My Good friend asked me why I was listening to President Kagame when he was addressing over 800 Rwandan youth at the closing of the Youth Connekt Dialogue which took place on 30/06/13 at the Serena Kigali Hotel under the theme: (WHAT IS THE THEME?)

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For some reason most people believe that I should not be listening to Paul Kagame’s speeches however I love them. It is so excellent for me to listen to these speeches because they give me an opportunity to visit the interior of Kagame’s head as well as highlighting a proper picture of what is next in President Kagame’s poor plans. Like one philosopher said “The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.”  Friends waste our time but enemies inform us their weaknesses without realising.

In this address to the youth, President Kagame expressed his anger to the young generation, even sounding breathless at some point during his speech. The President started his speech in a calm manner but went on to a stage where he could not control his words. What surprised me was when he spoke of genocide and even stated that genocide was committed by all Hutus! I was astonished! Yes we all know that there was genocide in Rwanda but how could one million people be slaughtered by seven million people? Because, I presume, there was around that figure in 1994. Logically, looking into President Kagame’s comments, I really do not think that this man understands pain, trauma or the divisions he is causing in our society, inside the country and outside. However, the president did not remember that after genocide he was the one who was giving donations to the Hutu family’s who actually saved or hid some survivors in their houses, some Hutu family’s were even slaughtered because of hiding the Tutsi’s.

Then the president went on to threaten his neighbours. He sounded as if the message was meant for Tanzania’s Kikwete and Obama as he mentioned that he would not speak to FDLR instead he will fight, to even those who speaks on their behalf  I will wait and hit them in the right time,‘’time will tell’’ he said. At the same time he was telling the young generation that the older generation of Rwandans committed crimes of which the young people have nothing to answer, but then the president was adamant that he will never speak to the FDLR which is actually made of young people who left the country as young as six to ten years of age.

 

At one point the president used racial language when he was explaining about the Europeans and their involvement in African matters; he said that the Europeans left Africa 900 years ago when they were still black before they acquired lighter skin though evolution. What a president’s comment! It was not so much the science of the comment but the tone and spirit in which a statement like this was made. Can one imagine President Obama commenting on the same topic?

Going back to the involvement of the west in African affairs, Mr Kagame did not seem to remember that the western countries give aid to Africa, and an enormous amount to Rwanda specifically, to promote good governance and democracy, and so reviewing and following on how African countries are doing would be part of it and written in small prints on the paper work he always signs.

When President Kagame was explaining how genocide affected people including those who were saved by his forces he narrated a story of one survivor who was rescued by the then rebels of Rwanda Patriotic Forces. He narrated that the young man met him in Murambi and thanked him for the rescue when he was dumped in the middle of dead bodies by the enemy thinking that he was dead. President Kagame said that he asked the boy how he was managing to live, according to the president he meant psychological well-being but the man answered that he was alive because the president tells them to live.

Now what did this young man mean? The president narrated that the young man also told him that he was not happy that the killers of his family and the ones that attempted to kill him had been released from jail. Instead the president told him that he takes the blame for releasing genocide convicts. It appears that to Kagame a genocide offender is the one who is in any opposition group. The president then narrated that he saw a lot of people laying in dead bodies, and some of them he believed that were saved however others it was too late, he noted that he told Gen James Kabarebe to stop showing or informing him about those incidents because there was a hard job waiting for him ahead, and that he was trying to avoid making irrational decisions based on what was happening at that time. This message from him means that he had ambitions of becoming a president from day one of creating this rebellion and that is why he eliminated most of our commanders, and mistreated our beloved President Pasteur Bizimungu.

Kagame is experiencing political isolation from the west, as evidenced by President Obama embarking on a tour of a few African countries without any stops in Rwanda, Uganda or DRC. This move sends a message that President Obama is looking for a new leader in the Central African region and further it states that Museveni of Uganda is not key, Kabila in DRC has too much to deal with while showing little to no leadership and that finally President Kagame is losing his hold and grip of being the “darling of the west.” Kagame has taken a severe blow to his image over the last year with the continued publications of the United Nations Group of Experts reports detailing Rwanda’s continued involvement in destabilization of Eastern DR Congo which resulted in large amounts of aid cuts to Rwanda.

President Kagame is now motivating the youth to stick with him when hard times come, this is one of the tactics used by the former Libyan leader which is also written in the Green Book which  is a short book setting out the political philosophy of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. The book was first published in 1975.

President Kagame used to read this book all the time until he finished it in 1999. He called on the youth of Rwanda to fulfil their responsibilities with diligence and commitment in order to make a difference in their lives and their country because they are the strength and the future of Rwanda. He said that “We must think carefully about what we invest in our youth because a seed that is not well nurtured will not blossom. You must look beyond your individual interest because you are not just individuals, you are the nation. You must look beyond education and ensure that each of you uses your knowledge to build, not destroy your nation. Genocide was not committed by only the uneducated. The educated also used their knowledge to kill.”

Advising the youth not to hold anything back in their pursuit of a better future for themselves and the nation, President Kagame pointed out that the young people should not have to carry the baggage of their elders and therefore have the opportunity to depart from the past and shape a new and better future: “When you stand up against evil as some of you did today, do not do it halfway but with your all. Demand respect for your right to be who you choose to be, stand firm and proud of whom you are. Do not waste any opportunity; we need each and every one of you.”

By Noble Marara

Edited by Jennifer Fierberg