Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that she would be vying to lead the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF), many were taken by surprise.
Minister Mushikiwabo on the Interview with the RBA says, the decision came after the consultation with the government and other OIF member countries and found it necessary to be represented by someone from Rwanda.
Citing, statistics, Mushikiwabo, says, half of the 10 Million youths who completed the university in Africa are unemployed. Therefore, says she will be tasked to uproot the unemployment among the youth in Africa.
“Secondly, it’s because I have the capacity and willingness to do. It’s the continuation of the foreign relations tasks that will be proceeding,” she adds.
Minister Mushikiwabo has made various trips aimed at campaigning for this position including Congo and OIF member states.
Elections for the secretary of the OIF are scheduled 17th, December, this year in the General assembly.
Although Rwanda is at the same time a member of the Commonwealth, whose upcoming 2020 summit will be hosted in Kigali, it has never left the Francophonie. French too, was not ‘banned’ in Rwanda as some allege – it is impossible to ban a language. The learning of English was just reinforced – in Rwanda, in France and worldwide. In fact, we may soon begin to learn Mandarin and Arabic, as the need arises.
The Francophonie, like the French language, do not belong the French Republic. They are membership-based common patrimonies and the influences therein, depend on the charisma of one member or another.
The fact that Cabo-Verde, Guinee-Bissau, Guinee-Equatorial or Sao-Tomé and Principe are members of both the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) and the Francophonie is proof that the famous ‘sphere of French influence’ is simply an invention of media’s neo-colonial mindset, whence one has the chance to speak more international languages and be part of many linguistic families.
For this, two prerequisites are required: 1. Define our purpose; 2. Seize the opportunity. We have defined our purpose; as a country, but also as a continent, and the time may have come to continue the struggle in more peaceful ways.
Louise Mushikiwabo, current Chair of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU), was unanimously endorsed by the Assembly of Heads of States and governments of the African Union at the Summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania and for the first time in recent memory, Africa will be presenting a unique candidate to lead the Francophonie – a candidature initiated by French President Mr. Emmanuel Macron.
Louise Mushikiwabo represents a hopeful world, one where all are equal; one where all are free. Whether that world is real or aspirational, it is, simply a beautiful world.
Electing Mushikiwabo in October in Erevan-Armenia, will send a message that international organizations are no longer devices of intrigues, rivalry and coup bas, but bridges to outreach and cohesion among nations.
The Express News
