By Chris Muhizi for MCN.
The rejection of Rwanda’s nominee for ambassador by Belgium is anticipated to deteriorate relations between Kigali and Brussels on a diplomatic level.
Following his appointment by President Paul Kagame in March to succeed Dieudonné Sebashongore, Mr. Karega was anticipated to assume the position. But after four months of suspense, Belgium rejected him, signaling a change in the two countries’ diplomatic ties because of their shared colonial past.
The decision was described as “unfortunate” by Yolande Makolo of the Rwandan government, who also said that the Belgian government “seems to have capitulated to pressure from the DRC government as well as propaganda from ‘negationist’ organizations and activists, through whom they decided to leak the decision.”
Although Brussels has not yet made a statement regarding the situation, it is claimed that it leaked their choice to Jambo news, a site run by exiled Rwandans that Kigali accuses of radicalism and genocide denial.
Mr. Karega had served as Rwanda’s ambassador to the DRC, but he was forced to resign in November 2022 as tensions between the two neighbors reached fever pitch and Kinshasa accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels.
According to Jambonews.net, Belgian human rights organizations voiced their concerns to Brussels in April regarding Karega’s appointment as ambassador and cited major wrongdoing while he served as ambassador to South Africa and afterwards the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Former Rwandan Army commander Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa was the target of an attempted murder during Karega’s tenure as ambassador in Pretoria. Patrick Karegeya, the former head of Rwanda’s external intelligence and a recipient of political asylum in South Africa, was also murdered during this time. Three Rwandan ambassadors were sent home by South Africa in 2014 as a result.