Mushikiwabo rejects importing the Rwanda-DRC conflict to the OIF
Seeking a third term, the outgoing Secretary General distances her campaign from the tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa. The election is set for November in Phnom Penh.
Louise Mushikiwabo believes that the confrontation between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo “has no place at the OIF.” In an interview broadcast on Friday, September 25, 2026, by France 24, the outgoing Secretary General expressed that she is “calm” ahead of the election for the organization’s leadership.
The Rwandan official is seeking a third term. She is facing off against Congolese candidate Juliana Lumumba, who is backed by Kinshasa. Two other candidacies have also been announced: Mauritanian Coumba Ba and Romanian Dacian Cioloș.
Mushikiwabo also defended her record following the withdrawal in 2025 of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. She refuses to view this as a failure of her leadership and asserts that it is not a failure “of the Secretary General.”
A former Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, she has led the OIF since January 2019 and was re-elected in November 2022. The election is scheduled for November 16, 2026, in Phnom Penh, during the Francophonie summit, according to official documentation from the Congolese candidacy.
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