South Africa recalls its ambassador to Rwanda
By Our Staff Writer – 9th-15th Aug 2010
South Africa has recalled its ambassador to Rwanda following a diplomatic row over the shooting of an exiled Rwandan general in Johannesburg. “We have recalled our ambassador to Rwanda for consultations”; said South African Foreign Ministry Director General Ayanda Ntsaluba.Major General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, an acerbic critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, was shot and wounded in Johannesburg June. Rwanda denies any involvement in the shooting of General Kayumba Nyamwasa.
South Africa however insisted that it had not broken diplomatic ties with Rwanda and that no connection should be made between the ambassador’s withdrawal and Gen. Nyamwasa’s shooting. “Let me be categorical. We have not broken diplomatic relations with Rwanda”; Ntsaluba added. He said the two countries were in discussions.
Uganda Correspondent reported last month that Rwanda had summoned South Africa’s ambassador to Kigali Gladstone Dumisani Gwadiso to discuss South Africa’s investigation into Gen Nyanwasa’s shooting.
Five people have been charged in South Africa over Kayumba’s shooting and or attempted murder. General Kayumba himself maintains that Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame ordered the attack; a claim that that Kigali dismissed as “preposterous”.
Kayumba’s shooting, plus a host of other murders in Kigali including that of a newspaper editor and an opposition leader have however raised serious international concern about what is really happening in Rwanda.
