Paul Rusesabagina‘s arrest has caused quite a media frenzy. Many have taken to social media to accuse Dubai of being complicit to kidnaping. How wrong they are!

What we have here is really a simple tale of an unraveling friendship. Rusesabagina was double-crossed, he was played like a fiddle. He was betrayed by his once dear friend president Edgar Lungu of Zambia, who after being ousted as having put money into Rusesabagina’s military wing, was made to understand through different diplomatic channels that it was better to have Kagame as a friend than an enemy.

As I was made to understand, the agreement to hand over Rusesabagina was allegedly reached during his latest Foreign secretary’s courtesy call to the presidency of Rwanda.

In Dubai, Rusesabagina boarded a private jet that he believed to be taking him to meet his “ friend “, the president of Zambia unaware that the pilot was instructed to take him to Kigali.

As simple as that .” Alipanda munzenze bila habari”.

When the going gets tough, the powerful stick together.

This should be another lesson for Kagame’s opposition. 

If the youth must die for the old men declaring war,  our would-be “opposition” commanders should ask themselves if their wars have reasonable cause, if they can be fought, who will fight them and if and how they can be won.

Fighting dictatorship, and fighting a leader who is more like a gangster with presidential immunity, a personal army, and more money than he knows what to do with is not something to venture into like one would a national geographic adventure.

Times have changed. Capitalism and its merciless low blows have caught up to us in Africa and whatever changes needed in our young republic will have to take all that into account.

Noble Marara