German envoy bids farewell to Kagame

The outgoing German Ambassador to Rwanda, Elmar Timpe, yesterday, paid a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro to bid him farewell after concluding his four-year mandate.Speaking to journalists shortly after meeting and holding talks with the Head of State, Timpe said that during his tenure, bilateral relations between Germany and Rwanda were strengthened.“When I came here four years ago, there was a dent in our bilateral relationship. From then I embarked on cementing our bilateral cooperation. The result of our strengthened relationship is last year’s commitment where my country pledged Euros 60 million to Rwanda for the next three years towards budget support,” he said.Timpe added that his country is committed to supporting Rwanda’s health sector in line with the Millennium Development Goals.He said his country will render support in areas of vocational training which, he said, is very important in improving economic development in the region.After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Germany was among the first countries to re-open their embassies in Kigali, and to assist in the repair of damaged utilities such as electricity, water and telecommunication.The bilateral cooperation between the two countries is based on a framework agreement on financial and technical cooperation.Rwanda has enjoyed close cooperation with Rhineland Palatinate for the last 30 years and that anniversary was celebrated recently in Germany.Presently, 250 schools in Rwanda and Germany’s Rhineland Palatinate partner in various programmes. The collaboration is going to be reviewed to embrace real development in areas such as energy and infrastructure.According to Mary Baine, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who accompanied the German ambassador to meet President Kagame, they discussed the existing relations between the two countries.She said the Head of State thanked the outgoing envoy for his good work during his term of office, such as doubling his country’s budgetary support.

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German envoy bids farewell to Kagame