In Summary

The Excesses of People with Lost Values and Meaning, in the United Kingdom Rwandese organised a disguised show off family party, met with their children to listen to the ambassador of Rwanda and his wife celebrating the 20 years they have been in power.

Agood friend of Nkurunziza and his wife Leonia posing for a photo

Recently the Rwandan High Commissioner in UK organised a disguised ‘show-off’ family party in the name of “Celebrating 20 Years of RPF Rule”.  This was on the ‘night’ of 12th July 2014 to the early early morning of 13th July 2014.  Little did the levellers know that like his boss President Paul Kagame, High Commissioner Emmanuel  Nkurunziza aka Rucikyuma has also turned the High Commission and it’s social events into a family affair.  The old Rwandan adage, “Umwera uturuka ibukuru …”, couldn’t be better relevant in this situation.  Can you imagine a UK ambassador using tax payers money to celebrate the victory of a sitting Conservative or Labour government.  The aftermath of this absurd event is promising to be brewing into a ‘good’ debacle for the touring Rucikyuma family.

As usual we responded to the numerous calls of our suspecting community members to investigate the object of the event and set our ears to the ground to capture the behind the scenes dynamics of the event.   As with many events this pompous High Commissioner has been involved in here in UK, this was also full of unbelievable blunders driven by egoistic traits he can’t help to exhibit.  From the planning, the venue, the times for the event (unsocial hours for families), invited guests, sitting arrangements, behaviour of his ‘excited’ wife, and many other issues surrounding that event, it all had hallmarks of a facade of a community celebration that only brought nostalgic memories of High Commissioner Ernest Rwamucyo, a community person albeit mistakes he made due to pressures from Rwandan junta DMI agents.

One would think that an event of such a meaning and stature, judging from what RPF’s PR machinery had envisaged to achieve from it would be planned meticulously.  This would mean involving all community leaders across UK and all the High Commission’s ‘machinery’, the fire fighting Mr. Pomp Rucikyuma has created between Rwandese Communities across UK and within the team in the Commission not withstanding,  I am not for a minute endorsing the misuse of the meagre tax payers money to celebrate or rejoice the slaughter of our people during the war, the genocide and after the genocide in displaced people’s refugee camps in the name of victory for a sitting junta.  One would have expected the usual protocols for organising such PR community gatherings to prevail.  However, Mr Pomp wasn’t having any of that.  He ignored the community leaders and ‘his’ staff and went ahead to plan, hire the venue and invite guests himself.  He only summoned some of the community leaders to give them orders on how he wanted things to be.  No wander there was no single guest from our sister EAC countries because of the way they ridicule the Pompous ways of our Tourist, in a commissioner we have.  Some community leaders reiterated by rejecting his orders outright reminding him that they are elected but were never appointed by him, As for ‘his’ staff or would be colleagues at the Commission, he treats them as his servants and thinks they are not worth involving.  He is the master and they are the servants, period.

This lack of involving others as one would expect led to the shambles the event became.  Many notable elders who played a big role in galvanising the RPF struggle here in UK during the tight times of the struggle and thereafter did not attend.  Some of them gave reasons on the lines that they cannot stand the ‘Ka man’s’ contempt and pomp while others questioned the wisdom of putting the event in a very unsocial and un-family (those with children) hours.  Most levellers, like is this case nowadays, shied away from the refreshments provided, in case they are baptised with “UTUZI TWA DAN MUNYUZA”.  Openly getting refreshments from outside  They all referred to the July 2010 event at Camden Irish Centre that was a true reflection of what “Umulyango” should arrange.  A bit nostalgic here, isn’t it?

The High Commissioner ended up sitting alone with the few elders that had come, out of the desire to “kurwana ishaka” (the BOXER mentality in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’) sitting far from him.  His staff (the supposed colleagues) or ‘servants’, according to his perception, were standing in corners with fallen shoulders and stone faces.  They, Commission Staff, would only smile will engaging with levellers from the community.  I should here commend particularly Diplomats Linda Karimba and her Husband, and Jimmy Uwizeye for the way they handled themselves and mixed with levellers despite the visible nightmare of an attitude their boss and wife was unleashing onto them.  Thanks for keeping and maintains your dignity guys.  “Ishamba si lyeru.”  You could certainly notice the coldness between this group of diplomats we have in UK representing Rwanda.  It left me wondering how they manage to share an office day in day out.  No wonder their main master Paul Kagame and the junta is fast losing Britain and every one here is starting to accept the inevitable, that contrary to the massive PR machine, RPF government is a joke and Pariah government.

“You harvest what you sow”.  They took the sell of genocide far to long and thought they would always go away with murder of its citizen, torture, deceit or pomp based on NO substance.  ‘Itsinzi’ after the slaughter of thousands of both Tutsis and Moderate Hutus let alone the continuing killings thereafter?  Instead of supporting the Rwandan citizenry to grieve their loss in Genocide and other war crimes meted on them, RPF machinery with its so called ‘political elites’ like the pompous tourist, Rucikyuma, who runs the PR show here in UK exploit this grief to the disgust of many.  His only substance apparently is being a good orator, indeed ‘a fine tuned loud speaker’.  Can you imagine celebrating Twenty Years of RPF victory here in UK without even taking a few minutes to recognise many RPF supporters and volunteers in UK during the 1990 to 1994 struggle?  What was the role of this pompous tourist during this struggle? I bet like many junta agents like him it is stands for an interesting reflection.

As levellers were still contemplating the absence of any of our sister EAC countries’ diplomats, they noticed the uneasy the few diplomats from a few West African countries present manifested.  One of these diplomats was over-heard asking why the EAC counter parts had boycotted the event.  Little did they know that despite all the diplomatic gloss, beyond the veneer of the gloss there is no comradeship due to the arrogance and egoistic ways of the Rwandan Junta, that is trying to break up their dear Community Bloc, and it’s excessive Rep here.  Of course most Rwandans use any opportunity to meet, even if the free talk is curtailed.  Others do this out of ignorance or excitement of linking up with fellow country men and women.  While others just come for the sole purpose of bowing to pressure and  fear.  The majority though just attend such functions out of denial that their “beloved” RPF struggle, something they invested a lot in, has been hijacked like the Pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm hijacked the animals struggle in his story.  Abandi nabo nabashungeleze gusa bashungela the RPF historicals here.

As things turned into a fiasco, with underlying tensions surfacing, some of the would be dignified individuals lost their rug and let it loose to the astonishment of the few elderly observers among the levellers.  Most notable was the wild dance strokes that culminated in snogging on the floor by our ‘dignitaries’ the tourists, even forgetting that shoes serve a purpose.  They throw away their shoes, pulled anyone they came across to dance with and eventually snogged on the dance floor like 14 or 16 year olds.  In short the “Amalo” inherent in their attitude took the better of them.  One visiting elderly woman, here due to a misfortune that befell their family last year, looked shocked and in disbelief continually questioning the cultural values of the would be Champion for Rwandan ‘Agaciro’ here.  Other were having a hey day stating that their rejection of the orders from the Pompous family were justified after that public display of what they termed “Amalo”.

More interesting though is the aftermath of the fiasco.  Feeling wounded and exposed, Rucikyuma immediately promised himself to not let it lying.  He quickly rallied his ‘informal’ community leaders group chaired by one of his earlier chosen or appointed overall chair in John Binama, an idea which after pressure led by Jimmy Uwizeye in an earlier clandestine meeting was put on hold, to quickly meet and hatch a plan to formalise his ‘informal’ group.  Under pressure John at the behest of Rucikyuma convened an urgent meeting at his home in Reading last Sunday to implement the hatched plan.  Little does John or his master know that as a carer he is bound by some rules and policies regarding what he does within or how he relates to the community.  The Pin carers are given is conditional to being clean of any misdeeds in any community.  One wonders how an informed lad like John can bow to pressure from a tourist who is abusing the diplomatic immunity.  Does he and his co-conspirers remember the story of the chap in Sweden who was deported after he served his prison sentence for conspiring with the Rwandan Junta agents to break the law and abuse the hospitality Sweden had extend to him?  What did the diplomat who used him do stop that?  Indeed our memories are shallow.

I think we need to respect the freedom this host country provides and be reminded that in return the minimum we should give is respect for the laws of the land.  Diplomats have a fall back in immunity (they will deported) but for most of the individuals who are being used to wreck havoc, real or perceived, to our community on the orders of the junta, be warned that the eyes of “The Real Big Brother” who has the responsibility to protect our communities here is scanning this space.  Ask the guys who have gone to join ISIS. They have all been scanned and you won’t be the exception.  This is a land of democracy and freedom of expression but also where law and order is paramount.  Please feed your families with clean hands and emancipate yourselves from servitude by the Rwandan junta and their agent Mr Pomp.  He is just on ‘tour’ of duty, hence a tourist, and not British!!!!!