LION OF AFRICA? PAUL KAGAME’S DANGEROUS DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
In a letter to the Wall Street Journal of May 19, 2013, written for him probably by his spin doctor, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Paul Kagame states:
This has been our approach in Rwanda. We have decentralized the state, reformed our business sector and strengthened our institutions. But we have also invested in health care, agriculture and education. As a result, the World Bank this year ranked Rwanda as the eighth easiest place in the world to start a business. A recent index in Foreign Policy magazine named the country the fifth best investment destination world-wide.
There are several flaws in President Kagame’s argument but let me cite three most important ones.
First, Rwanda has gone through repeated cycles of death and destruction despite economic gains that previous regimes and the current one were able to achieve. Governance is the fundamental problem in Rwanda, long polarized on ethnic and regional lines. Kagame’s record on governance is the worst in Africa. In Rwanda, political parties are banned; opposition leaders, human rights activists and journalists jailed, killed or forced into exile.
According to the U.S. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2012, “the most important human rights problems in Rwanda were lack of respect for the integrity of the person, particularly illegal detention, torture, and disappearance of persons detained by State Security Forces; unwarranted restrictions on the freedoms of speech and press, particularly harassment, violence, and arrest of journalists, political dissidents, and human rights advocates….Other major human rights problems included allegations of attempted assassinations of government opponents, both within the country and abroad.â€
On a visit to Rwanda in 2011, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, a well-known defender of President Kagame, remarked that “the political culture in Rwanda remains comparatively closed. Press restrictions persist. Civil society activists, journalists, and political opponents of the government often fear organizing peacefully and speaking out. Some have been harassed. Some have been intimidated by late-night callers. Some have simply disappeared.â€
Amnesty International Rwanda Report, 2012, documented “severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and enforced disappearancesâ€. Human Rights Watch World Report, 2012, cites that in Rwanda “freedom of expression and political space are still severely restricted. Members of opposition parties, journalists, and other perceived critics of the government were arrested, detained, and tried, some solely for expressing their views.â€Â  The United Nations Human Rights Commission Mapping Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010, documented war crimes, crimes against humanity and apparent systematic and widespread attacks against Hutu in the Democratic Republic of Congo that could be characterized as “crimes of genocideâ€. The European Parliament on May 23, 2013, passed a resolution calling upon Rwanda to end political persecution and torture, guarantee fundamental freedoms and independence of the judiciary.
President Paul Kagame’s catalogue of gross human rights abuses in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo clearly show a pattern of impunity without accountability.
Second, President Kagame’s belligerent policies in the Democratic Republic of Congo have a regional destabilizing and humanitarian effect, by undermining efforts towards peace, security, and economic development. President Kagame’s regime is isolated in the region. Tanzania and South Africa, key African players in the regional dynamics, are increasingly unhappy about President Kagame’s aggressive policies and actions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Third, his latest venture into Congo through M23 proxies left most of the funding to Rwanda’s so-called economic miracle delayed or cut off. The U.N. Group of Experts Report, 2012, documented Rwanda’s support to the M23 rebel group, leading to unanimous international outcry and condemnation, even from his long term allies, the United States and the United Kingdom. Late last year President Obama called President Kagame to cease and desist from his actions in Congo. Now, on his upcoming visit to Africa next month, President Obama has excluded Rwanda from his itinerary. President Kagame, too used to a cozy relationship with President Clinton and President Bush, will not be amused by this dramatic reversal of fortunes.
Isolated from his own people, Africans and, increasingly, his own allies, it is mere wishful thinking and an empty dream that small and impoverished Rwanda will ever become the lion of Africa. Violent coercion, flattery and appeasement by some in the West do not place Rwanda on a sustainable trajectory for peace and prosperity. There is no short-cut to accountable government, genuine regional co-operation as a more durable anchor for peace and security, and international support that places people, not repressive dictators, as the center-piece of human development.
Rwanda’s history repeatedly shows that stakes are extremely high for Rwanda, the Great Lakes region and the international community. It is time for Rwandans, Rwanda’s neighbors and the international community to work together to avert the next bloodbath that will inevitably follow President Kagame’s policies and actions if they are not stopped and reversed as soon as possible.
Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa
Washington DC
5/25/2013
E-mail:Â ngombwa@gmail.com
The writer was President Paul Kagame’s Chief of Staff, Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United States, and Secretary General of Rwanda’s ruling party, RPF. He is currently the Coordinator of Rwanda National Congress (RNC) and the author of Healing A Nation: A Testimony: Waging and Winning A Peaceful Revolution to Unite and Heal A Broken Rwanda .
This is very good article!
They say in KinyaRwanda,\”agasozi gashira inka ni nshuti, ntigashira abashinyaguzi\”.
Meaning that friends and wealth (cows the symbol in our history) can vanish but foes and layers will always be there to make you scorned to the maximum.
Those are the international media players and western power influencers who don\’t care when given millions of dollars from blood minerals of Congo to call Kagame what ever type of Names he wants.
But the truth will always be there and history will repeat it self Kagame the isolated fellow he only voted for shooting of Gadafi on the continent of Africa supporting western powers he always condemns when he makes his baby cries of flying checks(aid).
Kagame is the only head of state on that continent who has fired his Ambassadors just because they have failed to kill his opposition groups or because they have not made them fail to hold meetings and his nationals has not given money to his terrorism fund named Agaciro.
Kagame is the only head of state on the continent who does not care of living in peace with his neighbours and he loves to see their blood being shed at the expense of minerals and glory.
He is the genocide revisionist who has immunity because of his impunities that has silenced every body at home and abroad.
On genocide revisionism and impunity he is the only person to name who a genocidor is and who is not regardless of the crime itself.
To add more on revisionism and his divisive ideology of minimising genocide he has even passed a law of no more remembering of our fallen Nationals in genocide because its no longer giving him enough bread.
Kagame out of shame he schemed the ways of crafting for genocide survivors how they were the one who killed priests of Spain so that his name could not be affected by his blood hungry character which failed off course and decided to shoot Gen. Nyamwasa so that after his death he can get whom he can give the crime to.
He has appointed blood suckers to reign over the clean men and women of dignity who gave in their lives to protect and shield their fellow Nationals in times of genocide just to make all Hutus genociders!
Long live Peace Lover of our beloved Nation!
Mr Rudasingwa ikintu kimwe napfuye nawe ni uko utari consistent na gato ahubwo ukoreshwa n’inda gusa.
Bakuvugaho byinshi ushobora guhakana ariko njyewe waranyumije ubwo wifataga ukegera family ya RIP Habyarimana Juvenal ukayisaba imbabazi ugira uti nimwebwe nka RPF mwishe uno mugabo. It was a shame to a person who wants to lead Rwandans, UMUGABO NI UHAGARARA KU MAFUTIYE UKO BYAGENDA KOSE, n’ubwo wabikoreshaga in your own interest.
N’ubwo wabeshyaga ubizi neza kuko byaje kugaragara ko atari wowe cyangwa abo mwakoranaga bamwishe, biranyerekako igihe cyose wakora ureba inyungu zawe bwite. Tekereza uri president ugafata a decision, mugitondo ukotswa igitutu ugahita ugira uti ntabwo ari njyewe ahubwo ni cabinet cyangwa Prime minister wanjye wanshutse. u Rwanda ntiruzagire abagabo b’ibigwari nkawe
IGIHE CYOSE USANZE WARAGIRIYE UMUNTU NABI, IYO ULI UMUGABO NYAMUGABO , WEGERA WA MUNTU WAHEMUKIYE NONEHO UKAMUSABA IMBABAZI. BILIYA RUDASINGWA YAKOZE NI UBUTWALI BUKOMEYE. IYO USANZE WARAKOZE IKIBI URAGIKOSORA AHO KUGIRANGO UKOMEZE UGITSIMBARAREHO, KANDI UBIZI, GUSA ALI UKO UDASHAKA KUVA KW’IZIMA. MU KINYARWANDA BARAVUGA NGO :UBUGABO BUDASUBIRA INYUMA BUBA ALI UBUBWA .