Kagame shuffles foreign service, new cabinet members named

The Prime Minister on Friday December 20, announced new changes in cabinet and in the country’s foreign service which saw the sports ministry get a new minister with another docket of a state minister for sports created. In the changes made by President Paul Kagame, Nelly Mukazayire was appointed the Minister of Sports, replacing Richard Nyirishema. The latter was deployed to head Rwanda Water Resource Board. Mukazayire will be replaced by Francois Regis Uwayezu as the Permanent Secretary in the same ministry, which also got youthful Rwego Ngarambe, a lawyer who has specialised in sports, as its new state minister. Other appointments include that of senior economist Godfrey Kabera, as the new State Minister in charge of the National Treasury in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. He replaces Richard Tusabe who has also been the secretary to the treasury. A long serving public servant, Kabera has for over 17 years served at the finance ministry in various dockets. Changes in foreign service In the foreign service, Festus Bizimana a policy analyst, has been proposed as the new Rwandan ambassador to Senegal, where he is set to replace Jean Pierre Karabaranga. Bizimana who has previously worked at the US embassy in Kigali, has also formerly served as the Vice President of the Rwanda Cycling Federation. Other proposed envoys include Parfait Busabizwa who upon approval will become the Rwandan envoy to the Republic of Congo, a post that was hitherto held by Theoneste Mutsindashyaka. Busabizwa has since last year worked as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth. He has also previously served as a vice mayor in the City of Kigali among other key roles previously played. At the youth ministry, he has been replaced by Brave Ngabo, who has for the past few months served as the Executive Secretary to the National Youth Council. Olivier Kayumba, who has been working as the head of Rwanda’s diplomatic mission in the Central African Republic was proposed as ambassador in the same jurisdiction. Kayumba also for a long time worked in the Ministry of Emergency Management. Similarly, Maj Gen Joseph Nzabamwita was named as the proposed ambassador to the Federal Republic of Russia where he is set to replace another military man, Lt Gen (rtd) Frank Mushyo Kamanzi. Nzabamwita is currently the Senior Security Advisor in the Office of the President, a docket he assumed this year in June, having previously worked as the Secretary General of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). Meanwhile, former senator Lambert Dushimimana who was until recently the Governor of Western Province, was named as the proposed envoy to the Kingdom of The Netherlands which has had no substantive envoy since Olivier Nduhungirehe was in June this year appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Another key appointment in the foreign service is that of long-serving diplomat Vincent Karega as the Ambassador at Large in the Great Lakes Region, a new docket. Karega has previously served in different diplomatic postings, including South Africa and Kinshasa. Before then he served as a cabinet minister in different dockets. Francis Gatare, who has been the CEO of Rwanda Development Board, will return to the Office of the President where he previously served in a new capacity of Senior Advisor. Another appointment was that of former Local Government Minister Jean Claude Musabyimana who was named as the Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) where he is set to replace long-serving Charles Munyaneza. In the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ariane Zingiro will take over as the Head of National Development Planning and Research, a position that was being held by new state minister Kabera.

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Kagame shuffles foreign service, new cabinet members named