Paul Kagame drives King Mohammed to airport
President Kagame drives King Mohammed VI to the airport at the end of the King's State Visit Paul Kagame/Facebook

A picture of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame driving Morocco's King to the airport has gone viral. The picture was first posted on Kagame's official Facebook page on 31 October.

The Rwandan leader drove King Mohammed VI at the end of his three-day official visit in Rwanda, which ended on 20 October.

More from IBTimes UK

The picture of Kagame driving the King in a black Range Rover has been shared hundreds of times on social media, with people claiming the Kagame's gesture was a sign of modesty.

However, some people pointed out that Kagame 's government did not allow Rwanda's last monarch Kigeli V, – who died in exile in the US earlier in October – to return to the throne.

The government maintained the monarch was welcome to go back to Rwanda, but only as a private citizen.

Kagame and King Mohammed discussed bilateral relations and the official visited resulted in the signing of at least 19 agreements, in a move seen as a boost to the cooperation between the two countries.

The agreements focussed on areas including foreign relations, security, finance, investments and private sector development.

The King's visit in Rwanda marked the first tour of the monarch to East Africa since his coronation in 1999.

Who is Paul Kagame?

Kagame served as vice-president and minister of defence until he became president in 2000, after being elected by government ministers and the national assembly.

Kagame led the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) – now the country's ruling political party – against Hutu rebels during the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 1 million people, mainly Tutsi and moderate Hutu, were killed.

The leader will run for a third term in 2017, after the country approved constitutional amendements on presidential term limits .

The approved amendments have allowed him to run for a seven-year term in 2017 and two subsequent five-year terms in 2024 and 2029, potentially putting him in power until 2034.

Kagame is seen by many as the man who stopped the 1994 genocide and a leader capable of bringing about social and economic progress in Rwanda. In an exclusive interview with IBTimes UK, Jean-Paul Kimonyo, senior adviser to the president, said the progress Rwanda has made in the last 20 years is something that its inhabitants could only have dreamed about since 1994.

However, Kagame has also been accused of cracking down on political opponents and freedom of speech, implementing a climate of fear. The government denied the allegations.

Rwanda