Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KIGALI166
2008-03-10 14:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kigali
Cable title:  

MODEST CABINET RESHUFFLE IN RWANDA

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR KDEM RW 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0166/01 0701414
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 101414Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5168
INFO RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0205
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0257
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 1071
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1837
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0392
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0181
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1153
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0433
C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000166 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM RW
SUBJECT: MODEST CABINET RESHUFFLE IN RWANDA

REF: KIGALI 0002

Classified By: Ambassador Michael R. Arietti, reason 1.4 (B/D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000166

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM RW
SUBJECT: MODEST CABINET RESHUFFLE IN RWANDA

REF: KIGALI 0002

Classified By: Ambassador Michael R. Arietti, reason 1.4 (B/D)


1. (C) Summary. President Kagame reshuffled his cabinet
on March 7, issuing a late-night communique listing a 28-
person body of Ministers and Ministers of State, twenty-three
of whom served in the previous cabinet. Most major
ministries went unchanged, with the Prime Minister and
Ministers of Defense, Finance, Internal Security, Justice,
and Local Government remaining in their positions. Three new
ministerial positions were created: Youth, Cabinet Affairs,
and East African Community. The overall number of ministers
and ministers of state dropped from thirty to twenty-eight.
Representation among the two major ethnic groups is balanced
at fourteen Hutus and fourteen Tutsis. As required by the
Rwandan constitution, the President Kagame's ruling Rwanda
Patriotic Party (RPF) retains no more than fifty percent of
the cabinet positions. The Social Democratic Party (PSD)
kept its three seats in the cabinet, while the Ideal
Democratic Party (PDI) kept its single seat. The Liberal
Party (PL) appears to have lost one of its two seats. The
reshuffle represents a modest repositioning of personnel,
some ministers exchanging comparable portfolios, some
under-performers dropped or shifted to minor ministries, and
some go-getters receiving promotions. End summary.


2. (C) With the March 7 late-night announcement of the
reshuffled cabinet, the Kagame government embarked upon a
modest reshuffle of personnel, with most Ministers and
Ministers of State either staying in their current positions
(12),or trading places at comparable levels of
responsibility (10). Little regarded Minister of Information
Laurent Nkusi lost his job, as did Minister of Public Service
Manasseh Nshuti (Rwanda's candidate for a senior position
with COMESA) and Minister of Gender Valerie Nyirahabineza.
Long-serving Foreign Minister Charles Murigande has been
transferred to the Presidency as Minister for Cabinet Affairs
(a position suggested by former British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, who is now an unpaid advisor to the govenment, during

his March 23-24 visit to Rwanda). Trade and Industry
Minister Protais Mitali has been shunted to the newly created
and relatively unimportant Ministry of Youth. Education
Minister Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya, on the hot seat over
allegations of genocide ideology in secondary schools
(reftel) has moved to Gender.


3. (C) Mujawamaryia's replacement at Education, Daphrose
Gahakwa, promoted from Minister of State for Agriculture,
will be back-stopped by the dynamic former Governor of the
Eastern Province, Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, as Minister of
State for Primary and Secondary Education -- this puts two
Tutsis in Education, and may dampen Parliamentary unhappiness
over the genocide ideology reports. Well-regarded Finance
Minister of State Monique Nasanzabaganwa steps up to Trade
and Industry. Foreign Affairs Minister of State Rosemary
Museminali, groomed as Murigande's replacement for several
years, moves up to Foreign Minister. From outside
government, Monique Mukarulira joins the cabinet as East
African Community Minister from a position with the African
Union Commission in Sudan, and Infrastructure Minister Linda
Bihire comes from the private sector in the United Kingdom.
QBihire comes from the private sector in the United Kingdom.


4. (SBU) The PSD kept three Ministers, two of them shifted to
comparable ministries (Public Service and Natural Resources),
and one remaining at his previous position (Health). The PDI
(formerly the Islamic Party) retains the Internal Security
portfolio. The only real loser may be the PL, which lost one
of its two ministers. The political affiliation of the new
Information Minister Louise Mushikiwabo is unclear (sister of
PL founder Lando Ndasingwa, she previously worked with Donald
Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank) -- some
local observers believe she is RPF, or independent. Of the
seven Ministers or Ministers of State dropped from the
cabinet, four were RPF (three likely slated for other
positions in government),two were independent, and one from
the PL. Women now represent thirty-six percent of cabinet
positions, up from the constitutionally required thirty
percent. Among the two major ethnic groups, the cabinet now
has fourteen Hutus and fourteen Tutsis; previously it was
fourteen Hutus and sixteen Tutsis.


5. (C) Comment. In typical Rwandan fashion, the cabinet
reshuffle occurred by means of a tersely-worded late-night
communique -- no words of thanks for service rendered, no
highlighting of accomplishments of the previous cabinet, no
foreshadowing of future plans or intentions. President
Kagame will swear in the new cabinet on Tuesday, March 11,
and may offer some comments then. With the economy
performing well, local markets weathering the turmoil in
Kenya (Rwanda's main link for exports and imports),the
government fully engaged in the push for peace in eastern
Congo, and the donor community largely satisfied with the
Kagame government's performance, the President embarked upon
a modest repositioning of personnel as he enters the final
two years of his term of office. End comment.


6. (U) The full cabinet follows:

Ministers:

Prime Minister: Bernard Makuza
Agriculture: Christophe Bazivamo
Defense: General Marcel Gatsinzi
East African Community: Monique Mukaruliza
Education: Daphrose Gahakwa
Finance: James Musoni
Foreign Affairs: Rosemary Museminali
Health: Jean Ntawukuliryayo
Infrastructure: Linda Bihire
Internal Security: Moussa Fazil Hareliman
Justice: Tharcisse Karugarama
Natural Resources: Stanislas Kamanzi
Local Government: Protais Musoni
Office of Prime Minister - Gender: Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya
Office of Prime Minister - Information: Louise Mushikiwabo
Presidency - Cabinet Affairs: Charles Murigande
Presidency - ICT/Sci-Tech: Romain Murenzi
Presidency (no portfolio): Soline Myirahabimana
Public Service: Anastase Murekezi
Sports and Culture: Joseph Habineza
Trade and Industry: Monique Nsanzabaganwa
Youth: Protais Mitali

Ministers of State:

Agriculture (Animal Resources): Agnes Kalibata
Education (Primary and Secondary): Theoneste Mutsindashyaka
Infrastructure (Energy): Albert Butare
Land (Water, Mines, Environment): Munyanganizi Bikoro
Local Government (Community Development): Christine Nyatanyi
Trade and Industry (Industry and Investment): Vincent Karega



ARIETTI