The activities of Tony Blair within one of the world’s most feared regimes must remain secret because he is a “former prime minister”.

Tony Blair with Paul Kagame

 

The government is refusing to release information about Mr Blair’s involvement with Rwanda because diplomats say that details are “commercially sensitive”.

Britain has never previously granted special constitutional status to former premiers, who were expected to return to being ordinary citizens when they left parliament. Mr Blair’s office has categorically insisted that he has no commercial interests in Rwanda, a country troubled by human rights abuses in the wake of a genocidal war.

 

President Kagame’s regime has been accused by Amnesty International of internal repression by prosecuting critics, increasing unlawful detentions, restricting freedom of expression and jailing opposition politicians and journalists on trumped-up charges.

The Metropolitan Police in 2011 warned two dissidents in Britain that it had reliable intelligence that the Rwandan government posed an imminent threat to their lives. The regime denied any assassination plot.

 

Mr Blair has publicly defended the president in the past. “He’s someone I’ve got to know well and I’m a believer in him,” he said.

The Times used the Freedom of Information Act to ask the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to disclose its communications with Mr Blair about Rwanda. Officials took five months to decide, instead of the 20 days laid down by law. Eventually it confirmed that the information would remain undisclosed. Neither the government nor the former prime minister’s office would detail what communications they had with each other about the request before it was rejected.

Mr Blair now regards his passing of the Freedom of Information Act as a blunder. In his memoirs he admonished himself as a nincompoop for introducing the law. However, his reform included crucial get-out clauses which have resulted in his Rwanda discussions being kept secret.

 

The Foreign Office told The Times that it was withholding information because it might prejudice Britain’s international relations. “Factors in favour of disclosure include the strong public interest in transparency and accountability, as well as interest in wider international relations and Tony Blair’s work in Rwanda,” officials stated.

 

However, openness was trumped by the need to maintain other governments’ trust. “This relationship of trust allows for the free and frank exchange of information, both between governments but also between politicians (including former prime ministers) on the understanding that it will be treated in confidence.”

 

The Foreign Office cited another get-out clause exempting information likely to prejudice commercial interests. Businesspeople and commercial organisations needed “the space to conduct their lawful business competitively and without fear of disclosure of sensitive commercial information”, it said.

The Africa Governance Initiative is the working title for a registered charity called the Tony Blair Governance Initiative which has an income of £5 million a year to enable African leaders to provide public services, tackle poverty and attract sustainable investment to build strong economies. Mr Blair and his Africa Governance Initiative advise the Rwandan government.

 

Since leaving Downing Street in 2007, he has made millions of pounds as a public speaker and consultant to developing countries such as Kazakhstan. He has made no money from his work with the charity in Rwanda.

In 2011, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Blair chaired a “Rwanda Investment Breakfast” organised in honour of Mr Kagame. He has also been serving as a senior adviser to JP Morgan Chase, the New York-based global financial services company. JP Morgan Chase, with Mr Blair, has announced an investment in training Rwandans in financial analysis.

 

The former prime minister rode to President Kagame’s rescue when Britain suspended aid in 2013 after the United Nations accused Rwanda of backing rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a conflict that displaced half a million people. Mr Blair co-authored an article stating that the Rwandan government “strongly denied” the allegations.

 

The London ambassador for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bernabé Kikaya Bin Karubi, wrote to Mr Blair: “Can I presume your remarks were made in your capacity as founder of the charity and after consultation with your team embedded in the Rwandan government? That would explain your conduct as an apologist for the actions of the Rwandan government.”

Asked about Mr Blair’s involvement in Rwanda, the Office of Tony Blair said: “Tony Blair’s interest is through the Africa Governance Initiative [AGI]. He is the founder and patron of the AGI and acts as a pro bono strategic advisor to AGI’s partner governments. Neither Tony Blair nor the office have any commercial interests in Rwanda.”

 

Diplomatic sources denied that there was any “special privilege or protection for former prime ministers”.

dkennedy@thetimes.co.uk

Paul Kagame was the poster-boy of Africa, one of the few leaders who could overcome tribal divisions and credibly allocate western aid. That’s how it seemed to Tony Blair who called him a “visionary leader” . His aid minister, Clare Short, described him as “a sweetie”.

 

There is nothing sweet about President Kagame. Critics and former members of his entourage are ruthlessly pursued. Rwanda backed the M23 rebellion in the Congo as part of a policy of regional destabilisation. Opposition activists say that the price of holding Rwanda together after the genocide of 1994 was Mr Kagame’s creation of a shadowy secret police machine.

 

If a former prime minister is playing some strategic role in the country, then we should know about it. It is one thing for a PR company to burnish the image of a foreign politician, quite another for an ex-PM to be advising an autocrat on bringing about “practical change”, especially as the president may try to stay at the helm after his tenure runs out in 2017. By shrouding its communications with Mr Blair over Rwanda, the Foreign Office obscures a critical relationship.

Critical for the understanding of Mr Kagame’s intentions and for the planning of future British assistance. Britain is the second largest donor to Rwanda after the US. Labour and Conservative governments were encouraged by the country’s impressive attempts to reduce poverty, and to halve the number of children dying before their fifth birthday.

 

Yet for Mr Kagame, that aid has worked on a stop-go basis — suspended because of his Congo involvement, reinstated, then overhauled. Little wonder that he sought out Mr Blair who, while in office, had done so much to boost his standing in the world.

Such friendships, outlasting a period in government, demand close scrutiny. Germany was shocked in 2009 when Gerhard Schroeder, a friend of Vladimir Putin, took on a job with Gazprom after leaving office as chancellor. It will be hard to assess the German-Russian relationship during Mr Schroeder’s government without more clarity about his friendship with Mr Putin. By the same token, a balanced assessment of Rwanda demands more transparency about the dealings between Mr Blair and Kagame.

 

Mr Schroeder was, of course, paid by Gazprom; Mr Blair’s office stresses that he has no commercial interests in Rwanda. All the more reason for the Foreign Office to release the papers requested under the FoI Act. They are clearly a matter of public interest.