Rwandan minister of Infrastructure, Claver Gatete on Monday refuted claims that China may have inserted some spying equipment at the new China-funded five-floor administrative building to accomodate the Office of the Prime Minister.
The senior government official said Chinese engineers have been working together with their skilled Rwandan peers to ensure that the new complex building meets all required standards.
Speaking during a press briefing shortly after the inauguration of the office complex which cost $ 27 millin donated by China, the official labelled the claims as “unfounded”.
The Rwandan official was apparently reacting to the latest allegations that China’s government spied on the servers at the African Union’s Chinese-built headquarters for more than five years, gaining access to confidential information.
The hack wasn’t detected until January 2017 when technicians noticed that between midnight and 2 am every night, there was a peak in data usage even though the building was empty.
After investigating, it was found that the continental organization’s confidential data was being copied on to servers in Shanghai.
China’s support to Rwanda’s development process is in the form of concessional loans, grants, technical support in infrastructure projects as well as scholarships for students in health, education and technology sectors.
CU/as/APA