Squabbling, Backbiting and Divisions of Rwanda Political Parties Let Down Rwandans.

 

 

The Price of disunity of Rwanda opposition political parties operating outside the country will not only cost them dearly but will also significantly deny Rwandans a choice of the leadership they cherish and deserve at this critical moment.

Rwanda’s democracy movement needs some serious soul-searching if it wants to secure its aims. In all these years, Rwanda Opposition political parties operating outside Rwanda have not lived up to their expectations. It’s time to ask what they have achieved in those years, as many will be celebrating almost their Two decades birth day. Are they any nearer now to their goals?

The current turbulence in the coalition of CPC and other opposition political parties cast doubt on whether they really stand firm to guard against any weather from Kagame who is not only a cunning and deceitful president  but has a multitude of powerful supporters and lobbying organization that is protected by strong weather guards.

For answers, one only needs to look at the fate of veteran opposition leader Mr. Twagiramungu Faustin who has changed political parties since 1990.  It is estimated that more than 20 opposition political parties have mushroomed since then, both within the country and outside .Even in the days of bloodshed during genocide and massacre of many innocent Rwandans opposition political parties failed Rwandans for selfish reasons. And where are they now?

In Rwanda many politicians who are brave enough to ask RPF and Kagame the direction of where he is steering the country have ended up in Prison, among them is Victoire Ingabire whose party has been divided since she was arrested despite the sacrifice she made to go and face the monstrous regime of Kagame.

Mr. Deo Mushayid of PDP Imanzi is serving life imprisonment yet his party has not moved a stride that befits the price Mr. Deo Mushayid paid for facing Kagame’s brutality. The RNC needs to move another walk to bring on board all its former members who left their party for different reasons. Whereas it is a right for anybody to choose a political party of belonging, it should also be a serious concern for a political party to lose members in unclear circumstances.

As many opposition politicians are rotting in the most notorious jails of President Kagame, so are many people suffering from abject poverty. They are being taxed for even their small land which is as barren as Sahara desert. Why in the first place should a person pay tax for the land he /she use for subsistence farming?

Why should a person pay tax for his own domestic house?  Many Rwandans cannot afford all those taxes especially in the rural areas where agriculture is the survival.  Why should you tax a person who operates a business whose capital is not worth 100,000 FWR?

The Gacaca courts left untold suffering of unfair and wrong convictions, yet these courts were closed with a promise of a new law that will give a window of appeal to the affected people. They have never been allowed to make these appeals as the law that closed Gacaca courts stipulates.  Because the RPF government as deceitful as always , they convinced the whole world how successful Gacaca Courts were, they then feared not only a flood gate of appeals but also an embarrassment of miscarriage of Justice  exhibited by these courts.

Again, the suffocation of the free press, freedom of assembly, the continued incarceration, and killings of innocent people, education has become a luxury rather than a necessity; it’s a privilege rather than a right. Indeed, those who cannot afford money for medical insurances, the RPF officials have confiscated their property, yet Kagame deceives the world that medical insurance is free.

Kagame and RPF have doctored the statistics regarding the development index and people in the villages are intimidated or coerced to tell the foreign vistors that everything is well.  All the streets of Kigali and other towns are spotless of beggars and other small business of hawkers. The picture of the Rwanda to foreigners is different from the reality of our own people who cannot even get a meal for a single day.

These are the really needs of many Rwandans irrespective of their background whether Hutus, Tutsi or Twas, the common none issues that have pre- occupied our opposition political parties is the real cause Kagame is still in power today. As I have mentioned above, it’s almost 20 years under Kagame authoritarian and militarism rule, yet the aim of dislodging Kagame by opposition seems as elusive as ever. But why?

It’s no longer a question of the inability or an incapable RPF to run the country or its ruthless repression of its own people. Nor is it a question of the failure by the international community to put sanctions against the Kagame regime. Perhaps counting years is not long enough for fundamental change to occur in a country ruled by a repressive regime, even though it seems like an eternity for dissidents who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of democracy. Many believe it’s time for serious soul searching, which could lead to a new impetus.

I think our politicians are naïve and no more than activists, they are even less active than activists. They don’t know how to take power and they have no strategic policies. That’s why many have failed to work with the veteran politician Mr. Twagiramungu Faustin, for those who could remember the days of 1990s, if he had not been Mr. Twagiramungu, it would have been difficult for the RPF to infiltrate the Habyarimana regime. Yet many political leaders we see today just follow the people, they don’t lead the people.

Never in our history did we have such an excellent mobiliser but also controversial political figure, such as Mr. Twagiramungu Faustin,. But sadly, those qualities have failed to grab any opportunity for power.  Therefore politicians should learn to see and grab a window of opportunity at the right moment because such windows cannot not stay open for long or forever. President Kagame is at his weakest link, this is an opportunity for all the political parties to put aside their differences and put the interests of Rwandans first.

Unfortunately, many influential politicians have chosen to follow their own path, ignoring unity. If they could unite, I’m sure the story might turn out differently. Unity is the one thing that strikes fear in the heart of any authoritarian government. It is the most effective weapon Rwanda’s pro-democracy forces could hope to wield, yet it has never come within their grasp. The lack of unity continues to provide room for the authoritarian, military regime of Kagame.

Noble Marara