KAGAME SWEARS IN TWO NEW SENATORS

UNCLAS KIGALI 000569 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR RW SUBJECT: KAGAME SWEARS IN TWO NEW SENATORS ¶1. (U) President Kagame on September 10 administered the oath of office to two new senators, Josee Kagabo and Henriette Umulisa, filling two vacancies. One was left by Stanley Safari, who fled Rwanda in June in the middle of his gacaca trial. (Note: He subsequently received a life sentence for genocide-related crimes. End Note.) The other was left by Beatrice Mukabaranga, who resigned following allegations that she had bounced three personal checks. Immediately after the swearing-in, Kagame reminded all parliamentarians present that the goal of their work was not to prepare excellent legislation or give great speeches, but to ensure that their work personally and positively touched citizens throughout the country. COMMENT: Kagame routinely takes officials to task in a very public fashion, urging them to work harder, faster, better. This ceremony was no exception. END COMMENT. ¶2. (SBU) Bio data on the new senators follows. JOSEE KAGABO is a French-Rwandan dual national who is a professor of history at the University of Paris X. He was a member of the Rwandan government's "Mucyo" commission, which investigated and published in 2008 a lengthy report alleging French complicity in the 1994 genocide. He is a member of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF). HENRIETTE UMULISA is less well-known than Kagabo. She was a schoolteacher at the Ecole Belge de Kigali, and is a graduate of the Brussels Catholic Business Institute. Her father, Dr. Musafiri Ildephonse, was a former Health Minister under former President Habyarimana, Rwanda's head of state from 1973-1994. She is also a member of the RPF. SYMINGTON