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President resigns

President Pasteur Bizimungu resigned from office on Thursday, citing “personal reasons” in his letter of resignation to the National Assembly. In a second letter, Bizimungu submitted his resignation as vice-president, executive committee member and political bureau member of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), but said he would continue to serve the movement as an ordinary party member, Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported. “I have tried my best to serve the movement and the country. At the same time, I ask your pardon for what may not have gone so well,” he wrote to RPF president (and Rwandan Vice-President) Paul Kagame. Bizimungu on Monday condemned parliament for the late announcement of the new Rwandan government - more than a month after the resignation of the former prime minister Pierre-Celestin Rwigema. “You chased away ministers, you chased away the speaker of parliament, you made a government fall... and I myself was almost sacked. There is a real problem with parliament’s method of working,” RNA quoted him as saying. Observers had noted differences between Bizimungu and Kagame over the composition of the new government, notably whether to keep Patrick Mazimhaka, the minister in the president’s office. Mazimhaka, a close ally of Bizimungu’s, was left out of the new government amid accusations of corruption.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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