Rwanda’s paranoia to Belgium might have been the catalyst for President Kagame to lose his temper on Thursday and storm out of UN meeting which was called to break a stalemate over the Congo conflict after he was reportedly challenged by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Didier Reynders over the Rwandan support to the rebel group M23.

While president Kabila had made a cautious speech probably not to ignite Kagame’s anger since he knows him very well and it is believed the UN Secretary General had hoped for a unanimous condemnation of the Rwandan involvement in Congo when in undiplomatic and a sign of arrogance and disrespect Kagame left his counterparts in the meeting room and his delegation in a diplomatic row. Kagame’s delegation was left in a political conundrum unable to explain convincingly the other UN members the reason for the departure of their boss from the meeting which was meant to solve not only Congo conflict but also to give Rwanda a chance to clear her name.

The Rwandan Head of State is used to search anti-social behaviour in his own country and his subjects are used to that, once his is angry, he can do anything, but what is unusual is for a Head of State let alone Kagame to do such unbecoming of a Head of State in a foreign country. One of the RPF veterans who requested to remain anonymous told me that Kagame in 1995 who was then Vice President and Minister of Defense walked out of a cabinet meeting chaired by the then President Pasteur Bizimungu when he was confronted by his colleague the then Minister of internal affairs Seth Sendashonga on insecurity in the country.

President Bizimungu requested the then vice president to return to the meeting, Kagame refused and instead ordered President Bizimungu to make a cabinet reshuffle in which Minister Seth Sendashonga was dropped. The many questions on the lips of political analysts are, what did President Kagame wanted to achieve? Does he really know how international community operates? Did he seek advice from his Attorney General on the legal implications of Rwanda being accused of supporting, aiding, abetting a rebel group that has committed crimes against humanity?

What the President of Rwanda does not know is that his dramatic behaviour was still not enough to stop the international community from accusing him and his government of supporting the notorious rebel group of which some of its members are already indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Whereas President Kagame sometimes receives a standing ovation on some of his controversial behaviour, however on this occasion the majority of the ruling party members, who requested not to be quoted because of their own security accused the President of being insensitive to the international issues which might have and have already had an impact on the needs of many Rwandans. While others described his storming out of the meeting as “an act of blackmail … bearing the hallmarks of a dictator.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The President stormed out without saying anything, said one of the government officials who was part of the delegation of the President who requested to remain anonymous for his own security. The same official told us that, what the president did was an insult to the Rwandans who have been benefiting from the Aid. “If the President can do this in the eyes of the international community, what would he do to the helpless Rwandans?” He said

Another member of the same delegation said: “He stormed out because the room was getting very hot for him and I seemed to understand because the anger that was evident on his face wouldn’t have been good for all of us.”

President Kagame‘s behavior is not only a disgrace to his reputation but also a detrimental to Rwanda and Rwandans. Leaders should always behave in an exemplary manner; would the president be happy to see a member of his cabinet storming out of a meeting simply because there is a disagreement? If President Kagame does not change his personal attitude and political strategy on the Congo conflict, Congo is likely to haunt Kagame in the years to come.

Jacqueline Umurungi
Brussels.