{"id":5327,"date":"2026-11-14T10:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T10:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=5327"},"modified":"2026-11-14T10:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T10:52:07","slug":"rwanda-maintains-mushikiwabos-bid-as-francophonie-election-faces-diplomatic-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/14\/rwanda-maintains-mushikiwabos-bid-as-francophonie-election-faces-diplomatic-tensions\/politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda maintains Mushikiwabo\u2019s OIF candidacy ahead of leadership vote"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rwanda will maintain Louise Mushikiwabo\u2019s candidacy for a third term as head of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has said, as the leadership election approaches amid opposition from the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nduhungirehe made the position clear on November 13, after foreign media reports alleging that French President Emmanuel Macron had asked President Paul Kagame to withdraw Mushikiwabo from the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The election is scheduled for November 16 during the 20th Francophonie Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mushikiwabo is competing against three candidates: former Democratic Republic of Congo culture minister Juliana Amato Lumumba, Mauritania\u2019s Coumba B\u00e2 and former Romanian prime minister Dacian Ciolo\u0219.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contest has drawn particular attention because of the strained relations between Rwanda and Congo. Kinshasa opposes Mushikiwabo\u2019s re-election as the two neighbouring countries remain at odds over the conflict in eastern Congo. The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels, an allegation Kigali denies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a report published on November 14, RFI said several sources expected Congo to consider withdrawing from the OIF if Mushikiwabo won another term. The broadcaster said the Congolese government had not publicly announced such a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congo\u2019s Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya told RFI that there would be consequences if the outcome in Phnom Penh did not reflect the values his country stood for. The Associated Press separately reported that Congo had threatened to leave the organisation if Mushikiwabo was re-elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a departure would be significant for the OIF because Congo is the most populous country where French is an official language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mushikiwabo has led the organisation since January 2019, after being elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. She is seeking another four-year term covering 2027 to 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her leadership has faced criticism from some officials within the organisation. RFI reported concerns about her response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the OIF in March 2025. Critics also questioned whether some of her diplomatic initiatives gave undue attention to governments whose interests align with those of Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representative of Mushikiwabo\u2019s team defended the diplomatic engagements, describing them as part of the organisation\u2019s mediation work. OIF spokesperson Oria Vande Weghe also defended reforms introduced since 2018, including changes to the secretary-general selection process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tensions could also affect the prospects of the other candidates. RFI reported that Congo had not ruled out supporting Romania\u2019s Ciolo\u0219 if its own candidate, Lumumba, could not secure sufficient backing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OIF comprises 90 member states and governments, but only 53 full members are entitled to vote in the secretary-general election. The other members include five associate members and 32 observers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the election procedure adopted in 2022, members first seek consensus. If they fail to reach an agreement, the candidate with the highest number of votes among members present and voting wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The election will take place during the closing session of the Phnom Penh summit on November 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda will maintain Louise Mushikiwabo\u2019s candidacy for a third term as head of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,41,36,5,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-featured-stories","category-hot_topics","category-international","category-politics","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5327"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5331,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions\/5331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}