Book Description

The former Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, stopped payment of general budget support to Rwanda in July 2012.This was because of concerns about the role of Rwanda in the M23 rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In September he re-instated half the aid as general budget support, and paid the other half directly to the education and agricultural sectors. Although there were concerns about the decision making process and whether the decision was correct. Mr Mitchell assured the Committee that he carried out consultations within the both Governments of the UK and Rwanda before making his decision. The new Secretary of State agreed that the decision-making process had been robust.As part of this process, the Prime Minister set out three conditions for the restoration of aid which the Committee believe to be reasonable and consistent with the aid agreement between the UK and Rwanda Governments. These were 1) Rwanda should engage constructively in the peace process, 2) it should publicly condemn the M23 Group and 3) there should be continuing ceasefire in the Kivus and practical support to the M23 should end.Among the main conclusions are : in the light of Rwanda's progress towards the Millennium Development Goal targets and its poverty reduction efforts, DFID should continue to provide aid to Rwanda; but as the Prime Minister's conditions have not been met, general budget support cannot continue; The Government of Rwanda should comply with all three of the Prime Minister's conditions before further general budget support is disbursed; Until then, DFID should consider alternative channels to deliver its aid.