Rwanda: A NATION GRIPPED BY FEAR

The following article was written by a credible yet anonymous source. It is part one of two articles that tell the story of what Rwanda is like from the inside.

In classic dictatorial fashion, President Kagame has thrown caution to the wind and exposed his fear and insecurities by stripping the families of General Kayumba, Colonel Karegeya, businessman Tribert Rujugiro and others of their Rwandan Passports. These actions have been done out of fear because in true Dictatorial character President Kagame has acted in the following manner:

  •  He has been let down by his military intelligence and has no idea how big or small the enemy he is fighting.
  •  There is mounting support for the opposition groups FdU-Inkingi, PS Imberakuri, RNC and Monarchist Parties within Rwanda and abroad.
  •  The Tutsi support he has enjoyed is slowly breaking apart.

The use of repression breeds fear in Rwandans which leads to reluctance on the part of the citizenry and shows displeasure with the dictator’s policies since not knowing what the population thinks of his policies. He has no way of knowing what they are thinking and planning, and of course he suspects that what they are thinking and planning is his assassination.

One thing for sure is that Kagame can feel and smell an impending revolution!

By stripping children and wives of Rwandan passports, he is clearly sending a message to Rwandans that he is prepared to make life intolerable for families of dissenters. It is public knowledge that the parents, siblings and extended families of Dr.  Theogene Rudasingwa, General Kayumba Nyamwasa and Colonel Karegeya have endured constant harassment, isolation, imprisonment and brutal death in the case of Karegeya’s cousin.

For Kagame, Tutsi’s are his bargaining chip especially since he rose to power as the hero who saved them from a Hutu-led Genocide and used that tragedy to receive enormous donor fundsing, worldwide fame/recognition and boundless entry into Congo’s mineral rich territories.

Secondly, if Tutsi support for Kagame was to waiver and there was a mass exodus of refugees again, he would be extremely vulnerable to the Rwandan opposition abroad that increases by the day and is hungry for his resignation. The International support he once enjoyed has quickly fizzled and the ICC has suddenly taken notice of the raging wars he started in Eastern Congo which would reveal a Pandora’s Box should his blue-eyed boy Bosco Ntaganda be captured and reveal Kagame’s implication. But, for those who are conversant in the way Kagame operates, they need to continue holding onto Tutsi support led Kagame and his cohorts to invoke the cessation clause to the UNHCR which will be effective in June 2012. This clause will prohibit any Rwandan to declare refugee status. In short, we either toe his line or we are doomed.

For these reasons, it is not difficult to decipher that Kagame is a Paranoid Megalomaniac.

Another reason Kagame is in fear, is because he no longer trusts his Intelligence Organs and rightly so. It has been sloppy to say the least;

  • What with the sloppy assassination attempt on General Kayumba in South Africa during the World cup in 2010
  • The impending trial in South Africa of the culprits who were caught red-handed with mega evidence which is already exposing the Rwandan Embassy’s complicity
  • The recorded phone calls that have gone viral worldwide between Kagame’s chief of intelligence Jack Nziza and Dan Munyuza with the killers discussing assassination fees, poisoning of opposition member
  •  The spy network abroad that has been shamelessly exposed  in both Britain and Sweden ( British National security warned president Kagame about its intolerance to his “ Hit squads” )
  • The recent move by President Kagame to transfer the Ministry of Information into the Ministry of Local Government run by his prolific enforcer James Musoni, symbolizes the dissatisfaction with how the Ministry of Information is managed and it has recently included the “Itorero ry’igihugu” an RPF informal entity that is used to indoctrinate the youth with RPF propaganda.

ENABLERS

Within the Rwandan population that President Kagame continues to hold hostage in perpetual fear are the enablers. We all know them. They are the source and backbone of the dictatorial regime in Kigali. They are the single most dedicated individuals and groups in defending Kagame’s regime and the biggest obstacle to Rwanda’s future. They have no sense of right or wrong. They have a conscience that fails to oppose injustice, gross human rights violations and eagerly devise measures to secure the dictatorship at hand. They eagerly protect him internationally in return for lucrative postings, business deals and favoritism. For example, when Former army chief General Kayumba Nyamwasa was shot in an assassination attempt in South Africa in 2010, the Minister of Foreign affairs Louise Mushikiwabo had the audacity to publicly say that he had shot himself in an effort to make President Kagame seem like the culprit. When she was cornered, she offered another explanation to the effect that it was a robbery case which was not surprising seeing that Johannesburg is a crime riddled capital, another diplomatic blunder! The enablers of the Kigali regime are there to deceive and distort the truth in all fora.

Another enabling example is when two Rwandan dissidents living in Britain, Jonathan Musonera and Rene Mugenzi, were warned by British security services that their lives were in danger from Rwandan spy agents sent to exterminate them. Kagame’s enabler in chief, Mushikiwabo Louise went on BBC to deny that they had no idea of even who they were. When President Kagame made a visit to Britain that same year, he was presented with a telephone voice recording of his then National Security Chief, Dr. Emmanuel Ndahiro giving orders for the “hit” to be made by his operatives. President Kagame was embarrassed to say the least, because Dr. Ndahiro was fired as NSS chief. The examples are many but for how long shall Rwandans continue to bury their heads in the sand when they look on as these enablers continue to lead the country to destruction?

  •  How else does a President use vile language to castigate former allies in Parliament and is exalted with deafening applause?
  •   How else do the Passports of children and spouses of former allies and outspoken critics get revoked and not a single newspaper report about it? All the while, members of parliament and local human rights groups look on?
  • How else does a head of state boast that he killed Hutu refugees in Congo and this speech is hailed with deafening cheer s and clapping?
  •   How else does the trial of opposition leader Victoire Umuhoza Ingabire, Bernard Ntaganda and Deo Mushayidi prove to be a sham and not one voice of reason is heard?
  •  How else does a Government throw grenades in the capital which kills and maims Rwandans and not one person/newspaper demands an explanation from Government?
  •  How does a Government dictate to a peasant what type of crop he/she should plant on their small farms which has produced a malnourished peasantry.

There is nothing more distressing and treacherous than to observe a people’s betrayal of the armed struggle that robbed us of many young people at the battlefield only to produce a worse dictatorship than the one we struggled against. In Kinyarwanda culture, we are taught to guard against “betrayal” (guhemuka) from when we are knee-high and to speak truthfully because it was the epitome of one’s nobility (Ubupfura). Speaking frankly and refusing to be petty were traits that defined Rwandans as a proud people, even in the eyes of the colonialists who wrote in the annals of history about a proud people they found in Rwanda. In Kagame’s Rwanda today, those traits are still held by a few but it is a dying culture as many have agreed to bargain their souls with the devil for a few silver coins and status.

Author: Anonymous

Edited by: Jennifer Fierberg, MSW


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