KINGSTON, Jamaica, -Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame arrived in Jamaica on Wednesday for his first official State visit, commencing a three-day trip intended to deepen bilateral relations between the countries.
The Office of the Prime Minister in a statement said that the visit of Rwanda’s president which comes during the year of Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of Independence represents an important opportunity for the deepening of bilateral relations between the countries.
President Kagame, who took office in 2000, is Rwanda’s sixth president and according to the statement is “on a mandate to continue the stability and growth he brought to the country after the 1994 genocide where an estimated 800,000 people were killed.
“Under his leadership, Rwanda has seen unprecedented socio-economic and political progress, peace, stability, as well as social cohesion.”
President Paul Kagame, 64, arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, where he was greeted by Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen; Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman.
He was then escorted by the CDS to the National Dais for the playing of Rwanda’s National Anthem, followed by an inspection of the Guard of Honour, formed by the First Battalion, Jamaica Regiment, and then introduced to government officials by the Prime Minister.
On Thursday, President Kagame is scheduled to address a joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament at Gordon House, after which he will lay a wreath at the shrine of Jamaica’s first National Hero Marcus Garvey.
On Friday, he will meet Holness at the Office of the Prime Minister, where they will sign a memorandum of understanding after bilateral talks.
A one-hour government-to-government panel discussion is scheduled for 1:00 pm, after which Kagame and his delegation will depart the island.
CMC/
