The destruction of the Congo says much more about the West than it does about the Central African country. It reveals most clearly that the West is largely a criminal enterprise, the prosperity of which is based on the genocide of Third World people and the theft of their resources. The Congo is perhaps the worst example of this but the West has followed the same policy in Asia, Africa and Latin America for centuries. In this sense, Western countries can be seen as a murderous mafia led by their godfather the United States government for which no amount of blood and wealth is enough.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/october-2001-western-heart-darkness
Andrew M. Mwenda is the founding
Managing Editor of The Independent, Uganda’s premier current affairs
newsmagazine. One of Foreign Policy magazine 's top 100 Global Thinkers, TED
Speaker, Foreign aid Critic. He is currently a post grad-fellow at Yale
My
analysis
The
American New world order –neo-liberal capitalist system has built a net worker
of intellectuals to which Andrew Mwenda belongs, whose major mandate is to obfuscate(hide)
the role of the USA and her clients
in the confusion in Africa.
Despite the clear dictatorial tendencies of Kagame, Mwenda has portrayed Kagame
as a hero and model who is being unfairly criticized. American New world order elites
like Mwenda have been trained and paid
to portray the confusion in Africa as a
domestic issue without any western tentacles. Look at the following quotes from
Mwenda’s article on the conflict in the DR Congo.
‘’The
real cause is the deeper malaise that has eaten the social fabric of the
Congolese state. This is largely manifested in the inability of the state to
exercise effective control over its vast territory. The absence of even
rudimentary infrastructure for administrative and security functions over most
of the country is what has prompted the emergence of ethnic-based militias. In
fact, these militias fill the vacuum of an absentee state by providing basic
administration and security even though imperfectly’’. Andrew Mwenda
The best way to save DRC is to
let it burn. From the ashes of catastrophe lies the chance for a solution. Andrew Mwenda
‘’It
may be politically convenient for elites in Kinshasa to bury their heads in the sand and
blame their country’s woes on meddlesome neighbors. It is also appealing for
human rights groups and mass media to present the problem of Congo as one of external interference.
But seeking external scapegoats is not a formula for success. For those interested in
helping Congo out of its crisis, the first objective should be to help Kinshasa
build a functional state; a state that can perform basic tasks like ensuring
law and order and the protection of individual life and property. In this
endeavor, Congo would need
the help of Uganda, Rwanda
and its other neighbours’’. Andrew Mwenda
‘’Indeed,
the main cause of atrocities in most of Congo is the lack of discipline
among the armed forces. This is partly because the army in Congo is a collection of many militias.
The central government often negotiates a truce with a militia controlling a
given territory and integrates them into its army’’. Andrew Mwenda
Most
people I have met trust the UN `experts’ and international media when they
claim that Rwanda and, most
recently, Uganda,
are the ones supplying arms, ammunition and soldiers to the rebel movement. Yet UN `experts’ are often ignorant, sometimes naïve, on
occasion gullible but mostly self-interested.
They depend too heavily on Congolese government intelligence for their `facts’.
Sadly in DRC, political discourse is clouded with wild rumors, a factor that
makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction. These `experts’ also have
interests to advance or protect and therefore come to the job with a
predetermined agenda. Their claims of heavy weapons shipments from Rwanda
are naive. If Rwanda
moved weapons across the border, even amidst the darkest night, American
satellites in space would get clear pictures of it. Andrew Mwenda
Compare
what Andrew Mwenda is saying with the following quotes from the Canadian centre
for policy alternatives:
‘’In
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the heart of Africa, U.S. proxies
Uganda and Rwanda occupy the eastern half of the country and are looting its
mineral resources and sending them to the West. The DRC is the richest country
in Africa holding the world's biggest copper,
cobalt and cadmium deposits. The war started by Rwanda
and Uganda
against the Congolese government in 1998, has killed 2.5 million people and
displaced 2.3 million. Oxfam called this war, "the world's biggest
humanitarian disaster." Angola,
Zimbabwe and Namibia sent their armies to support the Congo government and Burundi joined the other side. Thus
began "Africa's First World War"
involving seven armies which has further wrecked a country crushed by more than
a century of Western domination. The U.S. has given arms and/or military
training to all seven armies. Rwanda
and Uganda are the U.S.' "staunchest allies in the
region" and Washington backed their
invasion of the Congo
according to Human Rights Watch. Uganda
received $1.5 million in U.S.
arms and military training in 1999 and Rwanda got $325,000 under IMET in
2000. U.S.
Special Forces have trained the Rwandan Army in counterinsurgency, combat and
psychological operations. This included instructions about fighting in the Congo. To keep
the war going, the U.S. has helped the other side too with Zimbabwe getting
$1.4 million in U.S. military training in 2000 and Namibia $500,000’’.
"Behind the shameful peanut throwing [of
aid] lurks a deadly Western policy towards Africa.
The U.S.
government … has through the Pentagon, the CIA, the World Bank and the IMF,
systematically demolished African economies … and fueled eleven wars on the
continent with arms transfers and military training. This genocidal imperial
strategy has killed more than four million Africans and allowed the U.S. … to attain Africa's
abundant natural riches cheaply." "Rarely has Western savagery been
more destructive than in the Congo.
After 115 years of Belgian colonialism and U.S.
neo-colonialism, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today is a
war-ravaged, balkanized country where an incredible 2.5 million people have
died during the last two and a half years and 2.3 million have been displaced.
OXFAM called this 'the world's biggest humanitarian disaster'. The catastrophic war which began in August 1998 has been
imposed on the long-suffering Congolese by U.S.
PROXIES Rwanda
and Uganda which have
occupied the eastern half of the Congo and are plundering and
looting it with most of the booty going to the West.
"Genocide and plunder have been Western
policy towards the mineral-rich Congo
since the Berlin Conference of 1885 when European nations divided Africa
between them, and King Leopold II of Belgium
got the Congo
as his personal property. Ten million Congolese were killed under Belgian rule
which lasted until 1960. The Congo's
population was cut in half. Belgian domination was marked by slavery, forced
labour and torture aimed at extracting the maximum amount of ivory and rubber
from the Central African country. The people of the Congo probably suffered more than
any other colonized group. Their hands were cut off
for not working hard enough and on one day 1,000 severed hands were delivered
in baskets to an official. Women were
kidnapped to force their husbands to collect rubber sap and Congolese were shot
for sport. Such atrocities were documented by George Washington
Williams, an African-American visiting the Congo, who invented the term
"crimes against humanity" to describe them. "The
U.S. took over the Congo from Belgium in 1960-61 in a bloody coup after the CIA
arranged the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the country's first elected leader
… The CIA sent Sidney Gottlieb, its top scientist (under the code name
'Joe from Paris'), to the Congo with deadly biological toxins to use on Lumumba
… [That plan failed, but Lumumba was later killed by CIA proxies with a bullet
in the head.] In his place the Agency installed its paid agent
Colonel Mobutu Sese Seko who continued the looting and killing started by
Leopold, for another 37 years."
ALSO READ:
Chaos by Design: When aggressors become mediators: When wolves pretend to be sheep: The US supports Museveni Congo mediation: M23 rebels capture Goma as the UN looks on: Kabila and Kagame fly to Kampala for talks
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/11/chaos-by-design-when-aggressors-become.html
UN+UN peace keeping in Congo =American New World Order: UN security council condemns Goma takeover by M23 rebels: Rebels accused of gross human rights violations: DR soldiers surrender to M23 rebels
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/11/unun-peace-keeping-in-congo-american.html
Bishop Jean Marie Runiga, Becomes a spokes person for the M23: Using Confusion, misinformation and disinformation to Hide the Central role of USA, her allies and client states in the Conflict in the ‘Democratic’ republic of Congo(DRC)
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/bishop-jean-marie-runiga-becomes-spokes.html
Bishop Jean-Marie Runiga the spokes person of M23 rebels admits visiting Kampala but says they will not leave Goma
Obscurantist analyses aimed at hiding the western link to the crisis in Congo: Foreign meddling and messy army sustains DR Congo chaos: oh really
By Andrew M. Mwenda
How to save Congo from the UN
Saturday, 01 December 2012 08:04 By Andrew M. Mwenda
The best way to
save DRC is to let it burn. From the ashes of catastrophe lies the chance for a
solution
Last week, M23 rebels
matched into the eastern Congolese town of Goma with very little resistance. The
Congolese army simply dropped their weapons and ran. International television
footage showed them leaving the town in haste, driving Armored Personnel
Carriers and tanks at full speed. Meanwhile the rebels, armed largely with
light infantry weapons, marched on foot and some on civilian trucks into the
town. How can a mechanised army give up a strategic town to a light infantry
force so easily?
Two myths perpetrated
by the UN were exposed. First, that the rebels get arms from Rwanda. Second,
that the rebels are a murderous lot hated by the population. Having left most
of its heavy weapons in the town and large caches of arms and rounds of
ammunition, it was apparent that the rebels get their arms from the
incompetence, cowardice and corruption of the Congolese army. Indeed, Kinshasa
had already fired its Chief of Staff of the army accusing him of selling arms
to the rebels.Then the residents of Goma lined the streets in large numbers to
cheer and welcome the rebels as liberators.
Most people I have met
trust the UN `experts’ and international media when they claim that Rwanda and, most recently, Uganda, are the ones supplying
arms, ammunition and soldiers to the rebel movement. Yet UN `experts’ are often
ignorant, sometimes naïve, on occasion gullible but mostly self-interested.
They depend too heavily on Congolese government intelligence for their `facts’.
Sadly in DRC, political discourse is clouded with wild rumors, a factor that
makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction. These `experts’ also have
interests to advance or protect and therefore come to the job with a
predetermined agenda.
Their claims of heavy
weapons shipments from Rwanda
are naive. If Rwanda
moved weapons across the border, even amidst the darkest night, American satellites
in space would get clear pictures of it. Rwanda
knows this already given that when it tried to deny involvement in Congo in 1996, the US just brought out pictures
showing their troop and weapons movements. Kigali owned up. Unless the Barack Obama
administration is in cahoots with Kigali,
evidence of Rwandese arms supply to M23 and their details would be in the press
by now.
The fall of Goma
combined with the aforementioned manner in which it happened presents the
international community with a challenge in dealing with Africa.
How can a well-equipped army tasked with the sacred obligation to defend a town
and protect the population run away without a pitched fight in the face of a
rag tag rebel force? Does a state that presides over such a corrupt, cowardly
and incompetent army deserve international support? What incentives will make
ruling elites in Kinshasa
build a viable army?
Historically, the
recognition of a state’s claim over a given territory by other states was
predicated upon it demonstrating effective military and administrative control
over it. If you failed in this, other effective states could take the territory
from you. For instance, if Prussia
failed to project power along the Rhine frontier, Austria could take it away. If
Bunyoro exhibited weakness, Buganda
could lay claims on Mubende. This forced states to constantly improve their
capabilities. To preserve themselves, smaller states built alliances with other
weaker or powerful neighbours. The American colonies united largely out of fear
of Britain.
Cooperation is the most powerful instrument of competition.
The history of Europe illustrates this process best. European monarchs
had to fight wars abroad in order to ensure security at home. So the classical
state was a war-making machine; war made states and states made war. The threat
of losing territory forced states to build capabilities to control every inch
they possessed. And such capabilities needed money. States could raise money
from loot and booty. But this was unreliable. Sometimes, wars could be long and
costly. So loot alone could not sustain an army in the field for years. Unpaid
troops could munity and match back on their capital. Monarchs learnt that they
needed to continually grow their economies to provide them a reliable source of
income, taxation or public borrowing.
And this is what gave
states a stake in the prosperity of their people. If your citizens are very
rich, your tax returns from them or your ability to borrow from them would be
higher. If the wealth is held in a fixed asset like land that cannot be hidden,
you can be rude and still collect most of the taxes on it. If the asset is
fluid and easy to hide like capital, you need the cooperation of the taxpayer
to maximize your tax returns. Otherwise they can take evasive action and hide
their wealth. Or those who possess it can withhold their productive effort and
deny you revenues.
Thus, where tax
revenues come largely from movable assets that can be hidden, you need the
consent and cooperation of asset-holders to maximize your returns. So rulers
devised means – like parliaments – as institutions to negotiate with asset
owners for revenues. This gave propertied citizens power to decide the tax
rate, the level of borrowing and public expenditure. The American war of
independence from the British crown was fought with the battle cry: “No
taxation without representation”. This incentive structure worked well to
facilitate the evolution of effective states by punishing weakness and
rewarding strength. It also gave birth to democratic representation.
In many ways, post
independence ruling elites in Africa have
really enjoyed a free ride. Their claims to sovereignty and territorial
integrity need no longer have to be defended by strength – economic, military
or otherwise. They are protected by international law through the UN. Elites in
Kinshasa can
ignore, neglect or disregard their sacred duty to build state infrastructure to
serve their citizens in the east. The international community will subsidise
these failures with international aid and protect their borders from other more
promising claimants. The presence of a kind, sympathetic and generous
international community has been one of the major sources of state weakness in Africa.
And so it was that
immediately M23 exposed what a fiction the Congolese army is, the UN Security
Council immediately did its usual double standard and condemned the rebels, and
issued a tough resolution asking them to leave the town. Indeed, the same UN
Security Council members are supplying similar rebels in Syria with
weapons. On the day they condemned M23, the British foreign secretary, William
Haig, went on television to announce that Great
Britain was following the US
and France in recognising
the Syrian rebels as the “legitimate representatives of the people of Syria”. Never
mind that the Syrian government, in spite of its authoritarian ways, has not
reached the level of barbaric savagery of the Congolese state.
At a summit in Kampala, Presidents Yoweri
Museveni and Paul Kagame, perhaps bullied and pressured by the UN, surrendered
to its unrealistic demands. In a meeting with DRC’s President Joseph Kabila,
they also joined the choir of those calling on M23 rebels to pull out of Goma.
Perhaps one gives them credit for also making Kabila accept to meet and
negotiate with the rebels over their legitimate grievances. Museveni, Kagame
and Kabila all came to power through armed struggle. Would they have been
happy, when victory looked certain, for the UN or neighbors to threaten action
unless they halted their struggle?
The Congolese state is
more a fiction than a reality. There is little semblance of a state in most of
the country. What the international community recognizes and accepts for a
state is a greedy cabal of elites in Kinshasa
involved in a spree of anarchical grabbing of their national resources, which
they steal and invest abroad. Whatever exists of their army goes unpaid for
months. So it lives by scavenging on the citizenry from whom it loots to pay
itself. Many Congolese citizens are protected by their own ethnic militias from
the national army, whose major preoccupation, whenever it gets into contact
with them, it to loot, rape and pillage.
This is the state of
affairs that the international community, in its ignorance, naivety and
sometimes self-interest is defending against the legitimate cries of victims
who have taken up arms to challenge this injustice. Although international
media are focused on the M23 because they share a common ethnicity with some in
the leadership of Rwanda,
there are over 20 ethnic militias in eastern DRC fighting Kinshasa. Rwanda would need super-human
ability to organise such large-scale insurrection. In fact, it is self evident
that a combination of an absentee state, mountainous terrain, thick forests and
rich minerals is enough incentive for rebel groups to form in eastern Congo. They
would not need Rwanda’s
encouragement – or anyone else’s for that matter.
As I write this
article, Congolese state elites in Kinshasa
are on radio, television, and newspapers making open calls for genocide against
their own Tutsi citizens on radio, television and newspapers. Meanwhile, the
international community either looks the other way or sometimes acts as an
accomplice in this scandal. Never in my life did I imagine that the UN, after
the horrors of the Nazis and the 1994 genocide in Rwanda would side with a government
calling for genocide against its own people. Now the UN calls victims of state
terror perpetrators of that terror while calling architects of terror in Syria
liberators.
There is one nation
that was saved from the “salvation” of the UN and the international community –
Rwanda.
In 1994, Tutsis in that country stared mass extermination in the eye. In the
face of widespread massacres, the UN did what it does best – it withdrew its
troops. One million people were slaughtered in 100 days. For moral reasons,
everyone I have read or listened to has condemned the UN for that withdrawal –
including the RPF leadership. I have always celebrated that single, inhuman act
of the UN. It saved Rwanda.
It created room for that country’s internal actors to solve the problem
decisively even though at high human cost.
The UN was trying to
impose a textbook solution on an extremely complex and volatile situation in Rwanda
in 1994. It wanted a ceasefire between government troops and rebels i.e.
between genociders and their victims. After the ceasefire, it wanted a
government “of national unity” (national destruction would be better used)
between killer and victim. And this was in circumstances where each side felt
strong and was confident of victory. International pressure would have created
the most conflict-ridden coalition government in history. This is because the
belligerents did not see mutual accommodation as a better alternative to
further combat. Hence such a government would have been characterized by low
intensity but widespread violence over many years, making it difficult to
reconstruct the Rwandan state.
Precisely because the
UN withdrew, the Rwandese had to fight their way out of their own mess. That
taught them a lesson – that there is no fifth cavalry of the international
community to save them. The decisive victory by RPF destroyed its opponent’s
organisational infrastructure – thus allowing the victor to mount relatively
unified action to reconstruct the state, rebuild the economy and begin
reconciling the people. Today, Rwanda
has the most effective state in Africa.
International intervention in Rwanda
in 1994 would at best have achieved short-term humanitarian objectives and
saved lives. But this would most likely have been at the price of crippling the
growth of a more durable solution for the country over the long term.
The international
community can blackmail neighbours with cutting aid and other sanctions to
force them to pressure rebels to stop their offensive. However, that will no
solve the inherent crisis of governance in Congo. The solution for Congo’s
deficiencies in managing itself will come from that country’s elites. And this
will happen when they are left to pay the price of their political folly.
Congolese elites indulge in political practices that undermine the evolution of
a robust state and enrich a few at the expense of the many. Their politics is
detrimental to the strengthening of their national institutions and the growth
of their economy. Until they face – not just a strategic threat – but
existential threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity over their vast
country, the ruling elites in Kinshasa
will not change their ways.
In many ways, Congo’s
crisis shows the dangers of foreign aid to poor countries – whether that aid is
financial, technical, military or humanitarian. Our governments are subsidized
with foreign financial aid, a factor that has disarticulated them from their
citizens. For every fiscal shortage, they look to Washington,
London, Paris or Brussels for aid rather
than ways to improve the productivity of their own firms and farms.
Humanitarian aid has disarticulated our people from the political struggles
that are shaping their destiny. Thus, rather than join political and armed
movements fighting for control of their nations, our civilians retreat to
refugee camps where the international community gives them food, shelter and
medicine as they vegetate as passive spectators of the struggle.
Baby-sitting Congo and scapegoating Rwanda and Uganda as the source of trouble
will not solve the deeply entrenched problems of governance in that country.
The international community’s everlasting attempts to prop the smoldering
edifice of the Congolese state is the problem, not the solution for that
country. It has blinded Congolese elites from seeking internal social
integration and from building a much more viable state.
The best the world can
do for Congo
is to sit on its laurels and let it burn. From the ashes of such catastrophe,
lies a glimmer of hope that a more durable solution has a better chance
to emerge. The country will either break-up or remain unified by the emergence
of a political and military movement that will impose order. Left on their own,
the Congolese people will triumph. Sustained on the drip of the international
humanitarian community, Congo
will remain the mess that we see today – with an army that cuts and runs at the
sound of the first shot.
Anyone following the news would easily be tempted to think that if M23 were crushed today, DRC would become a stable country. Yet M23 is not the only militia rebelling against Kinshasa. There are over 20 rebel movements against the government of President Joseph Kabila. These misrepresentations may have played to the political advantage of the governing elites in Kinshasa and their allies elsewhere. However, they undermine an internal search for an enduring solution to the problems of the country.
This article will focus on Andrew Mwenda’s article in his independent news
paper that is now seen on the streets of Kigali.
Once seen as beacon of hope in the profession of journalism in the great lakes
region in his famous articles and outspoken debates, champion of democracy,
democratic values and ideals. However, in the eyes of many Rwandans now, his
mercenary of destruction Indeed, he has not only been corrupted by the Kigali regime by a monthly
cheque as a presidential advisor but he has crossed a line of honesty.
In his paper of 27th May 2012, he argues that Prof. Ayitte’s postings on Rwanda are just empty condemnation which are aimed at tainting the good image and discourage or discredit the achievements of his paymaster President Paul Kagame.
Does really Andrew Mwenda believe what he says and says what he believes?
I doubt, but what is certain is that he is a misguided missile on Rwandan issues which will hit anything on its way, and to put this in context, he mentions that Prof . Ayittey continuously condemns the Rwandan Government for what he calls misinformation and lack of context. I will argue that Prof. Ayittey is not only fully informed on the Rwandan issues but also puts all issues in the Rwandan context.
Andrew argues that Rwanda with its model of governance is exemplary on the African continent; on contrary Rwandan is heading to unpredictable future and there is no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.
“By any measure, post-genocide Rwanda has set itself apart from most of Africa as a model reformer in nearly every field” In what context? He admits and mentions that democracy is a journey not a destination; its realization is a process not an event”. Since 1994 after genocide, where are the Rwandans? And what journey he is talking about? What have Rwandans realized if any? If you sweep the verandas and the fore front of your house can you say that you are clean because you hide your guests the dirt inside your house? If Andrew Mwenda is not aware of what is happening to the common man in Rwanda or just defending his monthly cake, I will tell him to go in the upcountry or the streets of Kigali and ask the common man on the street.
Again Andrew Mwenda compares United States journey in democratization with Rwanda, why should Andrew cross the Atlantic to get the comparison when our neighbors have almost gone through the same conflicts but have managed to liberalize their politics. Uganda where some of the post Rwandan genocide leaders were mentored and Andrew where is free to report even the most bitter criticisms against the government of Uganda and goes to his house and sleep knowing that he will wake up the following morning. Do his counterparts enjoy the same freedoms in Rwanda?
He further argues that Rwanda has made deliberate reforms by empowering women, the creation of local councils from the village to the district where ordinary people manage their own affairs and impact public policy, the registration of political parties and allowing them freedom to open branches up to the village level, the National Dialogue which is an open forum where citizens hold leaders to account etc. Andrew is again misguided and misinformed on both fronts. Are really women empowered? Do we have Miria Matembe in Rwanda? What about Winnie Byanyuma, Bety Kamya,Cecil Ogwal, Salam Musumba just to mention a few. Has taken time to ask why those gallant Pan Africanist women do not exist in Rwanda? Is that what Andrew calls empowerment of women in Rwanda? Interestingly or shamelessly Andrew is well aware that those ladies in Rwandan parliament are just rubber stamps of one man (Paul Kagame).
Similarly, he mentions registration of political parties which according to him are free to operate. Again he deliberately closes his eyes on this issue, does he know that the former President together with his Minister Ntakirutinka were imprisoned for just saying that they are going to start a political party (Ubuyanja) and this word can land a person in prison if you mention it in Rwanda, despite being one of the vocabularies in Rwandan dialects? Where are Ntaganda and Ingabire? Deo Mushayidi without mentioning those who were murdered like Andrew Rwisereka of Green Party, Asiel Kabera, again just to mention a few? Does he know that, the reason why those ladies and Gentlemen in Rwandan Parliament choose to keep quite or just stamp the orders of Kagame is just to save their skins and those of their families? What he doesn’t know or he deliberately ignores is the coercion methods of intimidation and harassment Kagame uses to terrorize those he thinks are political opponents but most importantly the collective punishment with all their families and relatives. Does he know where all the relatives of Kayumba, Karegeya, Rugiro etc are? Some are in Jail, exiled, or killed.
Uganda has all the Generals, Cols. and all the ranks in the army establishment who do not only participate in politics, but rather active in the opposition. These people have families, property and still enjoy the basic rights as those in NRM; the problem in Rwanda is having political Doctors without professional Doctorate. He further says that, political decentralization has been dispensed to the district level, again is he aware that , these guys at the grassroots are nominated indirectly, take for instance the Mayor of Kigali, does he know that we knew that he will be the Mayor when he was still a Governor in another District? What about all his predecessors? And all the Mayors of Rwandan local districts. He is one of the advisors of the President Kagame, why can’t he advise him on how Elias Rukwago in Uganda was elected Mayor of Kampala?
Again he argues that Rwanda has built the largest network of fiber optic cables of any country in the Third World and according to him this ranks Rwanda a paradise in the region. The former Ghanaian President JJ Rawlings said that, he does not understand the economic terms of the Economists when they talk of the Economic growth of GDP , what he understands is when a common person in Ghana goes out in the morning and comes with what can feed his/her family. When he/she can manage to take his/her child to school, be able to pay medical bills for him/her and family. Is my brother Andrew aware that some Rwandan nationals go without food or just eat once? While their leaders have jets in the names of other people? What about big buildings and companies in the names of Hatari Sekoko just to mention a few? Rwandans need the same thinking and approach where all Rwandans will go out and come back with a paper bag of food and be able to exercise their fundamental rights, freedom of speech and writing like Andrew Mwenda in Uganda.
Dear Andrew history is not on your side if you continue to behave in the manner of indifference, disregard, and disrespect of the Rwandan suffering. Don not exchange your professionalism with greed for money and other incentives, as I have mentioned above history will judge you harshly.
Jacqueline Umurungi
Brussels.
Mwenda is a very unethical journalist, at least as far as his coverage of Rwanda is concerned. He was on Dr. Emmanule Ndahiro’s pay-roll, the man who foresees ‘selling Kagame’s image”.Mwenda was blindfolded by the money he was making when he was in The Monitor. It was compulsory that time, for each governmnet office in Rwanda to buy The monitor every day. Mwenda sold his professional conscience for this money. Yes, he got the money … what better person has he become? Kagame and his Junta spent a lot of tax-payers’ money advertising useless things in the Monitor under Mwenda. That was a kind of kick-back!! He got that money, Rwandans still will ask Mwenda, what does that blood-socked money mean for you? When he fell out with The Monitor, Mwenda, through Ndahiro secured an order from the President, Kagame, prohibiting all governmnet offices from buying The Monitor. Anybody who violated this order would be jailed!!!
Mwenda secured money from the same people, Kagame and Ndahiro, to start his own news paper called the independent. He got the money.. and what better is he now? Mwenda should apologize to the people of Rwanda for sustaining the Dictator. For feeding the world with information about Kagame and the country (Rwanda) which he knew was absolutely false. Poor Mwenda, you sold all you are for silver!!!
For your information, the Classified” account from which Mwenda is paid in Kigali is meant for procurement of military hardware only!! This account is closed for any investigations or auditing. This is where Andrew Mwenda gets his pay cheque.If any journalist in Rwanda had a deal with a hostile country, Kagame would slaughter that journalist in broad day light. M7 has not done this to Andrew Mwenda. And Mwenda tells us that Kagame is the best African leaders!!!!! Man defendth where he eatth!!! In that vain, please, especially during this time when most of us strategizing to get this undeducated dictator out, please, keep Mwenda out of the picture.
The scheme was “selling Rwanda’s image abroad”. Mwenda received millions of shillings!!!! Some cheques passed via my office!!!! Secondly, Mwenda betrayed the two countries namely Uganda and Rwanda. He misrepresented himself to Kagame and Ndahiro that he was the closest person to Uganda’s intelligence and the First Family (M7) and so he had all the intelligence pieces we needed from Uganda. Actually, because of Mwenda’s thirsty for Money, we nearly had a head-on confrontation at our common boarders (Uganda and Rwanda).
Mwenda appealed so much to Kagame’s psyche, of course knowing that Kagame’s education is relatively poor, that he nearly convinced the guy that the only alternative was to fight Museveni. In the meantime, Mwenda was getting his Cameras ready to get “breaking news’ and sell his then Monitor. Mwenda contributed close to 60% of the tension that there was between Uganda and Rwanda. Mwenda nearly ended us into an unfortuante war. Netters, it took us lots of efforts to convince Kagame that the war was not necessary. Unfortuantely, Kagame trusted Mwenda’s “intelligence network” than ours!!! Owing to Mwenda’s irresponsible reporting and thirst for money, millions of our people in Uganda and Rwanda were going to die!!! Shame and shame to this Mwenda!! Once again, if Mwenda wants, I would not mind posting documentary evidence. But he has to request for it himself.
On Commander Kayumba, you need to know that our Tutsi community in Rwanda is divided into two major groups. The Tutsi who came from Ugandan refugee camps in the West and in particular those from Nakivale camp, and those who came from Uganda but not from refugee camps. Most of the time these groups are even hostile. Those who came from refugee camps, also called “Bakonyine” – very primitive – are generally uneducated, so frustrated by refugee camps life ( in most cases very malicious, heartless, no room for dialogue and above all, they tend to be extremists – they display sponteneous dislike for the Hutu). Those who were not in refugee camps are generally well educated, prudent, a little sypathetic and generally open to dialogue and mixing with the Hutu. (The two groups of Tutsi are perceived of other groups of Tutsi in Rwanda as the super Tutsi. The relationship between these two group of tutsi and toehr Tutsi in Rwanda is that of distrust). Yet the two Tutsi groups or camps ( from Uganda) do not like each other.
Kagame is from the Bakonyine while Commander Nyamwasa is ‘city-born’!!! The RPF in-house killings that happened immediately after Rwegema’s death, which were supervised by afande Kagame and Salim Sareh under M7′s coordination were also along these lines. It was basically the Bakonyine aganist city-born Tutsi. M7′s FRONASA basically recruited from the Tutsi refugee camps. So M7 automatically sides with the Bakonyine – on a typically good day – otherwise he shifts!!!!
M7 has another reason why he like the Tutsi from camps; they are heartless. You should have seen how they killed people in Luwero to know how hearless they can be. You also need to recall the Mbarara slaughters and the Distruction of Masaka town ( Masaka was not destroyed by Bakombozi from TZ as they cheat you. It was destroyed by M7 wing which closed in on Masaka from Mbarara side. That is way back during th Amin war. Talk of hearless people, you have these Bakonyine!
The bakonyine Tutsi group, Kagame’s group, is the one in control in Kigali. We who came from “cities” are second class Rwandans!!! The so called arrests due to “corruption’ you hear about in Rwanda are simply an official way of the bakonyine eliminating the “city-born”. And then Kagame sells his name. The world says, look, he is arresting even RPF guys!!!Kumbe wapi. It is stage managed!!!Whenever either group is in charge of an instituion, they make sure they employ from within their group ( bakonyine or city born).
Kayumba is one of the many victims of this. When he bacame RPF boss, he revenged. He promoted “city born” guys in the army. The bakonyine felt so bad!! Morever, because the “city born” find it easy to work with the Hutu, Commander Kayumba was in good books with General Habyarimana Emmanuel when this General was the Minister of Defense in Rwanda. Kayumba himself helped General Habyarimana to escape through Uganda. Actually, the day before Kayumba left Rwanda, he made a phone call to General Emmanuel Haybarimana.
Let Kagame not cheat you that he sent Commander Kayumba to UK for studies. He had refused to sign for him although the guy had everything including scholarship. When Kagame had gone Ethiopia for a mission, General Emmanuel Habyarimana signed for Kayumba to go to UK. That is how Kayumba left Rwanda for UK.
Dealing with the Congo question
Sunday, November 18, 2012
How President Kabila can
pick a leaf from his neighbours and his own past to craft a solution for his
country
Over
the last so many months, the international community has been grappling with
the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Human rights
groups and the United Nations “Panel of Experts” have presented the problem as
one of a Tutsi-led rebel group, M23, wreaking havoc in that country. The mass
media sings this chorus. The UN “experts” claim that M23 are a proxy of the
government of Rwanda.
In a second leaked report, the UN panel has added Uganda among the sponsors of M23.
Anyone following the news would easily be tempted to think that if M23 were crushed today, DRC would become a stable country. Yet M23 is not the only militia rebelling against Kinshasa. There are over 20 rebel movements against the government of President Joseph Kabila. These misrepresentations may have played to the political advantage of the governing elites in Kinshasa and their allies elsewhere. However, they undermine an internal search for an enduring solution to the problems of the country.
M23 and
the myriad militias and rebel groups are not a cause but a consequence of the
crisis of the state in DRC even though they tend to accentuate it. The real cause is the deeper malaise that has eaten the
social fabric of the Congolese state. This is largely manifested in the
inability of the state to exercise effective control over its vast territory. The absence of even rudimentary infrastructure for
administrative and security functions over most of the country is what has
prompted the emergence of ethnic-based militias. In fact, these militias fill
the vacuum of an absentee state by providing basic administration and security
even though imperfectly.
It may
be politically convenient for elites in Kinshasa
to bury their heads in the sand and blame their country’s woes on meddlesome
neighbors. It is also appealing for human rights groups and mass media to
present the problem of Congo
as one of external interference. But seeking external scapegoats is not a
formula for success. For those interested in helping Congo out of its crisis, the
first objective should be to help Kinshasa build a functional state; a state
that can perform basic tasks like ensuring law and order and the protection of
individual life and property. In this endeavor, Congo
would need the help of Uganda,
Rwanda
and its other neighbours.
Without
rebuilding the capabilities of the Congolese state, there is very little
diplomatic engineering and political blame-game that can stop widespread
atrocities against innocent civilians. Indeed,
the main cause of atrocities in most of Congo is the lack of discipline
among the armed forces. This is partly because the army in Congo is a
collection of many militias. The central government often negotiates a truce
with a militia controlling a given territory and integrates them into its army. But such agreements (as the one with the M23) have proved
tenuous because Kinshasa
often fails to keep its part of the bargain. And in mineral rich regions, the
militias may do better retaining territorial control than ceding power to Kinshasa. Thus, these
alliances keep changing, thereby causing uncertainty and violence.
The
mistake of international actors involved in Congo has been to choose a side and
support an entrenched yet morally indefensible position i.e. treating the
government as innocent and the rebels as murderous. M23 occupies a small
territory that is not even one hundredth of the territory of that large country.
A casual observer may be misled to think that most of DRC is stable and that
atrocities are happening only in the country’s eastern region. Yet across the
entire nation of Congo,
atrocities abound –and life reechoes the words of Thomas Hobbes as being
miserable, nasty, brutish and short.
The
Congolese army is a poorly trained, poorly paid and undisciplined. It lives off
robbing, pillaging, terrorising and raping its own citizens. This partly explains why ethnic militias are preferred by
local communities for, they to provide security where the national army
promotes insecurity. When Kampala deployed its
army in the eastern DRC town of Dungu
in 2008, Congolese citizens were happy to have Ugandan troops protect them
against their own army. In spite of this local need, the political
representatives in Kinshasa
were denouncing UPDF presence in the area. This is a clear sign that
politicians, even when elected, may possess and even pursue interests at odds
with the needs and demands of their own constituents. That is why the focus on
M23 as the cause of atrocities is unwise and unhelpful.
To
resolve the problems of Congo
needs a much more skilled politician – a leader who will understand that the
problems of his country are largely domestically generated and the solution is
not human rights advocacy. He will have to examine the internal sources of
tension and place the search for internal political accommodation above the
need to please poorly informed, albeit genuinely motivated outsiders. In doing
this, that leader will need to draw lessons from Rwanda,
Uganda, Mozambique and South Africa.
After
the 1994 genocide in Rwanda,
Paul Kagame recognised that healing the country’s wounds; stabilising its
political dispensation and seeking social reconciliation would require working
with individuals and groups with whom he disagreed. This meant accommodating
individuals accused of complicity in the genocide but whose political
collaboration was necessary to achieve a modicum of political accommodation.
This is also the approach employed by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in
1994. He avoided seeking to prosecute people for the crimes of apartheid but
instead involve them in a process of political reconciliation. Uganda and Mozambique have implemented similar
variants of this strategy to achieve political consolidation and stability.
Of
course Kabila has tried it before with success. And the times when he did the
above and signed agreements with his adversaries, Kabila brought considerable
peace and stability to his country. Denouncing M23 and other militias as
terrorists and criminals when his army is not strong enough to defend the
institutional integrity of the state is not a formula for success. It may win
him sympathy and support from many outsiders with an eye on his country’s
minerals or an axe to grind with Rwanda
or Uganda.
But it will not give him a durable solution for his country.
The Untold Stories: Is Andrew Mwenda misguided or misinformed on Rwandan issues?
http://www.inyenyerinews.org/politiki/the-untold-stories-is-andrew-mwenda-misguided-or-misinformed-on-rwandan-issues/
May 29, 2012 By Rwema IT Webmaster
In his paper of 27th May 2012, he argues that Prof. Ayitte’s postings on Rwanda are just empty condemnation which are aimed at tainting the good image and discourage or discredit the achievements of his paymaster President Paul Kagame.
Does really Andrew Mwenda believe what he says and says what he believes?
I doubt, but what is certain is that he is a misguided missile on Rwandan issues which will hit anything on its way, and to put this in context, he mentions that Prof . Ayittey continuously condemns the Rwandan Government for what he calls misinformation and lack of context. I will argue that Prof. Ayittey is not only fully informed on the Rwandan issues but also puts all issues in the Rwandan context.
Andrew argues that Rwanda with its model of governance is exemplary on the African continent; on contrary Rwandan is heading to unpredictable future and there is no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.
“By any measure, post-genocide Rwanda has set itself apart from most of Africa as a model reformer in nearly every field” In what context? He admits and mentions that democracy is a journey not a destination; its realization is a process not an event”. Since 1994 after genocide, where are the Rwandans? And what journey he is talking about? What have Rwandans realized if any? If you sweep the verandas and the fore front of your house can you say that you are clean because you hide your guests the dirt inside your house? If Andrew Mwenda is not aware of what is happening to the common man in Rwanda or just defending his monthly cake, I will tell him to go in the upcountry or the streets of Kigali and ask the common man on the street.
Again Andrew Mwenda compares United States journey in democratization with Rwanda, why should Andrew cross the Atlantic to get the comparison when our neighbors have almost gone through the same conflicts but have managed to liberalize their politics. Uganda where some of the post Rwandan genocide leaders were mentored and Andrew where is free to report even the most bitter criticisms against the government of Uganda and goes to his house and sleep knowing that he will wake up the following morning. Do his counterparts enjoy the same freedoms in Rwanda?
He further argues that Rwanda has made deliberate reforms by empowering women, the creation of local councils from the village to the district where ordinary people manage their own affairs and impact public policy, the registration of political parties and allowing them freedom to open branches up to the village level, the National Dialogue which is an open forum where citizens hold leaders to account etc. Andrew is again misguided and misinformed on both fronts. Are really women empowered? Do we have Miria Matembe in Rwanda? What about Winnie Byanyuma, Bety Kamya,Cecil Ogwal, Salam Musumba just to mention a few. Has taken time to ask why those gallant Pan Africanist women do not exist in Rwanda? Is that what Andrew calls empowerment of women in Rwanda? Interestingly or shamelessly Andrew is well aware that those ladies in Rwandan parliament are just rubber stamps of one man (Paul Kagame).
Similarly, he mentions registration of political parties which according to him are free to operate. Again he deliberately closes his eyes on this issue, does he know that the former President together with his Minister Ntakirutinka were imprisoned for just saying that they are going to start a political party (Ubuyanja) and this word can land a person in prison if you mention it in Rwanda, despite being one of the vocabularies in Rwandan dialects? Where are Ntaganda and Ingabire? Deo Mushayidi without mentioning those who were murdered like Andrew Rwisereka of Green Party, Asiel Kabera, again just to mention a few? Does he know that, the reason why those ladies and Gentlemen in Rwandan Parliament choose to keep quite or just stamp the orders of Kagame is just to save their skins and those of their families? What he doesn’t know or he deliberately ignores is the coercion methods of intimidation and harassment Kagame uses to terrorize those he thinks are political opponents but most importantly the collective punishment with all their families and relatives. Does he know where all the relatives of Kayumba, Karegeya, Rugiro etc are? Some are in Jail, exiled, or killed.
Uganda has all the Generals, Cols. and all the ranks in the army establishment who do not only participate in politics, but rather active in the opposition. These people have families, property and still enjoy the basic rights as those in NRM; the problem in Rwanda is having political Doctors without professional Doctorate. He further says that, political decentralization has been dispensed to the district level, again is he aware that , these guys at the grassroots are nominated indirectly, take for instance the Mayor of Kigali, does he know that we knew that he will be the Mayor when he was still a Governor in another District? What about all his predecessors? And all the Mayors of Rwandan local districts. He is one of the advisors of the President Kagame, why can’t he advise him on how Elias Rukwago in Uganda was elected Mayor of Kampala?
Again he argues that Rwanda has built the largest network of fiber optic cables of any country in the Third World and according to him this ranks Rwanda a paradise in the region. The former Ghanaian President JJ Rawlings said that, he does not understand the economic terms of the Economists when they talk of the Economic growth of GDP , what he understands is when a common person in Ghana goes out in the morning and comes with what can feed his/her family. When he/she can manage to take his/her child to school, be able to pay medical bills for him/her and family. Is my brother Andrew aware that some Rwandan nationals go without food or just eat once? While their leaders have jets in the names of other people? What about big buildings and companies in the names of Hatari Sekoko just to mention a few? Rwandans need the same thinking and approach where all Rwandans will go out and come back with a paper bag of food and be able to exercise their fundamental rights, freedom of speech and writing like Andrew Mwenda in Uganda.
Dear Andrew history is not on your side if you continue to behave in the manner of indifference, disregard, and disrespect of the Rwandan suffering. Don not exchange your professionalism with greed for money and other incentives, as I have mentioned above history will judge you harshly.
Jacqueline Umurungi
Brussels.
Museveni, Kagame and Mwenda grazing Rwanda President’s cattle in Kigali
Kagame victim of own success
http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/6279-kagame-victim-of-own-success
Saturday, 18 August 2012 18:52 By Andrew M. Mwenda
The world tends
to hold him to very high, sometimes unrealistic standards
Over the last one
month, a rebellion has been ragging in eastern DRC against the government of
President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa.
As I write this article, over 40 armed groups, some of them former members of
the Congolese army, have taken up arms against his government. However,
international diplomatic activity, media coverage and human rights campaigns
have been focused on one rebel group, M23 and one country, Rwanda and its
president, Paul Kagame, for allegedly sponsoring the rebellion. Even an
interested observer may easily think the rebellion is taking place in Rwanda, not
DRC. Why is Kabila against whom mutineers and rebels are battling for control
of the DRC missing in the news?
Even if we accept, just
for argument’s sake, that Rwanda/Kagame are the real force behind – not just
M23 – but all the 40 rebellious groups in DRC, would that take focus from
Kabila and his government? Last year, there was rebellion in Libya openly supported
by NATO whose planes bombed that country every day. However, the focus of the
news and diplomacy did not move away from Libya’s ruler Muammar Gadaffi.
Equally today, there is a civil war in Syria
with the rebels enjoying the active support of the USA,
Saudi Arabia and Qatar – with
money, arms and propaganda. However, the news coverage is not about those
sponsoring the civil war but about the subject of that civil war, President
Bashar Asaad.
One could say that
perhaps Rwanda/Kagame is the centre of diplomatic activity and news coverage
because of their interest in Congolese minerals. But again, when the US went into Iraq, there were widespread
accusation of her interest in its oil as the driving motive of the invasion.
Last year, there was a lot of news and analysis that NATO’s invasion of Libya was
driven by its oil. However, in both cases Saddam Hussein and Gadaffi remained
central figures in the story. Hence, the Congo rebellion may be the first in
human history where the person at the centre of the news is not the concerned
president but the one alleged to be sponsoring the rebels.
The accusations against
Rwanda at the Security
Council were not presented by Kinshasa
but by a UN “panel of experts.” Consequently, even Kinshasa today seems to think the rebellion
is not an internal problem but a Rwandan problem. May be this is the reason
Kabila proposed at the Kampala
summit a “neutral force” to enter his country and fight the rebels and
mutineers for him. In many ways therefore, the international community and the
news media are helping Kabila avoid responsibility for the problems inside his
country. By blaming Rwanda,
the media and the international community are actually helping Kabila disregard
genuine domestic grievances and thereby undermining his incentives to seek
internal political accommodation.
Of course the leaders
of DRC are not stupid. They may suspect or even believe that Rwanda is
behind the rebellion by M23 and perhaps other groups as well. But they know
that many other groups rebelling against Kinshasa
have no links to Rwanda
whatsoever. In any case, Kinshasa
is aware that the mutineers and other rebels have grievances as well. It is of
course difficult for Kinshasa
to admit its role in sparking these rebellions. However, hiding behind Rwanda
may obscure its responsibility in the short term but does not solve its problem
in the medium to long term.
So what are the
problems with governance in Congo
that simulate and stimulate rebellion? Is Rwanda the creator of these problems
or an opportunist taking advantage of them? Does Kabila preside over a
democracy akin to that of Norway
or Sweden
that creates rebellion-proof politics? Even Norway last year had its own
massacre from a fanatical right wing man – meaning no country is immune to
insurrection. If we admit that DRC has serious internal governance problems,
can these simulate rebellion? How does a blanket condemnation of Kigali help us craft a
solution?
I think Kagame is a
major source of trouble for DRC; albeit by default. Under his presidency, Rwanda has made
a dramatic turnaround in a very short time. This has inspired many in high and
low places; in politics, academia, religion and the media. Kagame/ Rwanda
have thus become global super stars. But it
has also mobilised many in envy and jealous. Who
is Kagame/Rwanda to be so globally feted? The more Rwanda/Kagame get praise,
the more others stalk them for any slip. Its success means Rwanda often
gets held to very high and sometimes unrealistic standards. And like all strong brands, the success of Kagame has
attracted many opportunistic groups and interests that seek to promote their
own brand by attacking Rwanda
at every opportunity.
This also means that Rwanda’s success becomes a problem for Congo.
First, everyone knows that Rwanda
has strong and legitimate interests in the Congo given the institutional
dysfunctions in that country. They know that Congo
poses – not just a tactical or even strategic threat to Rwanda – but
rather an existential threat. In geo politics, there is the concept of the
“margin of error” which refers to the ratio of a mistake and the consequences
of it. When a small mistake can have catastrophic consequences then you have to
be hypersensitive. I suspect those who accuse Rwanda of involvement in DRC do not
need much evidence. They just extrapolate from the threat it faces to conclude
– not that it is involved – but rather that “it has to be involved.”
But this also means
that those blaming Rwanda/Kagame are actually hurting Congo. They are undermining the
process of internal evaluation that Congo needs to craft a solution for
itself. They are helping Kabila avoid responsibility to his people and country.
They are encouraging him burry his head in the sand and imagine that his people
are happy with him and it is Kagame either directly invading his country or
indirectly sponsoring rebellion against him. And the worst mistake for Congo
is to ignore the internal sources of discontent, pretend they do not exist and shift blame to external factors. This is the mistake of the international community.
Andrew M. Mwenda , Odoobo Charles Bichachi , John Njoroge
Andrew
Mwenda accused of being on Kagame’s payroll
Andrew Mwenda is on Kagame’s payroll and unethical journalist
http://ugandansatheart.org/2010/03/05/andrew-mwenda-is-on-kagames-payroll/
Dear Ugandans at heartMwenda is a very unethical journalist, at least as far as his coverage of Rwanda is concerned. He was on Dr. Emmanule Ndahiro’s pay-roll, the man who foresees ‘selling Kagame’s image”.Mwenda was blindfolded by the money he was making when he was in The Monitor. It was compulsory that time, for each governmnet office in Rwanda to buy The monitor every day. Mwenda sold his professional conscience for this money. Yes, he got the money … what better person has he become? Kagame and his Junta spent a lot of tax-payers’ money advertising useless things in the Monitor under Mwenda. That was a kind of kick-back!! He got that money, Rwandans still will ask Mwenda, what does that blood-socked money mean for you? When he fell out with The Monitor, Mwenda, through Ndahiro secured an order from the President, Kagame, prohibiting all governmnet offices from buying The Monitor. Anybody who violated this order would be jailed!!!
Mwenda secured money from the same people, Kagame and Ndahiro, to start his own news paper called the independent. He got the money.. and what better is he now? Mwenda should apologize to the people of Rwanda for sustaining the Dictator. For feeding the world with information about Kagame and the country (Rwanda) which he knew was absolutely false. Poor Mwenda, you sold all you are for silver!!!
For your information, the Classified” account from which Mwenda is paid in Kigali is meant for procurement of military hardware only!! This account is closed for any investigations or auditing. This is where Andrew Mwenda gets his pay cheque.If any journalist in Rwanda had a deal with a hostile country, Kagame would slaughter that journalist in broad day light. M7 has not done this to Andrew Mwenda. And Mwenda tells us that Kagame is the best African leaders!!!!! Man defendth where he eatth!!! In that vain, please, especially during this time when most of us strategizing to get this undeducated dictator out, please, keep Mwenda out of the picture.
The scheme was “selling Rwanda’s image abroad”. Mwenda received millions of shillings!!!! Some cheques passed via my office!!!! Secondly, Mwenda betrayed the two countries namely Uganda and Rwanda. He misrepresented himself to Kagame and Ndahiro that he was the closest person to Uganda’s intelligence and the First Family (M7) and so he had all the intelligence pieces we needed from Uganda. Actually, because of Mwenda’s thirsty for Money, we nearly had a head-on confrontation at our common boarders (Uganda and Rwanda).
Mwenda appealed so much to Kagame’s psyche, of course knowing that Kagame’s education is relatively poor, that he nearly convinced the guy that the only alternative was to fight Museveni. In the meantime, Mwenda was getting his Cameras ready to get “breaking news’ and sell his then Monitor. Mwenda contributed close to 60% of the tension that there was between Uganda and Rwanda. Mwenda nearly ended us into an unfortuante war. Netters, it took us lots of efforts to convince Kagame that the war was not necessary. Unfortuantely, Kagame trusted Mwenda’s “intelligence network” than ours!!! Owing to Mwenda’s irresponsible reporting and thirst for money, millions of our people in Uganda and Rwanda were going to die!!! Shame and shame to this Mwenda!! Once again, if Mwenda wants, I would not mind posting documentary evidence. But he has to request for it himself.
A heavy cheque From Kigali to Mwenda( Posted by Lusoke William)
On Commander Kayumba, you need to know that our Tutsi community in Rwanda is divided into two major groups. The Tutsi who came from Ugandan refugee camps in the West and in particular those from Nakivale camp, and those who came from Uganda but not from refugee camps. Most of the time these groups are even hostile. Those who came from refugee camps, also called “Bakonyine” – very primitive – are generally uneducated, so frustrated by refugee camps life ( in most cases very malicious, heartless, no room for dialogue and above all, they tend to be extremists – they display sponteneous dislike for the Hutu). Those who were not in refugee camps are generally well educated, prudent, a little sypathetic and generally open to dialogue and mixing with the Hutu. (The two groups of Tutsi are perceived of other groups of Tutsi in Rwanda as the super Tutsi. The relationship between these two group of tutsi and toehr Tutsi in Rwanda is that of distrust). Yet the two Tutsi groups or camps ( from Uganda) do not like each other.
Kagame is from the Bakonyine while Commander Nyamwasa is ‘city-born’!!! The RPF in-house killings that happened immediately after Rwegema’s death, which were supervised by afande Kagame and Salim Sareh under M7′s coordination were also along these lines. It was basically the Bakonyine aganist city-born Tutsi. M7′s FRONASA basically recruited from the Tutsi refugee camps. So M7 automatically sides with the Bakonyine – on a typically good day – otherwise he shifts!!!!
M7 has another reason why he like the Tutsi from camps; they are heartless. You should have seen how they killed people in Luwero to know how hearless they can be. You also need to recall the Mbarara slaughters and the Distruction of Masaka town ( Masaka was not destroyed by Bakombozi from TZ as they cheat you. It was destroyed by M7 wing which closed in on Masaka from Mbarara side. That is way back during th Amin war. Talk of hearless people, you have these Bakonyine!
The bakonyine Tutsi group, Kagame’s group, is the one in control in Kigali. We who came from “cities” are second class Rwandans!!! The so called arrests due to “corruption’ you hear about in Rwanda are simply an official way of the bakonyine eliminating the “city-born”. And then Kagame sells his name. The world says, look, he is arresting even RPF guys!!!Kumbe wapi. It is stage managed!!!Whenever either group is in charge of an instituion, they make sure they employ from within their group ( bakonyine or city born).
Kayumba is one of the many victims of this. When he bacame RPF boss, he revenged. He promoted “city born” guys in the army. The bakonyine felt so bad!! Morever, because the “city born” find it easy to work with the Hutu, Commander Kayumba was in good books with General Habyarimana Emmanuel when this General was the Minister of Defense in Rwanda. Kayumba himself helped General Habyarimana to escape through Uganda. Actually, the day before Kayumba left Rwanda, he made a phone call to General Emmanuel Haybarimana.
Let Kagame not cheat you that he sent Commander Kayumba to UK for studies. He had refused to sign for him although the guy had everything including scholarship. When Kagame had gone Ethiopia for a mission, General Emmanuel Habyarimana signed for Kayumba to go to UK. That is how Kayumba left Rwanda for UK.
LUSOKE WILLIAM
Former RPF soldier
UAH forumist
