with HH Sheikh @TamimBinHamad, the Amir of Qatar, later today.
I held two conversations this week with President Ramaphosa on the situation in Eastern DRC, including earlier today. What has been said about these conversations in the media by South African officials and President Ramaphosa himself contains a lot of distortion, deliberate attacks, and even lies. If words can change so much from a conversation to a public statement, it says a lot about how these very important issues are being managed.
A few important clarifications for the record:
1. The Rwanda Defence Force is an army, not a militia.
2. SAMIDRC is not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation. It was authorized by SADC as a belligerent force engaging in offensive combat operations to help the DRC Government fight against its own people, working alongside genocidal armed groups like FDLR which target Rwanda, while also threatening to take the war to Rwanda itself.
3. SAMIDRC displaced a true peacekeeping force, the East African Community Regional Force, and this contributed to the failure of the negotiation processes.
4. President Ramaphosa has never given a "warning" of any kind, unless it was delivered in his local language which I do not understand. He did ask for support to ensure the South African force has adequate electricity, food and water, which we shall help communicate.
5. President Ramaphosa confirmed to me that M23 did not kill the soldiers from South Africa, FARDC did.
6. If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator. And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day.