Rwanda: Bill Clinton Defends the Most Repressive Regime on African Continent

By Jacqueline Umurungi
Inyenyeri News
14 August 2013

As the former US President Bill Clinton has been travelling around Africa with his daughter, Chelsea, visiting Clinton Foundation projects, he took time to defend the most repressive regime on the continent of his close friend Paul Kagame.

It is unfortunate that he is one of the most respected people on earth and a former US President can continue defend a man regarded by many as the Pinochet of Africa. The former US President argues that the Kagame government has been accused by the UN of backing some rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the accusations have not been fully litigated.

What does he mean by fully litigated?

But why can’t he appreciate the partial litigation and explain to his friend that the continued massacre of the innocent children and women in Congo is not only a crime under international law but also creates bad blood between the two neighbors.

Similarly he argues that the reason why Kagame has kept his notorious forces in the neighboring country almost using the same language like Kagame that  Congo is full of people who committed genocide in Rwanda  “it’s complicated by the fact that the section of Congo near Rwanda is full of people who perpetrated the genocide, who spurned the president’s offer to come home and not go to prison and you can’t get around the fact that the economic and social gains in Rwanda have been nothing short of astonishing under Kagame, and he says he’s going to leave when his time’s up. So I understand that there are some people in the human rights community who believe that every good thing that has happened in Rwanda should be negated by what they allege that they have done in the eastern Congo.”

While the former US President is right on the economic front as his eyes might tell him when he sees the tall buildings in the City and good lights on the streets, he closes his eyes on the fact that most buildings are either owned by Kagame or his proxy business partners.  Just to give the former US President the picture of the Man his defending, the UK Financial Times ranked RPF as one of the richest political party on the continent worth US $500m. Does the former US president know who signs on the cheque of the crystal ventures? What about the companies that light the City?  Just to be precise to the US former leader, the business empires in this country are owned by Kagame family, in-laws-and friends.

Indeed, the human rights community have been very helpful in exposing the bad side of Kagame who always puts on a mask when his talking to the international community. It is therefore not surprising when the former US President is misled by the cover of the book without reading the book. Whereas there is some invisible evidence to pin the Rwandan dictator that the US President didn’t see, never the less, the muzzling of political parties and the media is an open secret.

Kagame has killed or incarcerated not only his political opponents but those who are perceived to be ideologically differing from his autocratic rule. Kagame is a serial killer who fanatically holds superiority complex which has made him intolerant to many people even his former comrades. It is obvious that a person of this character will never sleep in the same house late alone a room with any human rights community. The Human Rights Watch which is funded by the American Tax payer’s money was very instrumental in exposing even the government of Habyarimana who is one of the immediate predecessors to Kagame and was never friendly to this regime. The US government has acknowledged the credibility of this Human Rights Body and put some symbolic sanctions of freezing some military aid to Rwanda, why then the Former US President is still defending the indefensible murderer on the continent?

Kagame is the only president on the continent and in the World who goes to the parliament or his parliament for that matter and declares that he will kill a fly using a hammer if necessary and he gets a standing ovation, later his former Army Chief of Staff is then shot and miraculously kisses death. Again, Kagame is the only president who lacks diplomatic credentials by going wild and declares publicly that he will hit his counterpart of a neighboring country when a good opportunity is ripe according to him.

Does Bill really need more full litigated information?

The mapping report and another report of the UN experts have all concluded that Kagame government has been backing some rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo which unfortunately the government has denied despite overwhelming evidence from many circles. The Bill and Blair it seems that their brands on the continent are still saleable in what they called the “New Breeds of Africa”. If Bill thinks that Kagame will go after 2017, he might be unaware of the clandestine movement of the RPF and Kagame of sidelining or pushing on side any person who is perceived to be an obstacle on the road map of changing the constitution to allow Kagame to seek for another term.

Whereas, the former US President might genuinely believe what the dictator tells him, he should consult Kagame’s mentor in the neighboring country who once said that the problem of Africa is over staying in power by African leaders. Indeed, Kagame has been frequenting with some night travels to his mentor to seek some prophesy on what will happen  and probably what has made him stay longer in power  despite promising that he will uphold the values of the constitution. Therefore for those who don’t know the other side of Kagame, they should consult the founders and elders of the RPF who have either been politically or physically exterminated or made politically impotent. Whether Kagame will do what he tells Bill in the private, it remains to be seen.

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