Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

Rwanda: Why optimism is declining even more

By The Newsline Reporter
August 28, 2010

A visit to http://www.igihe.com/, a local Rwandan news website gives you a picture of how optimism among Rwandans over the future of their country is fast waning.

The website which carries simple stories with very lucid headlines is allegedly funded by the ruling party, the RPF. This, observers say, is the reason it has never had trouble with the Kigali authorities like other media outlets; Umuseso, Umuvugizi and Newsline among many others.

But, the real taste of the pudding is in the comments posted by different people visiting the site: there are hot exchanges, thanks to the fact that the visitors will not be identified - they use pseudo names.

“Where is this country heading? With people being decapitated for uttering a word, the situation we are in, is worse than the one we endured under Habyarimana..,” one person wrote in response to a statement made by the army Spokesman, Lt. Col. Jill Rutaremara.

The writer of the above comment is complimented by hundreds of other Rwandans who chip in with all sorts of evidence to suggest that the future is bleak for Rwandans, given the escalating human rights violations, suppression of people’s freedoms and lack of political space.

“How long can this comedy of elections go on…but, well, a war has been declared, so, yes, we are to endure another war, after the one that brought the present dictators to power…that’s where we are heading,” another discussant, writing under a pseudo name, Bea, says.

Further, hundreds of commentators on the Website indicate that the grenade attacks in Kigali have become a major cause of pessimism in Rwanda , with several people saying they believe the attacks are stage-managed by the Kagame regime as a tool to hunt for his perceived enemies.

Outside Rwanda , things don’t look different either, not even with Kagame’s allies. After the recently concluded much-criticized elections, the United States expressed concern on about ‘disturbing events’ that surrounded presidential election in which incumbent Paul Kagame drew 93 percent of the votes.

"We remain concerned, however, about a series of disturbing events prior to the election, including the suspension of two newspapers, the expulsion of a human rights researcher, the barring of two opposition parties from taking part in the election, and the arrest of journalists," National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.

Hammer also noted; “The land-locked African country's stability and prosperity will be difficult to sustain without broad political debate and open political participation”.

Several political commentators on Rwanda have criticized the election campaigns, saying they were marred by repression orchestrated by government. Indeed, human rights groups pointed to mounting violence during the run-up to the election after the fatal shooting of a local journalist and the killing of an opposition official who was found beheaded in July.

The government denied involvement, but citing politically motivated murders, lack of political space, suppression of people’s freedoms, Rwandans are getting increasingly pessimistic, never mind that the regime doesn’t show signs of allowing meaningful democracy to enable people debate such issues openly.

So, while some people like Fran Makken, the Dutch Ambassador to Rwanda, still talk of Rwanda being a young democracy, the reality on the ground indicates that, politically, what is in place is a mature dictatorship, and the views expressed by people who on sites such as http://www.igihe.com/ suggest that Rwandans don’t see a process leading to that desired democracy.

As a consequence, it is said that voices of discontent (though limited inside the country for obvious reasons), are on the increase as is the exodus of people opting to seek asylum in all parts of the world.

And Kagame, whose promise after taking over power in 1994 was the cause of optimism in Rwanda, is to blame for its fall!

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:42 AM