UK’s Home Secretary, Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations of ministerial code breaches over her failure to formally disclose years of previous work with the Rwandan government.
The home secretary is already facing accusations of breaking the ministerial code after the Sunday Times revealed that she asked her staff to help her dodge a speeding fine.
Ms Braverman is facing further pressure after she failed to disclose that she co-founded a charity called the Africa Justice Foundation which worked with several key members of President Paul Kagame’s government who are involved in the UK’s £140m deal to send asylum seekers to Rwandan.
Ms Braverman did not officially disclose her previous links to the country when appointed home secretary in 2022, despite ongoing legal challenges alleging politically-driven human rights violations including torture, murder and kidnappings.
MPs raised concerns about the Home Secretary’s links to Rwanda during a Commons urgent question on the speed awareness course accusations.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, questioned whether the Home Secretary’s “rosy-eyed view” of Rwanda’s human rights record had “anything to do with her undisclosed links” to the East African nation’s government in Kigali.
She and her SNP frontbench colleague Kirsty Blackman said that Ms Braverman’s charity work in Rwanda should be included in any investigation into her alleged breaches of the ministerial code ordered by Rishi Sunak.
Two former official standards chiefs told The Independent that Ms Braverman’s failure to disclose her co-founding with Cherie Blair of the Africa Justice Foundation, which trained Rwandan government lawyers between 2010, could be a breach of the ministerial code.
Sir Alistair Graham and Sir Alex Allan said Ms Braverman should have at least declared the work to senior Home Office officials given she has responsibility for the controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
