The Secretary General of L’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, stated that she cannot intervene in the DRC because the Kinshasa government has never invited her.
“Because Kinshasa doesn’t invite me. If the Congolese invite me, I will go there. I know how important the DRC is for our organisation,” Mushikiwabo said in an exclusive interview with a journalist.
“In fact, it is among the very first beneficiaries of the programmes set up by the OIF, in terms of budget for education and culture, peace and the promotion of gender,” she added.
Mushikiwabo explained that the “Panzi Foundation, run by Denis Mukwege, has been funded since 2020 as part of our “La Francophonie avec Elles” project. So I treat the DRC as an important member country that must have its full place in the organisation.”
Mushikiwabo is a Rwandan national. Her country and the Democratic Republic of Congo are experiencing frosty relations as each side accuses the other of supporting militia threatening their regimes.
Mushikiwabo, in 2024, was not invited to the Francophone Games in Kinshasa.
“No, she won’t be there”, Oria Vande Weghe, spokeswoman for the Secretary General, said before the kick-off of the games.
Kinshasa has again taken another spite at Mushikiwabo, currently seeking another term at the helm of the organization.
President Félix Tshisekedi’s administration is seeking to counter the candidacy of Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo for a third term as Secretary General of the Paris-based body.
DRC said that they are fielding a Congolese candidate to counter Mushikiwabo.