The Rwandan leader ended a two-day visit to the country over the weekend.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has described his country’s relations with the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) as good. The President was speaking last weekend after his arrival in Oyo - President Denis Sassou N’guesso’s home village - for his third visit to the country since 2004, The New Times newspaper reported.

President Paul Kagame was received on Saturday, February 16, 2013 by President Denis Sassou N’guesso in Oyo where he spent two days during which he held private talks with the Congolese leader and toured his home town, located north of the capital city, Brazzaville. They later visited President N’guesso’s family cemetery where Kagame paid his respects to his late daughter, Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba, former First Lady of Gabon.

President Kagame said visiting each other did not always have to do with matters of security or politics because such visits improve relationships. He acknowledged that peace alone does not lead to development, but policies that help deliver development must be put in place, the Rwandan pointed out. He added that creating an environment of security and peace can lead to prosperity for Africa.

According to Radio Okapi, the two leaders are also understood to have discussed the recurrent crises in the Great Lakes Region, especially in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC where Rwanda has been accused of supporting M 23 rebels. President Kagame’s visit to Congo Brazzaville came two months after a similar visit by President N’guesso visit to Rwanda during which the two leaders discussed, among others, the need to continue supporting the ongoing regional peace process in DRC. With flights between the two countries’ capitals twice a week, diplomatic relations between Kigali and Brazzaville have grown to include economic and trade partnerships.