Our man in Kigali (and Gitega)

Or why British diversity is on show in Rwanda

Commonwealth flags. Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash

There may be many things to say about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda but here’s something you probably never thought to hear: it may prove to be a quite remarkable showcase for British diversity.

Consider the following paragraph from a BBC report on Prince Charles and Camilla’s arrival in Kigali:

“Among those greeting the royal couple at the steps of the plane were the UK’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Omar Daair, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the UK, Johnton Busingye, special adviser Yamina Karitanyi and the prime minister’s special representative on the Commonwealth, Lord Ahmad.”

Some of the key British functionaries on that list — Omar Daair and Lord Ahmad — obviously have different ethnicities and backgrounds to the standard Anglo-Saxon. That’s worth noting, but not what I mean by British diversity.

In this case, I’m talking about diversity of perspective and my particular focus is Mr Daair.