Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, was this Friday morning elected as the new Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), the world association of French-speaking nations.
Mushikiwabo, 57, was unanimously elected to head the organisation of the French speaking nations during the 17th Summit of OIF in Yerevan, Armenia.
President Paul Kagame presented Mushikiwabo as the African Union and Rwanda’s candidate to the OIF top job at the summit. She will unseat Jean Michaelle, the current secretary-general whose first term is coming to an end.
Jean Michaelle, a Canadian was also vying for the position for a second term but had lost popularity due to luxuriant expenditures at the expense of her position. Michaelle was only supported by her country, Canada until early this week when Canada and Quebec said they would back the “consensus candidate”.
Mushikiwabo became the consensus candidate after overwhelming support from France and several African Union countries before even the summit began.