Mozambique-Rwanda Cooperation: Guaranteed support against destabilisation hotspots

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Mozambique-Rwanda Cooperation: Guaranteed support against destabilisation hotspots

12:34 CAT | 25 Oct 2016

Notícias / President Paul Kagame of Rwanda ( left) and President Filipe Nyusi (right), yesterday in Maputo

President Filipe Nyusi has promised that Mozambique will not allow Rwandan citizens residing in the country as refugees or asylum seekers to use its territory as a platform for activities intended to destabilise Rwanda.

Such was the promise made by the Mozambican president to his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in talks yesterday.

The understanding reached is that “the two countries will intensify the assessment of cases that may deserve extradition,” reports Noticias today.

According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Oldemiro Baloi, cited by the same source, Mozambique currently hosts about 3,000 Rwandan citizens, some with the status of refugees and others with the status of asylum seekers.

Minister Baloi said that, within this group, is a small number whom the Kigali authorities want to be extradited for allegedly having participated in the 1994 genocide that killed 800,000 people. According to the head of the Mozambican diplomacy, the Rwandan community is actively pursuing business and educational activities in the country.

“But part of this community would have issues pending in their own country, and the government of Rwanda has asked Mozambique to extradite these people. This requires a very careful examination and the two countries are doing it together, trying to see the requirements that will allow, or that may allow, if appropriate, extradition. At this point, we are calmly and unceasingly working to understand what the problem is,” he said.

During the talks, the two countries reviewed areas of cooperation, including politics and diplomacy, justice, agriculture, state administration, mineral resources, culture and tourism.

Mozambique-Rwanda relations having been proceeding at a slow pace under a General Cooperation Agreement signed in 1990, which failed to work better because of problems the two countries faced on a political level.

To address this state of affairs, Maputo and Kigali yesterday inked an agreement on political consultation, signed by the foreign ministers of both countries, Oldemiro Baloi and Louise Mushikiwabo.

Also yesterday, President Kagame met Speaker of Parliament Veronica Macamo. Today, the President of Rwanda will lay a wreath at the National Heroes monument, visit the Port of Maputo and deliver a lecture to the business and academic community before leaving to return to his country.

Source: Noticias