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KIGALI — Rwanda’s ruling party, has emphasised the importance of the continued collaboration between Zimbabwe and Rwanda in deepening collaboration in the spirit of furthering the liberation struggle of the African people.
The Secretary-General of the Rwanda Patriotic Front-Inkotanyi, Francois Ngarambe, made the remarks after meeting Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Rwanda, Ambassador Charity Manyeruke at the RPF-Inkotanyi headquarters in Kigali.
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.
Ngarambe thanked Ambassador Manyeruke for the courtesy call, saying there is so much that both countries can do — both under the state-to-state framework and on the party basis of being the ruling parties in the respective 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,” he said.
“We want to see growth in bilateral trade and other areas of cooperation.”
The RPF-Inkotanyi Secretary General promised Ambassador Manyeruke all the support she will need in her mandate adding that as the ruling party in Rwanda, 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,” Ngarambe said.
Ambassador Manyeruke on Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to the ruling party RPF-Inkotanyi’s headquarters in Rusororo, Kigali.
During the visit, she thanked Rwanda 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 then 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 Ambassador Manyeruke.
Concerning bilateral ties, Ambassador Manyeruke said much has been achieved since the two countries committed to enhancing bilateral ties that saw each deploying 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.
Ambassador 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. — New Times
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