Rwanda, Zambia seek strong ties

Zambian Foreign Minister Harry Kalaba said Sunday that his country is looking to strengthen bilateral ties with Rwanda.

Kalaba, who is in Rwanda for a three-day official visit, told reporters that his visit to Rwanda aims at bolstering the existing good relations between the two countries.

Kalaba, who on Sunday visited Kigali Genocide Memorial centre to pay tribute to the over 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide laid to rest at the site, said that Rwanda has shown resilience in the face of unimaginable tragedies.

"There are many Rwandan refugees living in Zambia and there should be mechanisms to repatriate them back home because this country is safe and secure and I don't know why some people are still refugees in our country," he noted.

"Our relationship with Rwanda is good but our focus is to further cement our bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in the areas of diplomacy, social affairs and economy," he said.

He stated that Zambia can learn a lot from Rwanda and vice versa, and both countries can help each other to achieve prosperity for their people.

As part of his visit, Zambian official on Saturday toured the Kigali special economic zone to ascertain Rwanda steps to build strong and viable industries.

Jeanine Kambanda, Rwanda's permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, said that Rwanda and Zambia enjoy cordial relations and the visit by the minister will cement it further.

"We will discuss ways on how we can increase our cooperation in various social and economic affairs," she noted.

In March, Rwanda and Zambia embarked on efforts to repatriate thousands of Rwandan refugees living in the southern African country.

The initiative followed a similar one held in Lusaka, Zambia in July 2013 that saw the launch of issuance of Rwandan passports to refugees in the country.

According to figures from the Ministry for Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs (Midmar), only 25 out of an estimated 4,000 Rwandan refugees in Zambia have received Rwandan passports but none has repatriated ever since the cessation clause was invoked on Rwandan refugees in June 2013.

According to the cessation clause, all Rwandan refugees, living in different countries across the world are required to repatriate voluntarily or integrate in their host countries.

The other option is for them to return home, acquire national identification documents, and if they so wish, return to the host countries.

About 242 Rwandan refugees have repatriated from Zambia since 1994.