The role of ethnicity in Rwanda is something that is often misunderstood, it is often assumed that the laws ban any mention of ethnicity. This is false, people are free to have their personal identity but it only becomes an issue when it is used in a political context. In the home and social settings, people are free to associate and define themselves, it is only if you publically seek to divide or separate people that it becomes an issue. Politicians like Victoire Ingabire often say that people are denied their identity by the government, the government is in a precarious situation of balancing personal identity and social reconciliation.
There are two schools of thought on this, one is that we must acknowledge our differences then unite. The other, which the government follows, is that acknowledging differences will not lead to cohesion, that we should instead seek to emphasise what we have in common and forget our differences. What we have in common is a common language, a common history, a common culture, a love of the same country, and even on many levels a love of each other. No nation has ever been united by their differences. In fact, these differences are a short cut to power but also a shortcut to genocide.
People always try to point to the Burundi model, where strict quotas are set out for every tribal bloc. They say that Burundians are capable of talking about their tribal differences openly. One should also note that the two main sides live in separate areas, drink in separate bars, pray in separate churches, learn in separate schools and live separate lives. Rwanda has never been like that even in the worst times of genocide. There are places in Burundi where a Tutsi would be instantly killed just for going there, that is not the case in Rwanda where anyone is free to roam wherever they like.
In Burundi, there were some 300,000 victims on both sides in a 15 year war, that means some 20,000 died a year, but in Rwanda that was only 2 days of killings as 10,000 died a day. Rwanda and Burundi have many similarities but they should not be freely compared, yes they have the same ethnic composition and similar cultures but they are very different. The Burundi situation is what would have happened had the Arusha accords defined Rwanda, if strict ethnic quotas were enforced. One wonders where the million people of mixed-ethnicity would fit in, how can you play fractions and percentages with people’s lives?
Burundi has seen the fragmentation of people, first on tribal grounds, then inter-regional grounds and newer fault-lines are appearing. The Rwanda model is to do away with ethnicity, they managed to do this in Europe. When William the Conqueror ascended to the throne in 1066, he could not afford to have tribal division because they acted as powerbases, so he abolished them. After some uproar, the English were united and ironically under a French King. One day Rwandans will all appreciate the decision to abolish tribes.
Friday, 30 July 2010
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Democracy needs economic development to flourish
Charles Onyango-Obbo wrote an in-depth series on Rwanda in the recent weeks, it was mostly correct and often complimentary but it said the Kagame thinks “Rwanda can live on bread alone.” In Rwanda, poverty and ignorance were the root causes of the Genocide which killed almost 1,000,000 people. We cannot have real democracy until we have economic development that is ingrained in our minds and is unstoppable in momentum. If we look at all the most stable democracies in the world, they are also the top economic powers. In Rwanda we have a saying “when you have nothing to share, you fight and call each other greedy.” As long as Rwandans are poor, we are open to manipulation by evil tribalist politicians.
Paul Kagame admires Julius Nyerere above other leaders, I saw the impact that Nyerere had when I recently visited Tanzania. His shadow looms large over the nation even 11 years after his death. He gave a deeply fragmented nation a common identity, he gave them a sense of collective cultural pride, and although his economic policies largely failed, he gave his people a sense of contentment. Kagame wants to replicate those aspects but with economic development as well because the population and demographic pressures of Rwanda make it more urgent. Nyerere, who resigned in 1985 still dominated Tanzanian politics even with the humble title of “Mwalimu” and was seen a man above politics and an arbiter or referee.
When people criticise Rwanda for not having a viable opposition, one must also ask why South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, and many other countries also have parties which take an overwhelming share of the vote. There are often similarities in that they had leaders who were ideologues, leaders who created a new national identity and ethos. Mandela in South Africa, Samora Machel in Mozambique, and Nyerere in Tanzania, all these men still dominate their national politics. Another factor is that they had movements that were “broad churches” and able to accommodate different wings and ideological backgrounds. The final factor is their movements were based on objectives above all else and ideology was a means to an end.
This explains the dominance of the ANC, RPF, Frelimo and CCM, one can claim it is due to political interference but one cannot deny the popularity of the party on the ground. The weakness of the opposition in Rwanda is due to their political inexperience, RPF has had to learn the hard way – how new policies have to be devised, revised and funding allocated. So when an opposition party promises free healthcare for all, without saying where the money will come from, it betrays political naivety. So the only shortcut left must be appeal to tribal sentiments, Victoire Ingabire has been doing this and want to nation to revert to the past by revising what happened in 1994. We cannot have a new identity and keep the old ones, that is the sacrifice we will have to make in exchange for economic development, one cannot wear two hats on one head.
Paul Kagame admires Julius Nyerere above other leaders, I saw the impact that Nyerere had when I recently visited Tanzania. His shadow looms large over the nation even 11 years after his death. He gave a deeply fragmented nation a common identity, he gave them a sense of collective cultural pride, and although his economic policies largely failed, he gave his people a sense of contentment. Kagame wants to replicate those aspects but with economic development as well because the population and demographic pressures of Rwanda make it more urgent. Nyerere, who resigned in 1985 still dominated Tanzanian politics even with the humble title of “Mwalimu” and was seen a man above politics and an arbiter or referee.
When people criticise Rwanda for not having a viable opposition, one must also ask why South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, and many other countries also have parties which take an overwhelming share of the vote. There are often similarities in that they had leaders who were ideologues, leaders who created a new national identity and ethos. Mandela in South Africa, Samora Machel in Mozambique, and Nyerere in Tanzania, all these men still dominate their national politics. Another factor is that they had movements that were “broad churches” and able to accommodate different wings and ideological backgrounds. The final factor is their movements were based on objectives above all else and ideology was a means to an end.
This explains the dominance of the ANC, RPF, Frelimo and CCM, one can claim it is due to political interference but one cannot deny the popularity of the party on the ground. The weakness of the opposition in Rwanda is due to their political inexperience, RPF has had to learn the hard way – how new policies have to be devised, revised and funding allocated. So when an opposition party promises free healthcare for all, without saying where the money will come from, it betrays political naivety. So the only shortcut left must be appeal to tribal sentiments, Victoire Ingabire has been doing this and want to nation to revert to the past by revising what happened in 1994. We cannot have a new identity and keep the old ones, that is the sacrifice we will have to make in exchange for economic development, one cannot wear two hats on one head.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Sometimes Rwanda can never win
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t
There is a saying in public relations “there is no such thing a bad publicity.” Indeed, any negative story can be used to elicit good publicity or at least publicity. The opposite is true as well, in the world of national publicity, any good story can be used to generate negative publicity. A recent example is the study by transparency international that claimed Rwanda had the lowest corruption rate in East Africa, while Uganda, Kenya and Burundi rated at over 30% prevalence we had only 3-6% prevalence. It claimed the rate was negligible, good story I thought, but think again.
The BBC claimed that this was a sign of political oppression in Rwanda, if prosecuting corrupt officials is political oppression then I am all for it. It is like Africans have to conform to certain negative stereotypes and any attempt to depart from this is painful for some foreign journalists. How can Africans move past this stereotyping? We need to stop conforming to what is expected from us. A border guard is expected to solicit bribes, a tax inspector is also expected to take kickbacks, so how can you change that?
It requires both the carrot and a very big stick, government servants in East Africa apart from Rwanda are rarely paid on time, their salaries barely rise in line with inflation and few can blame them for being resourceful in how they are paid. Another aspect is developing a target oriented culture, few civil servants know what targets they are working towards so they work towards their own goals of self-enrichment. The final is the most important, to use the big stick – the threat of prosecution must always be there. Even though Rwanda has a limited skills base, it is not afraid to prosecute government officials without fear or favour.
The fight against corruption is a constant ongoing war, like how you have to take a bath every day. The scourge of corruption is constantly there and will never go away, we need to always review the processes, checks and balances to stop the evolution of corruption. Officials are always devising ever more clever ways to steal public funds, such as interfering with the tendering systems or even withholding large sums of money to skim the interest. The more complex the checks and balances, the cleverer the corruption scam.
The fragmented nature of tribal politics facilitates corruption, in some countries the pie has to be divided according to tribal quota. Burundi is now the most corrupt country in Africa, let alone East Africa. The pie has to be divided to a strict quota, 84% for Hutu, 15% for Tutsi and 1% for Twa. If you fail to fulfil that quota then you are in danger of being corrupt, so you have the curious situation where a corrupt Hutu is looking for a Tutsi to share 15% of their ill-gotten gain. This is the Africa that the BBC knows and loves, because if a correspondent cannot bribe an official then it means the world is turned on its head.
There is a saying in public relations “there is no such thing a bad publicity.” Indeed, any negative story can be used to elicit good publicity or at least publicity. The opposite is true as well, in the world of national publicity, any good story can be used to generate negative publicity. A recent example is the study by transparency international that claimed Rwanda had the lowest corruption rate in East Africa, while Uganda, Kenya and Burundi rated at over 30% prevalence we had only 3-6% prevalence. It claimed the rate was negligible, good story I thought, but think again.
The BBC claimed that this was a sign of political oppression in Rwanda, if prosecuting corrupt officials is political oppression then I am all for it. It is like Africans have to conform to certain negative stereotypes and any attempt to depart from this is painful for some foreign journalists. How can Africans move past this stereotyping? We need to stop conforming to what is expected from us. A border guard is expected to solicit bribes, a tax inspector is also expected to take kickbacks, so how can you change that?
It requires both the carrot and a very big stick, government servants in East Africa apart from Rwanda are rarely paid on time, their salaries barely rise in line with inflation and few can blame them for being resourceful in how they are paid. Another aspect is developing a target oriented culture, few civil servants know what targets they are working towards so they work towards their own goals of self-enrichment. The final is the most important, to use the big stick – the threat of prosecution must always be there. Even though Rwanda has a limited skills base, it is not afraid to prosecute government officials without fear or favour.
The fight against corruption is a constant ongoing war, like how you have to take a bath every day. The scourge of corruption is constantly there and will never go away, we need to always review the processes, checks and balances to stop the evolution of corruption. Officials are always devising ever more clever ways to steal public funds, such as interfering with the tendering systems or even withholding large sums of money to skim the interest. The more complex the checks and balances, the cleverer the corruption scam.
The fragmented nature of tribal politics facilitates corruption, in some countries the pie has to be divided according to tribal quota. Burundi is now the most corrupt country in Africa, let alone East Africa. The pie has to be divided to a strict quota, 84% for Hutu, 15% for Tutsi and 1% for Twa. If you fail to fulfil that quota then you are in danger of being corrupt, so you have the curious situation where a corrupt Hutu is looking for a Tutsi to share 15% of their ill-gotten gain. This is the Africa that the BBC knows and loves, because if a correspondent cannot bribe an official then it means the world is turned on its head.
Monday, 26 July 2010
Massive crowds underline RPF popularity
During this week, RPF Party Candidate, President Paul Kagame held rallies in 9 districts that include Gasabo, Rulindo, Gakenke, Musanze, Burera, Nyabihu, Rubavu, Ngororero and Muhanga. At every location there have been record crowds to greet President Kagame, in one rally in Musanze there were over 120,000 people to hear his every word. This must say something about the popularity of RPF and Kagame, firstly it says that he is more popular in rural areas than was otherwise thought, secondly his message and achievements are chiming with ordinary Rwandans.
In Rwanda it is sometimes hard to gage the public mood, we do not do public opinion polls, so many areas are inaccessible and off the radar of the media. So the enthusiasm shown by crowds in many rural areas is more than was expected. The RPF has many development strategies aimed at poor rural voters, agricultural, health and education policies have been most helpful in providing a better quality of life than they are used to. One must remember the history of Rwanda, in how previous governments hardly did anything constructive in their lives. However the RPF does not judge itself by these low standards and is giving the people more than they hoped for.
The is no doubt the RPF has unrivalled popularity among all Rwandans, it is not unusual considering what has happened since 1994. The RPF assumed power around the same time the ANC took power in South Africa, like the ANC they have enjoyed the benefits of being a liberating force and a party of development. The fact that the ANC is credited with ending apartheid and introducing black empowerment policies means it is hard for any rival parties to match it for popularity and they win as much as 80% in an open inclusive democratic system.
The RPF under Paul Kagame is credited with ending the Genocide, it also pacified and unified a fractured country, and finally it has delivered in terms of economic and social development. It is for that reason that it enjoys an overwhelming level of support in all regions of the country. It has activists in every village, town and district of Rwanda and can represent people from areas that few other parties can reach. The other parties do not have the human, financial and ideological resources to create a national program of development, nor do they have the list of achievements that the RPF has.
As an incumbent, Paul Kagame is judged on his achievements and not wishes and promises. The people who showed up were not forced to attend, it was their personal choice to do so. If the RPF had not benefitted them, then they would have stayed away. The RPF campaign has benefited from merging technology with old-fashioned campaigning, a hi-tech campaign van has brought the marvels of multi-media to the deepest outlying regions of Rwanda. This has allowed for bigger and bigger rallies and even two rallies a day. However, the large crowds are beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic RPF strategists.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Kagame dismisses Spanish publicity stunt
During a recent visit to Spain, Paul Kagame found himself an unwilling victim of a publicity stunt. A special protest had been arranged by an activist group with close links to the Catholic Church. They were dressed in masks with red ink on their hands to symbolise blood and guilt. The group accused the RPF of being responsible for the killing of two Spanish priest during the Genocide against the Tutsi.
“This thing in Spain is an old problem, the indictments in Spain and France have existed for 10 years, if you look at the indictments they start by indicting the RPF and in extension they indict Uganda because they say it was created in Uganda and they think its main purpose was to come from Uganda and kill all Hutus.”
He dismissed the stunt as unproductive and said that the activists had a very limited understanding of the situation. Kagame has recently criticised “self-appointed foreign critics and human rights activists who make it their business to speak on behalf of Rwandans.” He has also challenged the right of judges with what is called universal jurisdiction to prosecute crimes not committed on their soil. “This universal jurisdiction only works one way, so how is it universal?” Two judges from France and Spain respectively have indicted senior members of the RPF en masse, on charges relating to the downing of the plane carrying then president Habyarimana.
He further dismissed the validity of the charges, saying they were too broad and made no distinction between individual members of an organisation.
“It is called a terrorist criminal group (RPF). They blame RPF for the death of two Spaniards who died in Rwanda plus some in Congo, it was investigated, the French police investigated this, and found it was due to the insurgency. On the other deaths there was no conclusion.”
It has since emerged that Zapatero was pressured into withdrawing from the UN summit on the millennium development goals (MDG’S) summit, where Kagame and Zapatero were both co-chairing the summit. He was facing a tense vote the following week and a minority party with close links to the Catholic Church was threatening to torpedo his bill. Spain is going through the shocks of recent economic downturn, the government is going to have to implement serious austerity measures aimed at saving the nation from economic collapse.
Kagame dismissed the relevance of the so-called snub, and said it would not deter him from working towards millennium development goals and representing Africa and Rwanda at global events.
“When I went to Spain it was not on bilateral business or a state visit, he is not a superior co-chair to me, MDG’s have nothing to do with affairs of state.”
The absence of Mr. Zapatero meant that Kagame was the sole chair of the meeting. President Kagame is one of the most high-profile African leaders on the global stage, he routinely meets with heads of state and other influential people to devise new methods of development. Rwanda was named as one of the few countries that is on schedule to meet the targets outlined in the MDG’s and hence Kagame was asked to co-chair the latest meeting.
“This thing in Spain is an old problem, the indictments in Spain and France have existed for 10 years, if you look at the indictments they start by indicting the RPF and in extension they indict Uganda because they say it was created in Uganda and they think its main purpose was to come from Uganda and kill all Hutus.”
He dismissed the stunt as unproductive and said that the activists had a very limited understanding of the situation. Kagame has recently criticised “self-appointed foreign critics and human rights activists who make it their business to speak on behalf of Rwandans.” He has also challenged the right of judges with what is called universal jurisdiction to prosecute crimes not committed on their soil. “This universal jurisdiction only works one way, so how is it universal?” Two judges from France and Spain respectively have indicted senior members of the RPF en masse, on charges relating to the downing of the plane carrying then president Habyarimana.
He further dismissed the validity of the charges, saying they were too broad and made no distinction between individual members of an organisation.
“It is called a terrorist criminal group (RPF). They blame RPF for the death of two Spaniards who died in Rwanda plus some in Congo, it was investigated, the French police investigated this, and found it was due to the insurgency. On the other deaths there was no conclusion.”
It has since emerged that Zapatero was pressured into withdrawing from the UN summit on the millennium development goals (MDG’S) summit, where Kagame and Zapatero were both co-chairing the summit. He was facing a tense vote the following week and a minority party with close links to the Catholic Church was threatening to torpedo his bill. Spain is going through the shocks of recent economic downturn, the government is going to have to implement serious austerity measures aimed at saving the nation from economic collapse.
Kagame dismissed the relevance of the so-called snub, and said it would not deter him from working towards millennium development goals and representing Africa and Rwanda at global events.
“When I went to Spain it was not on bilateral business or a state visit, he is not a superior co-chair to me, MDG’s have nothing to do with affairs of state.”
The absence of Mr. Zapatero meant that Kagame was the sole chair of the meeting. President Kagame is one of the most high-profile African leaders on the global stage, he routinely meets with heads of state and other influential people to devise new methods of development. Rwanda was named as one of the few countries that is on schedule to meet the targets outlined in the MDG’s and hence Kagame was asked to co-chair the latest meeting.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
A New Rwanda in Name and Face
I was given a schedule of campaign rallies and was shocked by my ignorance, it said there would be rallies in Musanze, Rubavu, Muhanga, Huye, Karongi, Rusizi. I wondered why they were missing out major cities like Ruhengeri, Gisenyi, Gitarama, Butare, Kibuye and Cyangugu? But all those places are the same, there is a Shakespeare quote “what is in a name? For a rose called by any name would still smell a sweet.” A lot is in a name in Rwanda, people defined their identity by where they came from. To be from the Gisenyi-Ruhengeri area during the time of Habyarimana was to almost be royalty.
During that time even when people were the same nationality or even tribe or clan, the name of your area was more important. These names became power-bases, they became divisive and something had to be done. A decision was taken to change their names, most are ancient pre-colonial names that have a deeper meaning than we know. It is similar to what India did with Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkat, and so on. After some initial reluctance the world has come to accept these new names. It is important to rebrand our cities and regions, it is a way of redefining our national identity and wiping bad memories.
There is a joke that if the FDLR ever had the guts to invade Rwanda, they would get lost and run back to Congo, the place names would just confuse them. It is crucial that the new Rwanda, which has a new face, also has new names. Around 40% of our population has been born since 1994, they do not know the words “Hutu” and “Tutsi” like their parents did, nor words like “Mukiga” or “Munyanduga” or “Mushii” which were equally divisive. They live in Musanze not Ruhengeri, they live in Rubavu not Gisenyi. Therefore they are “Banyarubavu” and not “Banyagisenyi”. This is not semantics but a major shift in identity, it is a breaking of the shackles of division and internal hatred.
Most of these cities and towns are small enough to change names but Kigali will always be Kigali, at least for a short term. Sometimes it takes a while for the outside world to catch up, hence my shock when my air-ticket read “London Heathrow to Gregoire Kayibanda airport, Kigali.” I was rightfully horrified and argued with the travel agent that it is called Kanombe Airport, but the computer said Kayibanda so she ignored me. So now we have a chance to break with the past, to set a new path to proceed along. We need to define where we come from, and not the mispronounced names given by Belgian administrators. Rwandans have a deep history, our pre-colonial history dates back some 2,000 years since Twa pygmies settled these mountain forests. Now let’s look to our future
During that time even when people were the same nationality or even tribe or clan, the name of your area was more important. These names became power-bases, they became divisive and something had to be done. A decision was taken to change their names, most are ancient pre-colonial names that have a deeper meaning than we know. It is similar to what India did with Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkat, and so on. After some initial reluctance the world has come to accept these new names. It is important to rebrand our cities and regions, it is a way of redefining our national identity and wiping bad memories.
There is a joke that if the FDLR ever had the guts to invade Rwanda, they would get lost and run back to Congo, the place names would just confuse them. It is crucial that the new Rwanda, which has a new face, also has new names. Around 40% of our population has been born since 1994, they do not know the words “Hutu” and “Tutsi” like their parents did, nor words like “Mukiga” or “Munyanduga” or “Mushii” which were equally divisive. They live in Musanze not Ruhengeri, they live in Rubavu not Gisenyi. Therefore they are “Banyarubavu” and not “Banyagisenyi”. This is not semantics but a major shift in identity, it is a breaking of the shackles of division and internal hatred.
Most of these cities and towns are small enough to change names but Kigali will always be Kigali, at least for a short term. Sometimes it takes a while for the outside world to catch up, hence my shock when my air-ticket read “London Heathrow to Gregoire Kayibanda airport, Kigali.” I was rightfully horrified and argued with the travel agent that it is called Kanombe Airport, but the computer said Kayibanda so she ignored me. So now we have a chance to break with the past, to set a new path to proceed along. We need to define where we come from, and not the mispronounced names given by Belgian administrators. Rwandans have a deep history, our pre-colonial history dates back some 2,000 years since Twa pygmies settled these mountain forests. Now let’s look to our future
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Rwanda to have fibre backbone by December
Kigali — The Rwanda government says it will have a complete fibre optic network across the country by December.
The government is building the national fibre optic cable of 2,300 kilometres across the country.
The cable shall connect over 230 institutions in all 30 Districts and all the 9 Rwandan borders with the main cities.
The infrastructure will support various e-applications such as ehealth, e-education and other government applications.
The national backbone project started in September 2008 with a target to be ready in one year. However, the project delayed one year and started in October 2009.
The Head of Information Technology (IT) department of the Rwanda Development Board, which implements the project Mr. Patrick Nyirishema says changes in the project layout caused the delay.
He says the government's initial plan was to build its own cable but later it merged that the private sector also wanted to benefit from the scheme. This required the government to adjust initial designs and the budget, which potentially affected initial timelines.
As a result, the government included multiple ducts (free pipes) in which the private service providers would plug their fibre optic cables without necessarily digging for them separately.
"The process of deciding on the final configuration caused that delay.
This changed the budget and we imported more than 6,000km of duct or 250 containers of ducts," says Mr. Nyirishema.
He says this phase is complete and the new target for completion of the project is by December. "Our commitment was to finish this project by December 2010, and according to our project schedule, we shall meet the target," Nyirishema said in an exclusive interview in Kigali recently.
He says out of 2,300 km to be built, more than 500 km have been completed.
He says speed has also been scaled up and on average 70-80 km per week are being done which translates into about 300 km per month.
He says the government started with Kigali-Gatuna because it wanted to connect to SEACOM, one of the submarine cables with a landing point in Mombasa Kenya.
Both the government and the telecom operators are negotiating with SEACOM for capacity, despite the fact that two operators Rwandatel and Altech have already connected to the SEACOM via microwave links.
The government is building the national fibre optic cable of 2,300 kilometres across the country.
The cable shall connect over 230 institutions in all 30 Districts and all the 9 Rwandan borders with the main cities.
The infrastructure will support various e-applications such as ehealth, e-education and other government applications.
The national backbone project started in September 2008 with a target to be ready in one year. However, the project delayed one year and started in October 2009.
The Head of Information Technology (IT) department of the Rwanda Development Board, which implements the project Mr. Patrick Nyirishema says changes in the project layout caused the delay.
He says the government's initial plan was to build its own cable but later it merged that the private sector also wanted to benefit from the scheme. This required the government to adjust initial designs and the budget, which potentially affected initial timelines.
As a result, the government included multiple ducts (free pipes) in which the private service providers would plug their fibre optic cables without necessarily digging for them separately.
"The process of deciding on the final configuration caused that delay.
This changed the budget and we imported more than 6,000km of duct or 250 containers of ducts," says Mr. Nyirishema.
He says this phase is complete and the new target for completion of the project is by December. "Our commitment was to finish this project by December 2010, and according to our project schedule, we shall meet the target," Nyirishema said in an exclusive interview in Kigali recently.
He says out of 2,300 km to be built, more than 500 km have been completed.
He says speed has also been scaled up and on average 70-80 km per week are being done which translates into about 300 km per month.
He says the government started with Kigali-Gatuna because it wanted to connect to SEACOM, one of the submarine cables with a landing point in Mombasa Kenya.
Both the government and the telecom operators are negotiating with SEACOM for capacity, despite the fact that two operators Rwandatel and Altech have already connected to the SEACOM via microwave links.
Great atmosphere at Amahoro stadium as Kagame starts campaign
You can feel it in the air.
The atmosphere in Amahoro Stadium, Tuesday 20th 2010, as the RPF (FPR) started their presidential campaign, personified the feelings and emotions of the entire party. By 8 a.m party faithful had already started to stream into the stadium, even though most knew that the event would not begin till well into the afternoon. A sea of white polo’s and T-Shirts blanketed the field and all the stands. The only notable exception to this was the black and blue T-Shirts opposite the VIP area which carefully spelled out “KAGAME PAUL OYE”.
The crowd was young and energetic. They danced and chanted party slogans throughout the commencement, accompanied by famous Rwandan artist including crowd favorites; Kitoko, Ms. Jojo and Dr. Claude to name a few.
The RPF can be described as a determined, focused, and organized party. Tuesday’s event suggests that this mind state permeates to every level of the party. The crowd sang campaign songs, danced and moved between the bleachers with a level of zeal and organization that can be rivaled by few. At no point did the enthusiasm falter not least when H.E Paul Kagame arrived to a hero’s welcome.
Immediately upon arrival, H.E Paul Kagame did a loop around the field in the center shaking hands and waving at the party faithful. He surprised everyone when he decided, impromptu, to climb a metal staircase to greet some of the crowd in the stand.
The whole ambiance of the rally embodied the drive that the RPF epitomizes; organization, energy, confidence and diversity. One of the largest rallies in Rwandan history reflected the enormous changes that have occurred in the last 16 years of RPF rule. The crowds focus and determination to get their candidate elected reflects the strong feeling that RPF has done an effective and diligent job of directing the nation. The party’s candidate, H.E Paul Kagame, promised to continue the progress and development that transpired in the last 16 years, and there was no question who the party cadre wanted to lead their nation. Perhaps the most telling banner of the event was a red “Demokarasi” [Democracy] that hung directly across from the podium where H.E Paul Kagame spoke.
The atmosphere in Amahoro Stadium, Tuesday 20th 2010, as the RPF (FPR) started their presidential campaign, personified the feelings and emotions of the entire party. By 8 a.m party faithful had already started to stream into the stadium, even though most knew that the event would not begin till well into the afternoon. A sea of white polo’s and T-Shirts blanketed the field and all the stands. The only notable exception to this was the black and blue T-Shirts opposite the VIP area which carefully spelled out “KAGAME PAUL OYE”.
The crowd was young and energetic. They danced and chanted party slogans throughout the commencement, accompanied by famous Rwandan artist including crowd favorites; Kitoko, Ms. Jojo and Dr. Claude to name a few.
The RPF can be described as a determined, focused, and organized party. Tuesday’s event suggests that this mind state permeates to every level of the party. The crowd sang campaign songs, danced and moved between the bleachers with a level of zeal and organization that can be rivaled by few. At no point did the enthusiasm falter not least when H.E Paul Kagame arrived to a hero’s welcome.
Immediately upon arrival, H.E Paul Kagame did a loop around the field in the center shaking hands and waving at the party faithful. He surprised everyone when he decided, impromptu, to climb a metal staircase to greet some of the crowd in the stand.
The whole ambiance of the rally embodied the drive that the RPF epitomizes; organization, energy, confidence and diversity. One of the largest rallies in Rwandan history reflected the enormous changes that have occurred in the last 16 years of RPF rule. The crowds focus and determination to get their candidate elected reflects the strong feeling that RPF has done an effective and diligent job of directing the nation. The party’s candidate, H.E Paul Kagame, promised to continue the progress and development that transpired in the last 16 years, and there was no question who the party cadre wanted to lead their nation. Perhaps the most telling banner of the event was a red “Demokarasi” [Democracy] that hung directly across from the podium where H.E Paul Kagame spoke.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Uganda terror attacks will affect us all
We need regional action on Somalia
Little did I know that as Andres Iniesta was scoring his winning goal in what had been an average game of football, the world of Ugandans was being shattered in an unimaginable way. 74 Ugandans are confirmed dead and more are expected to perish, the victims were the young, the vibrant, the future and few even knew who Al-Shabab were. Looking at some of the names of the victims they are Rwandan, this is inevitable given the large Rwandan population in Uganda. So this is something that affects us deeply.
Our president Paul Kagame has long called for regional intervention in Somalia but the fact that we are heavily committed in Darfur means we cannot overstretch. It was left to Uganda and Burundi to intervene, despite frequent promises from other regional countries there has been little support offered in terms of troops. This attack now highlights the need for regional intervention, we have waited for the UN and the AU to handle this but now we see the effects of delay.
When Afghanistan was invaded by NATO forces, Al-Qaeda sought a new haven, another failed state where they could use to incubate their virulent strain of Islamic extremism. We Africans have long seen the war on terror as something distant, something to do with Europeans but now we see it is about us as well. The terrorists hate our way of life, not our skin-tone or our nationality, and they are willing to kill anyone who disagrees with them. It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim or Buddhist or Christian, as long as you do not subscribe to their precise interpretation of Islam, then you are a target.
When Somalia imploded into clan warfare in the post-Siad Barre era, we sat back and did nothing. The Americans intervened briefly and Africans paid the price, the main reason USA refused to intervene in the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 is because they feared “another Somalia.” So we left it to fester, we welcomed refugees from Somalia other than pacify their home state. Now Al-Shabab is exporting their brand of terror regionally. If the West can give East Africa the money and the means, we will gladly pursue these thugs, if only for our own safety. It is our problem now, we cannot deny it anymore.
All our dreams for the East African community are pointless if we have a lawless state on our borders that can act as a haven for terrorists and pirates that hold our exports to ransom. We are creating an East African army, their first assignment should be to move into Somalia and help pacify that nation. It will probably mean more attacks but backing down will only embolden the terrorists. We in Rwanda commiserate with the victims of these attacks, and send our condolences to all Ugandans and Rwandans hurt in this attack. This attack shows the deep links and social responsibility that we have as a region to act together when one nation is in need.
Little did I know that as Andres Iniesta was scoring his winning goal in what had been an average game of football, the world of Ugandans was being shattered in an unimaginable way. 74 Ugandans are confirmed dead and more are expected to perish, the victims were the young, the vibrant, the future and few even knew who Al-Shabab were. Looking at some of the names of the victims they are Rwandan, this is inevitable given the large Rwandan population in Uganda. So this is something that affects us deeply.
Our president Paul Kagame has long called for regional intervention in Somalia but the fact that we are heavily committed in Darfur means we cannot overstretch. It was left to Uganda and Burundi to intervene, despite frequent promises from other regional countries there has been little support offered in terms of troops. This attack now highlights the need for regional intervention, we have waited for the UN and the AU to handle this but now we see the effects of delay.
When Afghanistan was invaded by NATO forces, Al-Qaeda sought a new haven, another failed state where they could use to incubate their virulent strain of Islamic extremism. We Africans have long seen the war on terror as something distant, something to do with Europeans but now we see it is about us as well. The terrorists hate our way of life, not our skin-tone or our nationality, and they are willing to kill anyone who disagrees with them. It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim or Buddhist or Christian, as long as you do not subscribe to their precise interpretation of Islam, then you are a target.
When Somalia imploded into clan warfare in the post-Siad Barre era, we sat back and did nothing. The Americans intervened briefly and Africans paid the price, the main reason USA refused to intervene in the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 is because they feared “another Somalia.” So we left it to fester, we welcomed refugees from Somalia other than pacify their home state. Now Al-Shabab is exporting their brand of terror regionally. If the West can give East Africa the money and the means, we will gladly pursue these thugs, if only for our own safety. It is our problem now, we cannot deny it anymore.
All our dreams for the East African community are pointless if we have a lawless state on our borders that can act as a haven for terrorists and pirates that hold our exports to ransom. We are creating an East African army, their first assignment should be to move into Somalia and help pacify that nation. It will probably mean more attacks but backing down will only embolden the terrorists. We in Rwanda commiserate with the victims of these attacks, and send our condolences to all Ugandans and Rwandans hurt in this attack. This attack shows the deep links and social responsibility that we have as a region to act together when one nation is in need.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Leaving family and genocide behind
“Everybody got along,” said Simon Mudahogora, describing the Rwandan village he grew up in, “It was a poor and peaceful life.” The 26-year-old economics major’s hometown included about 60 of his family members.
Daily life was as simple as it gets: Simon and the other children in his family woke up at 6:30 a.m. and walked a mile to the river to fetch some water for the day. He’d get back, take a cold shower, have his morning tea and bread, and arrive to school at 8:30 ready for class.
For hours, young Simon sat on bench made of dirt, in a room stuffed with 35 students. His family farmed while he was at school.
“That’s the only life I lived. I had no complaints at all,” he said.
In the evening, when the blistering sun cooled down, all the kids got together for a game of soccer — with a slight catch.
“We didn’t even have a ball,” he said. The kids would tie rubber bands around plastic bags and do their best to shape the concoction like a ball. “It was the only sport we could play.”
Though they had far less money and minimal resources, Simon believes that Rwandans prior to the war were happier than Americans are today: “Here, you have to do so much to live a normal life.”
Rwanda was divided primarily into two tribes of people, the Hutu (85 percent of the population) and the Tutsi (15 percent of the population and the group that Simon’s family belonged to). They had a history of war, but at the time, they lived together tranquilly. They were neighbors, they were classmates, and quite often, they were friends.
But that peace Simon described was ruined when the civil war reignited in 1994. Tutsi, who were relocated in Uganda in the first war in 1959, wanted to come back to Rwanda. When the Hutu refused to let them in, the Tutsi in Uganda formed an army and began attempting to penetrate the border.
For Simon’s family, 60 men, women and children in a row of houses, everything began to unravel. Their lives were at stake every waking moment.
Fearing that the Tutsi residing in Rwanda would aid the invaders from Uganda, radio stations in Rwanda began telling Hutu to kill their Tutsi neighbors to prevent this from happening.
Simon’s family had to flee home at night and sleep in the jungles. They didn’t want to be slain in the night like many other Tutsi.
Not a wink of sleep came their way in those thick jungles — they were petrified by the humming of low-hovering military-grade helicopters.
When 6:30 struck, however, life continued regularly: He walked to the river, got water, ate and went to school — even though just the night before, he was silently tucked into an African jungle, wondering if he’d live to see another day.
At school, the Hutu children often told Simon and the three other Tutsi children that they were going to kill them, and that they were going to die soon. When Simon told the teachers, they did nothing about it.
They were Hutu too.
Obviously, during all this, school was the last thing on his mind. His life was threatened 24/7, but his mother never stopped sending him. He remembers being upset, feeling like she didn’t love him, but in retrospect, he understands.
“She was doing what was best for me,” Simon said, “Get over my fear, be a man, you know?”
And boy, did he need that fearlessness.
April 1994 was a rainy month in Rwanda. Not rain like Oregon, but rain like monsoon.
Roadblocks had been set up throughout Rwanda. They were checking IDs and refusing Tutsi access to the roads. Tutsi began fleeing south to the country of Burundi. Simon’s family knew they had to follow suit, but they didn’t know the conditions of the roads, or how difficult the roadblocks were to evade.
They had to send a scout — Simon was elected to do so, but he refused to do it alone, so they agreed to send him with his little sister.
There he was: carrying out a life-or-death stealth operation with his younger sister — before he was even 10 years old.
Sneaking through those farms and fields, avoiding the roads at all costs, he could hear the blood-curdling screams of his people, the infernos blazing their homes and bodies.
Entire families were lined up and impaled by a single stick.
They finally arrived to a friend’s house which was located near the border of Rwanda and Burundi, but his friend informed them that with that the only time to leave was right then and there — there was no chance later. Simon and his sister could either leave with his friend to Burundi right then, or go back home and be stranded for death with his family.
And so, with heavy hearts, he and his sister prepared to leave the country and family they loved so much, thinking that it was unlikely they’d ever see them again — and they were right.
Be sure to check out next week’s In These Eyes for the rest of Simon’s story.
opinion@dailyemerald.com
This is a truly harrowing story but sadly all too common in Rwanda, when you visit the Genocide memorial you realise that these were real people who died and not just a number. We need more stories like this to explain to the world just where Rwanda is coming from and where we are headed, we need to show the world how 800,000 to 1 million died in the most harrowing ways imaginable.
It also puts in context our reconciliation process, right now we are going through a period of negative press in global media. A candidate who recently arrived from exile in Holland, wants to run on an ethnic platform, then she claims that the Hutu majority are being denied their identity and made to feel ashamed of their tribe. In Rwanda we do not allow tribes in politics, people can always hold on to their tribal identity in their own lives but they just can't use them to get elected. You see from this story what the effects of tribal politics
Daily life was as simple as it gets: Simon and the other children in his family woke up at 6:30 a.m. and walked a mile to the river to fetch some water for the day. He’d get back, take a cold shower, have his morning tea and bread, and arrive to school at 8:30 ready for class.
For hours, young Simon sat on bench made of dirt, in a room stuffed with 35 students. His family farmed while he was at school.
“That’s the only life I lived. I had no complaints at all,” he said.
In the evening, when the blistering sun cooled down, all the kids got together for a game of soccer — with a slight catch.
“We didn’t even have a ball,” he said. The kids would tie rubber bands around plastic bags and do their best to shape the concoction like a ball. “It was the only sport we could play.”
Though they had far less money and minimal resources, Simon believes that Rwandans prior to the war were happier than Americans are today: “Here, you have to do so much to live a normal life.”
Rwanda was divided primarily into two tribes of people, the Hutu (85 percent of the population) and the Tutsi (15 percent of the population and the group that Simon’s family belonged to). They had a history of war, but at the time, they lived together tranquilly. They were neighbors, they were classmates, and quite often, they were friends.
But that peace Simon described was ruined when the civil war reignited in 1994. Tutsi, who were relocated in Uganda in the first war in 1959, wanted to come back to Rwanda. When the Hutu refused to let them in, the Tutsi in Uganda formed an army and began attempting to penetrate the border.
For Simon’s family, 60 men, women and children in a row of houses, everything began to unravel. Their lives were at stake every waking moment.
Fearing that the Tutsi residing in Rwanda would aid the invaders from Uganda, radio stations in Rwanda began telling Hutu to kill their Tutsi neighbors to prevent this from happening.
Simon’s family had to flee home at night and sleep in the jungles. They didn’t want to be slain in the night like many other Tutsi.
Not a wink of sleep came their way in those thick jungles — they were petrified by the humming of low-hovering military-grade helicopters.
When 6:30 struck, however, life continued regularly: He walked to the river, got water, ate and went to school — even though just the night before, he was silently tucked into an African jungle, wondering if he’d live to see another day.
At school, the Hutu children often told Simon and the three other Tutsi children that they were going to kill them, and that they were going to die soon. When Simon told the teachers, they did nothing about it.
They were Hutu too.
Obviously, during all this, school was the last thing on his mind. His life was threatened 24/7, but his mother never stopped sending him. He remembers being upset, feeling like she didn’t love him, but in retrospect, he understands.
“She was doing what was best for me,” Simon said, “Get over my fear, be a man, you know?”
And boy, did he need that fearlessness.
April 1994 was a rainy month in Rwanda. Not rain like Oregon, but rain like monsoon.
Roadblocks had been set up throughout Rwanda. They were checking IDs and refusing Tutsi access to the roads. Tutsi began fleeing south to the country of Burundi. Simon’s family knew they had to follow suit, but they didn’t know the conditions of the roads, or how difficult the roadblocks were to evade.
They had to send a scout — Simon was elected to do so, but he refused to do it alone, so they agreed to send him with his little sister.
There he was: carrying out a life-or-death stealth operation with his younger sister — before he was even 10 years old.
Sneaking through those farms and fields, avoiding the roads at all costs, he could hear the blood-curdling screams of his people, the infernos blazing their homes and bodies.
Entire families were lined up and impaled by a single stick.
They finally arrived to a friend’s house which was located near the border of Rwanda and Burundi, but his friend informed them that with that the only time to leave was right then and there — there was no chance later. Simon and his sister could either leave with his friend to Burundi right then, or go back home and be stranded for death with his family.
And so, with heavy hearts, he and his sister prepared to leave the country and family they loved so much, thinking that it was unlikely they’d ever see them again — and they were right.
Be sure to check out next week’s In These Eyes for the rest of Simon’s story.
opinion@dailyemerald.com
This is a truly harrowing story but sadly all too common in Rwanda, when you visit the Genocide memorial you realise that these were real people who died and not just a number. We need more stories like this to explain to the world just where Rwanda is coming from and where we are headed, we need to show the world how 800,000 to 1 million died in the most harrowing ways imaginable.
It also puts in context our reconciliation process, right now we are going through a period of negative press in global media. A candidate who recently arrived from exile in Holland, wants to run on an ethnic platform, then she claims that the Hutu majority are being denied their identity and made to feel ashamed of their tribe. In Rwanda we do not allow tribes in politics, people can always hold on to their tribal identity in their own lives but they just can't use them to get elected. You see from this story what the effects of tribal politics
THE MANY FACES OF PETER ERLINDER
Peter Erlinder is a man of many faces, I can never seem to understand how he oscillates between opinions. His latest opinion is that the Rwanda government wanted him dead and wanted him to disappear. He claims that the details of his flight were altered to make it look like he had left the country but it was only the vigilance of global followers that helped him escape. Now I must state that the Rwandan government would not kill an American citizen who was on the cover of every global media outlet, that is wishful thinking on the part of Erlinder.
In a recent radio interview with VOA on the Straight Talk show with Shaka Ssali, Erlinder claimed he was held in humane conditions and even claimed he had nothing to hold against his jailers. He even admitted he was given preferential treatment in that he was held in a cell that sometimes houses 30 prisoners, he even said his guards helped him by going to the shops to buy him food. Naturally, he disputed the charges he was held on but never claimed the system was out to kill him. He is starting to turn his story into a spy thriller, with himself cast as a hero in the Jack Bauer mould.
Erlinder also denies ever denying the genocide, I admit that the case could have been handled better by the Rwandan government and I wish the case had gone ahead. It is easy to see this as a giant government picking on a misguided but vehement lawyer, but think of it from a survivor’s perspective. Imagine a person who watched their family hacked to death in front of their own eyes, this person knew that local officials had drawn up lists to systematically kill a whole section of society. Then an American lawyer comes along from Minnesota who was never there at the time, but claims to know better than the witness who saw his family killed.
I understand that every suspect deserves a fair trial and a defence attorney but Erlinder went beyond being just a defence attorney to become an activist, he now identifies so personally with his clients that he wants to alter history to absolve them. I don’t understand how someone can defend mass-murderers, rapists, paedophiles, cut-throats and psychotic killers and ends up identifying with them. The genocide of the Tutsi in 1994 is not a myth, there are some 300,000 survivors that will tell you that, there are some 200,000 convicted killers that will tell you that. It doesn’t matter what evidence a court produces, fact is fact.
Another claim of Erlinder is that we need a truth and reconciliation committee in Rwanda, we have had them but in the form of Gacaca courts. One has to remember that these courts had to administer not just punitive justice but restorative justice, victims had to be heard, killers had to be heard, witnesses had to be heard. The fact that the genocide took place in every village in every district in Rwanda meant that we needed truth and reconciliation in every village. People compare Rwanda with South Africa, but the total victims of the apartheid government numbered some 3,000 activists and no more than 10,000 extra-judicial killing but Rwanda had some 937,000 victims. People should learn the facts about the Genocide before they go defending or sympathising with killers and defenders of killers.
In a recent radio interview with VOA on the Straight Talk show with Shaka Ssali, Erlinder claimed he was held in humane conditions and even claimed he had nothing to hold against his jailers. He even admitted he was given preferential treatment in that he was held in a cell that sometimes houses 30 prisoners, he even said his guards helped him by going to the shops to buy him food. Naturally, he disputed the charges he was held on but never claimed the system was out to kill him. He is starting to turn his story into a spy thriller, with himself cast as a hero in the Jack Bauer mould.
Erlinder also denies ever denying the genocide, I admit that the case could have been handled better by the Rwandan government and I wish the case had gone ahead. It is easy to see this as a giant government picking on a misguided but vehement lawyer, but think of it from a survivor’s perspective. Imagine a person who watched their family hacked to death in front of their own eyes, this person knew that local officials had drawn up lists to systematically kill a whole section of society. Then an American lawyer comes along from Minnesota who was never there at the time, but claims to know better than the witness who saw his family killed.
I understand that every suspect deserves a fair trial and a defence attorney but Erlinder went beyond being just a defence attorney to become an activist, he now identifies so personally with his clients that he wants to alter history to absolve them. I don’t understand how someone can defend mass-murderers, rapists, paedophiles, cut-throats and psychotic killers and ends up identifying with them. The genocide of the Tutsi in 1994 is not a myth, there are some 300,000 survivors that will tell you that, there are some 200,000 convicted killers that will tell you that. It doesn’t matter what evidence a court produces, fact is fact.
Another claim of Erlinder is that we need a truth and reconciliation committee in Rwanda, we have had them but in the form of Gacaca courts. One has to remember that these courts had to administer not just punitive justice but restorative justice, victims had to be heard, killers had to be heard, witnesses had to be heard. The fact that the genocide took place in every village in every district in Rwanda meant that we needed truth and reconciliation in every village. People compare Rwanda with South Africa, but the total victims of the apartheid government numbered some 3,000 activists and no more than 10,000 extra-judicial killing but Rwanda had some 937,000 victims. People should learn the facts about the Genocide before they go defending or sympathising with killers and defenders of killers.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Rwanda and the PR war
For a country renowned for its remarkable upturn in just a decade and a half, and used to favorable media coverage and praise by world leaders, authorities now find themselves on the defensive, overwhelmed by negative publicity, arising from a series of recent events.
As is often the case with election period in third world countries, we are made to believe that no election can come to pass without incidence and Rwanda comes as no exception. The effect of all this is that a climate of fear, tension and uncertainty have now been unduly flung on this rising nation, with fault lines coming easy on the upcoming polls.
It therefore comes as no surprise that reporting on recent events, including the attempted murder of a dissident general, the killing of a suspended newspaper editor and the arrest of an American lawyer, have all been slanted towards repression ahead of elections.
While it is natural to raise suspicion when protagonists such as individuals in this narrative, face problems, the tilt in angle with which media outlets and critics have reacted to or respond to breaking stories in Rwanda today amounts to alarm mongering.
When news broke that an attempt had been made on the general’s life at an upscale Johannesburg suburb, most people including his wife, were quick to point an accusing finger at the government of Rwanda, which issued a prompt denial.
Stories abound that suspects arrested shortly after were Rwandans, sent by the state to finish off the general, who stands accused of among other crimes, being behind a spate of grenade attacks that rocked the country early, this year. Conspicuously, the media has chosen to follow one lead; the possibility of Rwanda being behind the attack with slant. It is common knowledge that South Africa has one of the world’s high crime rates and that Johannesburg is its crime capital. Popular musician, Lucky Dube, is perhaps one of the common high profile victims who was gunned down about four years ago.
Only a police probe into the incident may ever tell the circumstances why the gunman did not demand any valuables. But in the court of public opinion where the international media has become de facto prosecution and judge, Rwanda has automatically and conclusively been the villain behind this “operation.”
Although none of the four suspects charged in the case are of Rwandan nationals, conspiracy theorists refuse to take it. A blogger with regular appearance on western tv channels last week added a sensational twist to the incident – that the general’s woes arose out of clash of clans (pun not intended) within the ruling RPF party. Suffice to say that both the general and President Paul Kagame come from the same clan. It is a tantalizing new tale of fiction, but does this fall out have any bearing to upcoming elections?
Another incident that has been deceitfully associated with the impending elections is the shooting to death of a recently suspended local newspaper journalist and the arrest of an American lawyer. I contest the notion that the journo was killed while investigating the general’s attempted murder, owing to circumstances surrounding the victim, shortly before he met his demise. For his exiled editor and the news hounds unwilling to investigate further, the easy target, of course, is the state!
While I sympathise with the journo’s family and the media fraternity over an attack on our own, I find it strange that he could be targeted, given his life as a cocktail of characters; an ex-soldier in the genocide regime, is integrated in the new RPA (now RDF), becomes a journalist, is tried and prosecuted over murder of a banker, serves three years for the same but acquitted for insufficient evidence, re-joins a recently suspended publication…then meets his killers.
It now emerges that one of his supposed killers has confessed to Police that he killed the victim to get even, claiming the journo had killed his (suspect’s) brother during the genocide. The arrest and arraignment in court of an American lawyer early last month was another long media tale with false facts and dramatic exposé.
Rather than dwell on real facts, involving Prof. Erlinder’s long campaign of genocide denial, distorting facts and hosting known genocide suspects on the run in Europe, foreign media cleverly claimed he had been incarcerated for trying to help an opposition presidential hopeful, who has been charged with a similar case.
It is the same case, of genocide denial and the prospect of new divisive brand of politics that the Electoral Commission denied Victoire Ingabire her dream opportunity to contest for the highest office in the country. On his part, the good lawyer has, since his release, given interviews and this time, he denies he ever denied that genocide occurred in Rwanda but that both sides suffered in equal measure. His trial waits.
There was also the suspension of critical publications too. I can not envisage any country that would tolerate any media house preaching hate in this era. Yet this is what happened in Rwanda, with a measure of restraint for years before a clampdown on unprofessional media houses was launched. I believe the state did not adequately explain the circumstances of suspending the said publications – namely; inciting the army against the state, or publishing images of any head of state side-by-side with Hitler and his infamous Nazi emblem.
That election time is around the corner is by no means reason that people are not held for their actions. Impunity is a deplorable act which other countries would better emulate from Rwanda.
As is often the case with election period in third world countries, we are made to believe that no election can come to pass without incidence and Rwanda comes as no exception. The effect of all this is that a climate of fear, tension and uncertainty have now been unduly flung on this rising nation, with fault lines coming easy on the upcoming polls.
It therefore comes as no surprise that reporting on recent events, including the attempted murder of a dissident general, the killing of a suspended newspaper editor and the arrest of an American lawyer, have all been slanted towards repression ahead of elections.
While it is natural to raise suspicion when protagonists such as individuals in this narrative, face problems, the tilt in angle with which media outlets and critics have reacted to or respond to breaking stories in Rwanda today amounts to alarm mongering.
When news broke that an attempt had been made on the general’s life at an upscale Johannesburg suburb, most people including his wife, were quick to point an accusing finger at the government of Rwanda, which issued a prompt denial.
Stories abound that suspects arrested shortly after were Rwandans, sent by the state to finish off the general, who stands accused of among other crimes, being behind a spate of grenade attacks that rocked the country early, this year. Conspicuously, the media has chosen to follow one lead; the possibility of Rwanda being behind the attack with slant. It is common knowledge that South Africa has one of the world’s high crime rates and that Johannesburg is its crime capital. Popular musician, Lucky Dube, is perhaps one of the common high profile victims who was gunned down about four years ago.
Only a police probe into the incident may ever tell the circumstances why the gunman did not demand any valuables. But in the court of public opinion where the international media has become de facto prosecution and judge, Rwanda has automatically and conclusively been the villain behind this “operation.”
Although none of the four suspects charged in the case are of Rwandan nationals, conspiracy theorists refuse to take it. A blogger with regular appearance on western tv channels last week added a sensational twist to the incident – that the general’s woes arose out of clash of clans (pun not intended) within the ruling RPF party. Suffice to say that both the general and President Paul Kagame come from the same clan. It is a tantalizing new tale of fiction, but does this fall out have any bearing to upcoming elections?
Another incident that has been deceitfully associated with the impending elections is the shooting to death of a recently suspended local newspaper journalist and the arrest of an American lawyer. I contest the notion that the journo was killed while investigating the general’s attempted murder, owing to circumstances surrounding the victim, shortly before he met his demise. For his exiled editor and the news hounds unwilling to investigate further, the easy target, of course, is the state!
While I sympathise with the journo’s family and the media fraternity over an attack on our own, I find it strange that he could be targeted, given his life as a cocktail of characters; an ex-soldier in the genocide regime, is integrated in the new RPA (now RDF), becomes a journalist, is tried and prosecuted over murder of a banker, serves three years for the same but acquitted for insufficient evidence, re-joins a recently suspended publication…then meets his killers.
It now emerges that one of his supposed killers has confessed to Police that he killed the victim to get even, claiming the journo had killed his (suspect’s) brother during the genocide. The arrest and arraignment in court of an American lawyer early last month was another long media tale with false facts and dramatic exposé.
Rather than dwell on real facts, involving Prof. Erlinder’s long campaign of genocide denial, distorting facts and hosting known genocide suspects on the run in Europe, foreign media cleverly claimed he had been incarcerated for trying to help an opposition presidential hopeful, who has been charged with a similar case.
It is the same case, of genocide denial and the prospect of new divisive brand of politics that the Electoral Commission denied Victoire Ingabire her dream opportunity to contest for the highest office in the country. On his part, the good lawyer has, since his release, given interviews and this time, he denies he ever denied that genocide occurred in Rwanda but that both sides suffered in equal measure. His trial waits.
There was also the suspension of critical publications too. I can not envisage any country that would tolerate any media house preaching hate in this era. Yet this is what happened in Rwanda, with a measure of restraint for years before a clampdown on unprofessional media houses was launched. I believe the state did not adequately explain the circumstances of suspending the said publications – namely; inciting the army against the state, or publishing images of any head of state side-by-side with Hitler and his infamous Nazi emblem.
That election time is around the corner is by no means reason that people are not held for their actions. Impunity is a deplorable act which other countries would better emulate from Rwanda.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Of barking dogs, trains and treason
 |  |  |
Former US President Ronald Reagan famously divided the world into good and bad guys. This is, of course, only part of the picture.
The majority of the world’s population are neither one or the other. They are indifferent. Reagan was correct in one sense, though.
The good guys and the bad ones play a disproportionate role in the world. But even these play their role differently. The good guys do their bit quietly, without fuss. The bad ones (Reagan called them evil) are quite vociferous. They want to influence events by the sheer weight of their noise and the amount of venom in their views. .
Rwanda has had the experience of these two types..On July 4th the country awarded medals to some of the good guys for their contribution to the liberation of Rwanda and for their continued support of her development.
In characteristic fashion, the people recognised for their contribution sought to downplay their role, giving the credit to Rwandans instead. President Paul Kagame remarked that their self-effacing modesty was a result of the recognition that they were doing what was expected of any decent human being.
That is the distinguishing feature of good people. They do whatever is necessary to improve the human condition without demanding or expecting credit for it.
On the same July 4th the country also celebrated the defeat of the bad guys. Their supporters, however, remain active (at least in terms of the din they make) in the hope that they can derail the progress Rwandans have made in the last sixteen years.
Talking about derailment, President Kagame had a very apt remark for the association of evil drummers. Asked by journalists whether he was not concerned by the increasing cacophony from individuals and groups opposed to his government, he retorted: a dog will bark at a moving train, but will not stop the train by its barking.
He could have added, but did not, (he left that to people’s common sense) that it is common for dogs to run in a pack and bark at a moving train or other vehicle until they tire and stop.
They will wait for the next train and repeat their running and barking all over again. All the while the train chugs along unaffected by the noise of a single dog or a pack of them. The dogs, too, never seem to learn about the futility of their action.
Of course, all this is amusing to the passengers on the train. They laugh at the foolishness and waste of energy and time by man’s best friend. A few of them are moved to pity and wish that all that energy would be used more profitably.
The Rwandan train is moving ahead, chugging along very nicely, the discordant noise from outside regardless. Rwandans on the train are amused, but not distracted, by the noise. Instead they are happy to work to make the train profitable.
Still the noise remains. The latest addition is the voice of Vincent Magombe. Writing in The Independent on July 2nd , Dr Magombe, supposedly an expert on African affairs, said the problems in Rwanda today can be explained by a power struggle between two Rwandan clans that were reported to have held power in pre-colonial Rwanda. The same power struggle has now resurfaced according to Magombe’s analysis.
How he comes to this conclusion is not clear. Clan politics in Rwanda at this point? It seems he must have stumbled upon some account of 19th century Rwandan history as he wandered through the archives in London looking for something that would make him relevant.
He must have read something about clans and power in the Rwanda of more than a hundred years ago and lifted it to explain the country today. And on the basis of this “discovery” he predicts doom for Rwanda.
The prediction seems to me to be more a projection of his dark intentions than a realistic assessment of the situation in Rwanda today.He is not alone. He is part of a group of so-called African intellectuals who make it their business to run down the countries they left for whatever reason.
Another one is Terkastan (she of the forged signatures fame. Remember her?), allegedly a human rights activist and “expert” on Rwanda. She is now the chief cheerleader of all those making the loudest noise about Rwanda’s sins. She has done one decent thing – let the mask of human rights fall and revealed her true colours. And reader, they are not very attractive.
In the midst of all the noise, there was a whiff of treason in the air. Our leading dissidents (this is how they are touted by the the noisy groups and handlers) have found solace in words of comfort and commiseration from foreign security agencies.
They have got more – information on government to government communication. Are these coincidences? There may have been other contacts even before the fugitives (that’s what they really are) fled from justice as was suggested at the president’s last press conference.
On a lighter note, a combination of barking dogs and trains that they will not stop, and treason are so intriguing a Hillywood film maker might find them suitable material for a thriller. Natives of this hilly land may then get wonderful relief from their otherwise serious business of getting the train to its destination.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
The dangers of tribal politics in Rwanda
Beware when politicians unite in Kenya
There was a rare showing of bipartisanism in Kenya as politicians who are normally bitterly opposed to each other voted themselves a massive pay rise to make themselves one of the highest paid politicians in the world. This came as no surprise to many Kenyans who are used to their politicians and their endless intrigues. Some see it a wrong that in a country where many live on a dollar a day to give out such lavish salaries. Raila Odinga, the Prime minister and Uhuru Kenyatta, the finance minister have both vowed to block it even if it is approved by cabinet.
I have spent the last weekend with Kenyan and Ugandan journalists here to cover the Liberation day celebrations. I spent most of my time warning them of the effects of impunity and tribal politics, both of which are rife in their countries. Kenyan MP’s have been exempt from tax, a panel that was reviewing the overall pay of MP’s recommended that they start to pay tax, this meant that the MP’s pre-empted this move by giving themselves a massive pay-rise in line with this tax of 25%. The MP’s complained that most of this salary goes on charity projects as many voters expect money from MP’s, which I found implausible.
In Kenya, they hoped that giving higher salaries would make MP’s less corrupt but that has not worked. On top of their massive salaries, the MP’s have Constituency Development Funds (CDF’s) that amount to millions of dollars without much oversight and accountability. This impunity often stems from the way in which MP’s are elected along tribal lines. To challenge a corrupt MP is seen as a challenge to his/her whole tribal bloc, so little is done even though it is the MP’s own tribal bloc that is suffering.
It was very hard to explain to people from Kenya and Uganda, less so Tanzania because tribalism was almost abolished by Ujama, but in Uganda and Kenya tribalism is so deeply ingrained in the mindset. Indeed a tribe goes so deep into personal identity that one cannot separate it from politics. A Kenyan friend of mine claims to absolutely love Raila Odinga but cannot vote for him for tribal reasons. That is a tragedy because his mind is warped by prejudice even though his heart loves Odinga.
I was once told a saying “if politics is a mountain, then tribalism is like a helicopter.” Indeed, what would take a politician years to do the right way like; define policy, build a powerbase, form coalitions, lobby for legislation, fund-raise to campaign and so many other things can simply be bypassed by taking the tribal route. Suddenly you have a ready powerbase, you are insulated from accountability, you are entitled to funds from your tribe, and your vote in parliament is up for sale. If we allowed the likes of Victoire Ingabire to be voted in on tribal grounds, it would be the end of Rwanda as we know it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)