By JOINT REPORT The EastAfrican
In Summary
- This is not the first time the countries are trading barbs. Tension was initially sparked off by President Jakaya Kikwete’s suggestion that the Rwandan government should hold peace talks with the FDLR rebel group to end violence in the eastern DRC.
- Sources say the soured relations between the two vitiates the atmosphere required to promote the integration process during Heads of State Summit needed to sign off on key protocols.
Diplomatic tensions between Tanzania and Rwanda
appeared set to escalate as the two countries once again traded
accusation over the latter’s alleged backing of rebels in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louis
Mushikiwabo on Friday responded to the claims by her Tanzanian
counterpart Bernard Membe that the defunct M23 rebel forces that fought
the DRC government until recently was a creation of the Rwandan
government, saying, “That M23 business is a tired story that has no
place in the region right now.
“As for Tanzania’s foreign minister whose
anti-Rwanda rant in parliament I heard, he would benefit from a lesson
in the history of the region.”
Mr Membe, while appearing before the country’s
parliament, is reported to have said: “When I told the BBC that Rwandans
were causing instability in eastern Congo, I meant what I said... it’s
the UN’s Group of Experts that originally accused Rwanda, not me.”
“Rwanda and other reasonable actors in the region
and afar are engaged in finding lasting peace, so we can dedicate more
time to improving the lives of our citizens,” Ms Mushikiwabo said in an
e-mail to The EastAfrican.
This is not the first time the countries are
trading barbs. Tension was initially sparked off by President Jakaya
Kikwete’s suggestion in May 2013 during an African Union meeting in
Ethiopia that the Rwandan government should hold peace talks with the
FDLR rebel group to end violence in the eastern DRC.
Rwanda, which regards the Hutu group as
genocidaires who played the leading role in the 1994 genocide, termed
President Kikwete as a “sympathiser” of the FDLR.
While addressing senior military graduates in
north Rwanda, President Paul Kagame noted in reference to President
Kikwete’s advice, “I kept quiet about this because of the contempt I
have for it. I thought it was utter nonsense.
Maybe it was due to ignorance but if this is an ideological problem for
anyone to be thinking this way, then it better stay with those who have
it.”
Sources say the two leaders have tried to avoid
each other by dodging meetings and scenarios that could bring them
together. At regional level, they say, the Heads of State Summit is
needed to sign off on key protocols, but the soured relations between
the two vitiates the atmosphere required to promote the integration
process.
Mr Membe was reacting to concerns expressed by
Ezekiah Wenje, the shadow foreign minister, while presenting alternative
budget proposals in parliament, that the allegations Membe made against
Rwanda on BBC’s Focus on Africa programme last September would worsen the diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
But Mr Wenje said Mr Membe’s comment, together
with the government’s silence on claims by former Rwandan prime minister
Faustine Twagiramungu that he had visited Tanzania to seek advice on
how FDRL could take over in Rwanda, would only serve to deepen tensions
between the countries.
Be careful
“The statement by Mr Membe will worsen the
relationship with our neighbour Rwanda. It is important that national
leaders be careful about making such statements,” said Mr Wenje
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