Tuesday, May 5, 2020

When Paul Kagame secretly met marshal Mobutu Seseko at N'sele in 1991

Paul Kagame at N ' sele, March 1991.
It was on the sidelines of the signing of the "N ' saddle agreement", signed as part of the indirect negotiations between the Government of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), under the mediation of President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire.
It is 4 months earlier (on 22 November 1990) in Goma, that Zaire calls for the first time at the negotiating table the delegates of the two belligerents to the Rwandan conflict. A month earlier (October 1st), while Ugandan presidents Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda Juvenal Habyarimana are in New York, some hundred elements of the RPF had launched their first historic offensive on the Rwandan territory, attacking the post of Kagitumba, before reaching Gabiro (90 kms from Kigali).
After this first round of the November 1990 negotiations in Goma, Zaire once again called the two belligerents in Brussels (Belgium) in December 1990. The delegation of the Rwandan government was composed of Shamukiga Charles (Luxembourg's Consul in Rwanda) , André Katabarwa (Ambassador of Rwanda to Rome), Father Mahame (Superior of the Jesuits in Rwanda) and Pastor Musabe (Deputy Director of the African Continental Bank-Rwanda). The delegation delegation was composed of Jacques Bihozagara, Patrick Mazimpaka, Pastor Bizimungu and Jean Barahinyura.
A 3th round of negotiations was held in Dar-Es-Salaam (Tanzania) in February 1991, before the signing of an agreement on 29 March 1991 in N ' saddle (suburb de Kinshasa, capital of the rd Congo).
The N ' saddle agreement introduced a ceasefire between the Government of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front. On the side of the Government of Rwanda, it was signed by Dr. Casimir Bizimungu (then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda) and on the side of the RPF, by Pastor Bizimungu (then to Information Commissioner) and General Major Paul Kagame (then Military Chief of the Rwandan Patriotic Front).
Unfortunately, the N ' saddle agreement was broken the following day by the RPF's resumption of hostilities. The two belligerents were again invited to the negotiating table and the Agreement was amended in Gbadolite (Zaire) on 16 September 1991 and in Arusha (Tanzania) on 12 July 1992.
The N ' saddle agreement was one of the few official documents Paul Kagame signed his signature. In the next, he will pull the strings, prefer to delegate Pastor Bizimungu or Alexis Kanyarengwe.

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