President Paul Kagame has intervened in a dispute involving Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, and journalist and Director of the Rwanda Media Monitoring Commission (RMC), Scovia Mutesi.
The dispute began on May 17, 2026, when a heated debate erupted on social media after Minister Nduhungirehe told Mutesi, the host of Mama Urwagasabo TV, to hire journalists who are fluent in French.
The minister’s message followed an interview Mutesi and journalists from his television channel conducted on May 14 about the Africa Forward Summit organized by France and Kenya and held in Nairobi that month.
Nduhungirehe Criticized the Interview
On May 14, the spokesperson for the office of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Farah Muamba Kayowa, announced that President Félix Tshisekedi had asked countries participating in the summit not to remain silent about atrocities allegedly committed there due to “Rwandan provocations.”
Minister Nduhungirehe responded that Muamba’s statements were false, arguing that Tshisekedi, who had previously traveled to Uganda to attend the swearing-in of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, did not attend the summit in Nairobi but instead took a photo with heads of state to create the impression that he had attended.
During the debate, Mutesi and his journalists said that claims from either side needed evidence before they could be believed.
Mutesi also suggested that dancer Sherrie Silver could help establish what happened because she had a role at the summit.
He said, “I will ask the girl Sherrie Silver, the dancer, because she was the one in charge of the stage, they hired her. He didn’t go to the dancers, he had a role in the stage protocol. He was in that group.”
Minister Tells Mutesi to Find a French-Speaking Journalist
Minister Nduhungirehe told Mutesi that the interview was confusing Rwandans and pointed out that the statement he had written in response to Muamba was in understandable French.
He said, “Next time, find a journalist who speaks French well, and read such a text properly, before discussing it. If necessary, ask me.”
The diplomat explained that Sherrie Silver had organized the Africa Forward Summit concert, which had nothing to do with the summit itself because the summit had already ended. He therefore said the dancer was not required to confirm what had been said at the summit.
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Mutesi Calls for Messages in Kinyarwanda
Scovia Mutesi responded to Minister Nduhungirehe by saying he would ask officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to put the minister’s message in Kinyarwanda so that Rwandans could also understand it.
He said, “We ask you to tell those in your office to put it in Kinyarwanda because the people you are addressing are not only those in Paris, Kinshasa or Brussels, but also Rwandans from Kiyombe, Mushubati and Kinigi.”
The journalist told Minister Nduhungirehe that he would remain patient until the ministry and the minister himself also communicated messages in Kinyarwanda.
Kagame Brings Both Sides Together
During a press conference held on August 24, Mutesi was approached to explain the disagreement he had with Minister Nduhungirehe in recent months.
President Kagame said, “I followed it up, tried to find the problem, and I couldn’t find it. Before I ask you, first explain to me what happened.”
Mutesi said the disagreement arose because he did not know French at the level Minister Nduhungirehe expected. He explained what followed the exchange but said he still did not understand what mistake he and his journalists had made.
Minister Nduhungirehe was then given an opportunity to explain what had happened.
He said Mutesi and the journalists who conducted the interview had not properly explained his response to Muamba and instead disagreed with it.
He said, “They disagreed with what I said, saying that it was wrong, that it did not make sense, that they came to ask that artist instead.”
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Kagame Says Disagreement Should Have Been Handled Differently
Other journalists who had followed the issue also provided their views during the discussion, but President Kagame said the explanations had not sufficiently clarified what had happened.
He again gave Minister Nduhungirehe and Mutesi an opportunity to explain their positions.
In conclusion, President Kagame told Minister Nduhungirehe that no one owed him an explanation and that providing additional information would help Rwandans understand the issue rather than engaging in arguments with journalists as happened in May 2026.
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Mutesi Apologizes and Explains Why
Mutesi was later given an opportunity to ask the questions he had prepared.
He revealed that he had apologized to Minister Nduhungirehe at the time because he is a businessman and feared that the dispute could affect his television station and audience.
The journalist said, “I apologized because I am a businessman, I have a television station. The minister says that we are not educated, we have bad things, I may lose my market, I should have stayed in that position. So those to whom I apologized should also forgive me.”
