Commonwealth SG jets in today

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, will arrive in Kigali today for a series of activities.Sharma will hold a meeting with President Paul Kagame and later attend the National University of Rwanda’s (NUR) graduation ceremony, where he will be conferred with an honorary Doctorate. According to Julius Mucunguzi, Commonwealth Communications Officer, this will be Sharma’s second visit to Rwanda as Secretary-General. Sharma will on 27 January, be awarded an honorary doctorate for his work in promoting regional and international integration and development. “He will be accompanied by his wife, Babli Sharma, Mr Simon Gimson, the Director and head of his office, Ambassador Ayo Oke, and the head of Africa Political Affairs,” Mucunguzi told The New Times in an interview Mucunguzi, the assistant spokesperson for Africa, who will also be travelling with the Secretary-General, said that Sharma will brief President Kagame on the current engagements of the Commonwealth following mandates from heads of government meeting that took place in Perth, Australia, in October last year. “The Secretary-General is delighted for having been honoured with the award,” Mucunguzi added. Apart from Sharma, NUR will also confer an Honorary Doctorate on Amb. Juma Mwapachu, the former Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC).According to NUR, the degrees would be awarded ‘Honoris Causa’ degrees in recognition of their individual contributions to international and regional integration. edmund.kagire@newtimes.co.rw