#Membe: 'Prove I was wrong about #Rwanda stoking war in DRC, and I'll resign'
"When I told the BBC that Rwandans were causing instability in Eastern Congo, I meant what I said" - Bernard Membe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. PHOTO | FILE
Posted Wednesday, May 28 2014 at 00:00
IN SUMMARY
He admitted that relations between Tanzania and Rwanda were strained, but added that "opportunists" had taken advantage of the situation to fuel diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Dodoma/Dar es Salaam. Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe said yesterday that he would resign if the Opposition proved his controversial remarks about Rwanda were wrong.
Mr Membe was responding to allegations levelled against him by Shadow Foreign Affairs minister Ezekiah Wenje.
Winding up debate on his ministry's 2014/15 budget proposals in Parliament, Mr Membe offered to resign if Mr Wenje would provide documentary proof that he was wrong when he said last September that the Banyamulenge in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were ethnic Tutsis originating from Rwanda.
"This is a fact that cannot be denied," he said.
He said the Banyamulenge, who formed the M23 rebel group that fought the DRC government for a number of years, were Tutsis originating from Rwanda, while members of the the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) were Rwandans, who fled to eastern DRC after the 1994 genocide.
"When I told the BBC that Rwandans were causing instability in Eastern Congo, I meant what I said…it's the UN's group of experts that originally accused Rwanda, not me," Mr Membe told Parliament.
He admitted that relations between Tanzania and Rwanda were strained, but added that "opportunists" had taken advantage of the situation to fuel diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Presenting the Opposition's response to the ministry's budget proposals earlier, Mr Wenje accused Mr Membe of stoking diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Although Mr Membe made no mention of the frigid relations in the speech, Mr Wenje said the minister was to blame for the situation.
This forced Mr Membe to hit back when responding to MPs' views, accusing Mr Wenje of being a stooge of a foreign country. The shadow minister strongly denied the claim.
Mr Wenje, who is also the Nyamagana MP, earlier told Parliament that Mr Membe's remarks on the BBC's Focus on Africa programme had worsened the fragile relations between Tanzania and Rwanda.
He said such comments could only heighten confusion and anger among ordinary citizens of the two countries.
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