Top diplomat shows the proud face of Rwanda

• As the Foreign Affairs minister, Mushikiwabo goes far beyond the normal call of duty

Ms Mushikiwabo’s tenure at the Foreign ministry has been characterised by milestones like joining the Commonwealth, and to some extent, discarding the former Belgian trust territory’s Francophone image.

Bad blood

This shift was caused, in part, by the bad blood between Rwanda and France, a situation with roots in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 in which French forces, which had been training the army of the government of President Juvenal Habyarimana, were accused of turning a blind eye to the violence in the small country in which at least half a million people, most of them minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus, were killed.

Ms Mushikiwabo, the author of Rwanda Means the Universe: A Native’s Memoir of Blood and Bloodlines, is now playing a central role in rebuilding relations with France.

Early this month, French President Nicholas Sarkozy visited Rwanda in what was viewed as a tentative step towards restoring relations.

“The visit came as part of the beginning of normalcy in relations between Rwanda and France after three years of no relations at all,” she said.

Ms Mushikiwabo’s effectiveness as the Foreign Affairs minister is a major boost to the country’s affirmative action policy that has seen Rwandan women share political appointments almost equally with their male colleagues.