Rosemary Museminali | |
---|---|
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation | |
In office September 2, 2005 [1] –December 4, 2009 | |
President | Paul Kagame |
Preceded by | Protais Mitali [2] |
Succeeded by | Louise Mushikiwabo [3] |
Personal details | |
Born | 1962 (age 59–60) Uganda |
Political party | Rwandan Patriotic Front |
Rosemary Museminali (born 1962) is a Rwandan politician and diplomat,currently working for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),as its representative at the African Union and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Museminali is best known for her role as the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 2005 until 2009. She has also served as the country's Minister of State for International Cooperation and as ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Rosemary Museminali was born in 1962 in Uganda, [4] to Rwandan born refugee parents, [5] who had fled the country following the 1959 Rwandan Revolution,which saw the creation of a republic dominated by the majority Hutu,and persecution of the minority Tutsi. [6] Museminali grew up and completed her education in Uganda,earning a degree in social work and administration from Makerere University in 1986. [4] While still in Uganda,Museminali worked as an Administration Manager for Nyanza Textile Industries Limited. [5]
In the 1990s,a rebel army led by Paul Kagame,also a refugee in Uganda,launching a four year civil war which culminated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide,in which between 500,000 and 1,000,000 [7] Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu were killed by Hutu extremists. [8] The war was ended when Kagame's forces took over the whole country,enabling thousands of Tutsi exiles,including Museminali, [9] to return to their homeland. [10]
After her arrival in Rwanda,Museminali began working in the Ministry of Social Welfare,assisting other refugees trying to return to the country and attempting to reunite families torn apart by the genocide. [9] She remained with the ministry for five years, [9] before moving to work as Secretary General of the Rwandan Red Cross, [5] a role she held for only a brief period. [9] In 2000,Museminali was appointed ambassador for Rwanda to the United Kingdom,including additional roles as ambassador to the Republic of Ireland and the Scandinavian countries. [5] She remained in this position,based in London,for five years. [4]
On her return to Rwanda in 2005,Museminali was appointed by President Paul Kagame to the role of junior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINAFFET),responsible for international cooperation. [4] She was promoted in March 2008 to the position of foreign minister,in overall charge of the ministry. [4] During her time as foreign minister,she prioritised the maintenance of peace and security Rwanda,as well as pushing to build peace internationally. [9] As part of the latter aim,she oversaw Rwanda's involvement in the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur. [9] She also worked internationally to develop Rwanda's economy. [9] In December 2009,President Kagame sacked Museminali, [11] replacing her with Minister of Information Louise Mushikiwabo in a reshuffle. Museminali was not offered another position in the government. [12]
Some time after leaving the government,Museminali moved to Addis Ababa to work for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),as its representative to both the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. [5] She remains in this role as of 2016. [5]
Human occupation of Rwanda is thought to have begun shortly after the last ice age. By the 11th century,the inhabitants had organized into a number of kingdoms. In the 19th century,Mwami (king) Rwabugiri of the Kingdom of Rwanda conducted a decades-long process of military conquest and administrative consolidation that resulted in the kingdom coming to control most of what is now Rwanda. The colonial powers,Germany and Belgium,allied with the Rwandan court.
Juvénal Habyarimana was a Rwandan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda,from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed Kinani,a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible".
Paul Kagame is a Rwandan politician and former military officer. He is the fourth and current president of Rwanda,having taken office in 2000. Kagame previously commanded the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF),a Uganda-based rebel force which invaded Rwanda in 1990 and was one of the parties of the conflict during the Rwandan Civil War and the armed force which ended the Rwandan genocide. He was considered Rwanda's de facto leader when he served as Vice President and Minister of Defence under President Pasteur Bizimungu from 1994 to 2000.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords,signed on 4 August 1993,which was meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. The mission lasted from October 1993 to March 1996. Its activities were meant to aid the peace process between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi-dominated rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). The UNAMIR has received much attention for its role in failing,due to the limitations of its rules of engagement,to prevent the Rwandan genocide and outbreak of fighting. Its mandate extended past the RPF overthrow of the government and into the Great Lakes refugee crisis. The mission is thus regarded as a major failure.
The Rwandan Patriotic Front is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame,the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces,winning the Rwandan Civil War in 1994.
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990 as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development,the then-ruling party of Rwanda,and enjoyed the backing of the Hutu Power government. The Interahamwe,led by Robert Kajuga,were the main perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide,during which an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsi,Twa,and moderate Hutus were killed from April to July 1994,and the term "Interahamwe" was widened to mean any civilian bands killing Tutsi.
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days,members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group,as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa,were killed by armed Hutu militias. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 662,000 Tutsi deaths.
"Rwanda Nziza" has been the national anthem of Rwanda since January 1,2002. It replaced "Rwanda Rwacu",which had been the national anthem since 1962.
The First Congo War (1996–1997),also nicknamed Africa's First World War,was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire,with major spillovers into Sudan and Uganda. The conflict culminated in a foreign invasion that replaced Zairean president Mobutu Sese Seko with the rebel leader Laurent-DésiréKabila. Kabila's uneasy government subsequently came into conflict with his allies,setting the stage for the Second Congo War in 1998–2003.
The failure of the international community to effectively respond to the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has been the subject of significant criticism. During a period of around 100 days,between 7 April and 15 July,an estimated 500,000-1,100,000 Rwandans,mostly Tutsi and moderate Hutu,were murdered by Interahamwe militias.
The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces,representing the country's government,and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1 October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war arose from the long-running dispute between the Hutu and Tutsi groups within the Rwandan population. A 1959–1962 revolution had replaced the Tutsi monarchy with a Hutu-led republic,forcing more than 336,000 Tutsi to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. A group of these refugees in Uganda founded the RPF which,under the leadership of Fred Rwigyema and Paul Kagame,became a battle-ready army by the late 1980s.
The Army for the Liberation of Rwanda was a rebel group largely composed of members of the Interahamwe and Armed Forces of Rwanda. Operating mostly in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the border with Rwanda,it carried out attacks throughout the Second Congo War against forces aligned with Rwanda and Uganda. In 2000,the ALiR agreed to merge with the Hutu resistance movement based in Kinshasa into the new Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). ALiR was largely supplanted by the FDLR by 2001.
The Amahoro Stadium,officially known as Amahoro National Stadium,is a multi-purpose stadium in the Gasabo district of Kigali,Rwanda. With a capacity of 25,000,it is the largest stadium in Rwanda and hosts football matches,concerts,and public events. The football clubs Armée Patriotique Rwandaise F.C. and Rayon Sports F.C. are the tenants. The venue is also sometimes used for rugby union.
The Banyarwanda are the cultural,tribal and linguistic group of people who inhabit mainly Rwanda. Some Banyarwanda live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,having migrated there from neighbouring Rwanda in waves,usually settling in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.
Seth Sendashonga was the Minister of the Interior in the government of national unity in Rwanda,following the military victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) after the 1994 genocide. One of the politically moderate Hutus in the National Unity Cabinet,he became increasingly disenchanted with the RPF and was eventually forced from office in 1995 after criticizing government policies. After surviving a 1996 assassination attempt while in exile in Kenya,he launched a new opposition movement,the Forces de Résistance pour la Démocratie (FRD). Sendashonga was killed by unidentified gunmen in May 1998. The Rwandan government is widely believed to be responsible for the assassination.
The Rwandan Revolution,also known as the Hutu Revolution,Social Revolution,or Wind of Destruction,was a period of ethnic violence in Rwanda from 1959 to 1961 between the Hutu and the Tutsi,two of the three ethnic groups in Rwanda. The revolution saw the country transition from a Belgian colony with a Tutsi monarchy to an independent Hutu-dominated republic.
Louise Mushikiwabo is the fourth and current Secretary General of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. She previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Rwanda from 2009 to 2018. She also served as Government Spokesperson. She had previously been Minister of Information.
The role of France in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has been a source of controversy and debate both within and beyond France and Rwanda. France actively supported the Hutu-led government of Juvénal Habyarimana against the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front,which since 1990 had been engaged in a conflict intended to restore the rights of Rwandan Tutsis both within Rwanda and exiled in neighboring countries following over four decades of anti-Tutsi violence. France provided arms and military training to Habyarimana's militias,the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi,which were among the government's primary means of operationalizing the genocide following the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6,1994.
Aloisea Inyumba was a Rwandan politician,who was the country's Minister for Gender and Family Promotion and as executive secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission.
Liberation Day is a public holiday in Rwanda which is celebrated on 4 July. It commemorates the defeat of the previous Habyarimana regime and the Rwandan Armed Forces by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in the Rwandan Civil War,thus ending the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. On 4 July 1994,the RPF secured the capital of Kigali while the end of the war only became official on 18 July with the liberation of the north-west territories. Liberation Day takes place a week after Independence Day,although it is more of a celebration rather than the national mourning period for the Rwandan Revolution on Independence Day.