Government Says Tony Blair Gesture is Not Unusual

Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)

18 January 2008
Posted to the web 18 January 2008

Kigali

Former British Premier Tony Blair is widening his post-premiership portfolio by becoming an unpaid adviser to the Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame and authorities here are saying he is just among a host of others "partners" that "want to help Rwanda", RNA has established.

According to The Guardian newspaper, in the first indication of the kind of work Mr. Blair would like to undertake in Africa, he has dispatched a three-strong team to Rwanda to see how he will be able to help build the capacity of the once war torn government.

The Press Secretary in the Office of the President Ms. Yolanda Makolo confirmed to RNA on Friday that such a gesture from Mr. Blair was in the works but declined to part with any more details.

Ms. Yolanda also confirmed that the three-member team was already in the country and the President Kagame and Mr. Blair "have spoken".

The team includes Ms. Liz Lloyd, former deputy chief of staff to Mr. Blair and an Africa specialist. Another is his former Number 10 private secretary Ms. Kate Gross and Mr. David Easton, a former McKinsey's consultant. Number 10 is the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

"The fact is Mr. Tony Blair is a friend of the President and he has offered to assist in capacity building.and he is exploring how that is feasible", Yolanda said.

According to her, the team is "here to explore how this can work". She also said the issue is still in the early stages "that is why he has sent a team here to explore how it could workout.

Mr. Blair has always taken the view that government capacity, good governance and fighting corruption are vital to development, The Guardian reported. Since leaving office Blair, who has often said he is ashamed that the world stood aside during the Rwandan civil war, has met President Kagame to discuss how they should work together.

Mr. Blair has apparently been impressed by the way Rwanda has transformed itself since the 1994 genocide and believes he can raise funds to help the government. The country already has the second highest growth rate in Africa, but half the government's budget is based on overseas aid.

The former prime minister showed his commitment to Africa in office by setting up the African Commission and, in 2005, working with Gordon Brown to build big financial pledges during the British presidency of the G8 industrialised nations.

In the same year his wife Cherie visited Rwanda to see the war graves, and attend some of the court hearings held to try perpetrators of the Genocide. She addressed a major regional Women parliamentarians' conference in Kigali and attended a Gacaca court session. Mr. Blair himself has only met President Kagame on several occasions in London.

Blair's officials stressed that his work will be unpaid. He will be seeking to raise funds for the future consultancy. The Rwandans have already set a up a programme with the British government to pinpoint bottlenecks to growth, including the lack of export growth and the role of the private sector.

The daily also reports that Mr. Blair received criticism last week after it was revealed that he had taken a highly paid job as an adviser to J P Morgan, the blue chip US bankers.