Saturday, March 27, 2010

Danger and Volatility in Rwanda

By Khante
March 27, 2010

On March 25, 2010, President Paul Kagame said that he is ready to do whatever it takes to protect the nation from ill-intentioned people.

He made such remarks while officiating at the swearing-in ceremony of two new Members of Parliament: Hamidou Omar and Athanasie Gahondogo, as well as the Deputy Ombudsman, Bernadette Kanzayire.

Kagame assured the country of full protection and security, and that he will not tolerate anything that causes insecurity, adding that the recent incidents were minor.

Kagame also said that those who fought for the country are still there and are ready to fight once again for the security of the country. Nobody should play with the security of the Rwandan people, he added.

However, the RPF mouthpiece newspaper, The New Times, intentionally failed to mentione such a statement in their article, probably in order to fool the international donors.

When Kagame talks about Rwandan security, nobody should get confused because he is only talking about his own security. He wants to stay on power to avoid to face justice. He knows that when he will lose his presidential immunity, he may face justice for several crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by his troops in Rwanda and in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is not willing to open up the political space in Rwanda because he already knows that he will surely lose any free and fair election. This is why he will try to maintain himself on power by all means until he dies in office. He will always attempt to cause chaos and put the blame on his opponents when his security could be in danger.

In his 7 April 2007 commemoration of genocide, delivered in Murambi , Rwanda , President Paul Kagame said that the RPF Army made a mistake: they should have finished off all the Hutus before they fled to Congo ( Zaire ), and they should have finished off all those who returned, when they had the chance. Kagame’s supporters, both emboldened and embarrassed by his words, issued a sanitized version of this speech; the original version has disappeared from public view.

On April 30, 2003 in Bwisige, Rebero-Byumba, President Paul Kagame said similar thing in Kinyarwanda warning those who claim to have corn or sorghum harvest that he already has grinding machines specifically designed to grind such a harvest.

Should violence erupt anytime soon in Rwanda, President Paul Kagame along with his army and Local Defense militia (Intore) might bear full responsibility of such a chaos. As Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the leading figure of the Rwandan opposition and chairperson of the United Democratic Forces (UDF-Inkingi) has always claimed, there is no need for more blood shed to implement democratic principles in Rwanda.

However, without US and UK pressure on the Kagame's regime, violence may indeed erupt once again anytime. As the major donors and supporters of post-genocide Rwanda, the US and UK need to be involved to make sure there is smooth transition to democratic governance, which in turn will provide more stable institutions and economy.

Otherwise, the millions of taxpayer dollars that we used to help rebuild Rwanda would have gone to waste since war might erupt again.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Warmongering politics is misplaced at the Commemoration of Rwanda genocide

By Sylvain Sibomana
UDF-Inkingi
Secretary General
April 8, 2010

Kigali: Warmongering politics is misplaced at the Commemoration of Rwanda genocide President Kagame's address on the 16th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide marked a very dangerous escalation in his merciless violent attacks on the opposition. The president has seriously failed to the obligation of reserve, for the dignity of the supreme function requires him to express his opinion with great restraint
and not to insult his political and military opponents.

In an unprecedented mood, the president accused among others Ms Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, chairperson of UDF-Inkingi, of "political hooliganism", before calling opposition "useless people". In a separate declaration, he talked of "killing those mosquitoes with a hammer. The president went further challenging his critics into "a fight", a threat he has uttered many times. He seemed to forget the context of the day, turning his speech into an exposé of nostalgic personal war achievements, which roused unusual applause among the audience.

These utterances from a head of state, aspiring for a new bail in office are very revealing of the gap between the president agenda and the wishes of the people he is supposed to lead.

Indeed, spitting fire to the opposition and foreign critics at the commemoration of the saddest period of our history is misplaced. Inciting to violence and threatening to wage war against his political opponents at the expenses of genocide survivors' suffering is cynical and bad politics.

The commemoration should rather be an opportunity for healing wounds, for reconciling people, for calling for more tolerance and harmony between Rwandans.

Sweeping under the carpet all critics and labelling them all kind of abuses shows a lack of political vision and dedication to the country's interests.

As far as UDF-Inkingi is concerned, the wind of change is on the move and no amount of intimidation will stop it. There is no honor for a torrent to boast of having removed a reed. UDF-Inkingi is of the view that calling for more political space, more freedom of association and expression is in no way political hooliganism.

Alluding to political hooliganism is mistaking political opponents with enemies, instead of challengers. A hooligan is a follower of sport that uses violence to influence the outcome of a sporting event. Calling people like that is unacceptable when we know full well that violence is not on our side and that the regime monopolizes the political arena.

The role of political opposition is to oppose any policy that rejects the democratic debate, marginalizes the rural and peri-urban population, seeks to truncate the memory and has no plans for national cohesion.

Related Materials:
Danger and Volatility in Rwanda

Rwandan: Citizens know what is best for them - Kagame

"Foreigners imposing ‘hooligans’ like Ingabire on Rwanda"