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Kagame, where is your accountability?

Dictator Kagame should own up to his recklessness

Paul Kagame

Paul Kagame must be held accountable for what happened in Rwanda since 1990

This is in response to Kagame�s continued heartless denial and insensitivity in an exclusive interview with the Monitor Managing Editor Daniel Kalinaki in Kigali last week (Monitor of 23/05/2010). See Rwanda�s president Kagame wants accountability.
It is so unfortunate that this well known killer has continued to shield his murderous side instead of coming out and admitting the truth as a cornerstone for the reconciliation urgently needed in the Rwandese people.

Firstly, Kagame talks of accountability as an element that holds everybody, every individual, leaders, the senior, the junior, even the systems. He says that it is lack of accountability that makes the Kayumbas, the Karegeyas and others to behave recklessly.
How about him?

Kagame is believed today to be the most reckless person the world has seen in recent times for causing the deaths of millions of innocent civilians in the Great lakes region of Central and Eastern Africa.

It all started by Kagame, Museveni and their cohorts militarily attacking a peaceful nation of Rwanda in 1990.
Then it climaxed when Kagame himself ordered the shooting down of President Habyarimana�s plane killing him instantly together with the president of Burundi in April 1994.
This reckless act by Kagame caused the civil unrest that resulted in the death of more than a million innocent civilians being massacred in the country Rwanda he claims to love.

He did not stop in Rwanda.
In 1996 he extended his bloody hand in Congo (DRC) where more than six million Congolese and Hutu refugees perished under his command and watch.

It was not at all by accident that the genocide happened in Rwanda in 1994 because Kagame knew very well what would happen if Habyarimana who was at that time seen as the only shield of the Hutus and other peace loving Rwandese in Rwanda was mysteriously killed.
However, Kagame went ahead and killed Habyarimana anyway because he knew very well that he could not gain any political power in Rwanda unless there was chaos. And it is through this chaos created by the reckless Kagame that handed the RPF military victory and political power he has continued to enjoy in Rwanda 16 years later.

Kagame observes, �The challenges left behind by divisive politics left behind by colonialists, and then totally mismanaged by the leaders who followed independence.�

Surely why does Kagame want the Rwandan history of divisive politics and segregation to begin in 1962 when Rwanda got its independence? As a good leader who has Rwanda at heart, why does he address the Rwandan history right from the days even before colonialists came to colonise Rwanda and address the oppression the Tutsis were subjecting the Hutus and Twas to?

Certainly, it is this ugly truth that will help the Rwandese to confront their past as a way of reaching sincere reconciliation with the sole purpose of forging a modern and a more respectful, peaceful way of coexistence.

Again, did Kagame�s reckless act of starting a bloody civil war in Rwanda in 1990 help in the Rwandan political challenges after independence?

Kagame rightly emphasises that one should never use his or her being a muHutu, muTutsi, or muTwa to hurt others, or to the detriment of others; but surely why doesn�t Kagame start with himself?
When he and Museveni led a Tutsi dominated armed group to attack Rwanda and force himself on the political leadership of a Hutu dominated population with peace loving Tutsis, what did he expect? Didn�t he do it to the detriment of others?

Kagame has tried to justify the arrest of Victoire Ingabire simply because that Ingabire had connections with the FDLR who are genocidaires living in Congo; surely if Kagame also believes that Ingabire was abroad when the genocide happened and that she is not accused of any genocide crime, why is it criminal for Ingabire to talk to any Rwandese in exile as a way of seeking reconciliation and avoid further bloodshed on the Rwandese people? I am not Ingabire�s spokesperson but I can see where political witch hunt is being maliciously executed.

As far as the facts on the ground are concerned, Kagame caused the formation of the FDLR in Congo when he ordered the murderous shelling of the Hutu refugee camps in Congo as a way of forcing these refugees who were rightly scared of Kagame and his RPF government back into Rwanda in 1995.
More than 400,000 innocent Hutu refugees were massacred by this reckless RPF act.
Though other refugees were killed or herded into Rwanda, some escaped and scattered in the jungles of the vast Congo forests. It is from these groups that FDLR was formed.

So Kagame if I may ask, �does that make them less Rwandese?� If at all Kagame has Rwanda and Rwandese at heart as he would want us to believe, why has he decided to deceive the whole world that there are no more Rwandese refugees in Congo?
He should know and appreciate that there are some who cannot come to Rwanda to be ruled by Kagame, a notorious killer who killed their parents, brothers and sisters in cold blood in Congo refugee camps in 1995 and 1996!

Kagame even quotes that even the UN itself has information how Ingabire has connections with FDLR in Congo!
Is it now that Kagame has decided to respect the UN concerns on Rwanda issues?
Gersony was a UN expert who was mandated to investigate Kagame/RPF�s crimes against humanity in Rwanda way back in 1997. His report revealed how Kagame and his RPF killed many more innocent Hutu civilians before and after the start of the genocide.
�What happened to this report Mr.Kagame sir?� if I may ask?

Finally Kagame claims that Ingabire is being confronted in the Rwandan Courts of Justice in broad day light.
Why is Kagame then now telling the world in this interview that Ingabire has cases to answer as if Kagame is the judge in these cases?
Kagame says, �Yes we have earned a bad name for no good reason, but this woman Ingabire will certainly be put where she belongs.� JAIL!
Anyone can see that Ingabire�s case is a well predetermined one by no other than �pilato� Kagame himself, and it is a waste of time to wait for the outcomes of the Ingabire case in Rwanda as many had predicted.
However, I would like to warn Kagame, his cohorts and henchmen that all peace loving people of this world are watching this injustice being executed on the innocent people of Rwanda, and God did not create them to be killed or abused with impunity.

�Kagame, where is your accountability then?� I conclude today.

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May 25, 2010   No Comments

Rwanda’s president Kagame wants accountability

In an interview with Monitor newspaper, President Paul Kagame gives a monologue as a wise and honest person about accountability. Irony and extreme duplicity!
Here is what he says:

Kagame on accountability

�In addressing the problems of Rwanda that we have faced and I think which extend beyond our borders in politics or in our social and economic lives I believe strongly, I have a conviction, that there is one element that needs to be adhered to and always needs to guide us; this is the issue of accountability.

Can we create a system that fairly or even that democratically or whichever way you look at it, that will hold everybody, every individual, leaders- the senior the junior, even the systems accountable?

Read reaction reader’s reaction in the article:
�Kagame, where is your accountability?

The issue of accountability for me, the life I�ve lived, how I have seen things, the way I�ve studied them, you won�t get anything right � the politics, development � unless you have accountability because lack of accountability is what makes the Kayumbas, the Karegeyas and others to behave so recklessly.
They have maybe certain desires they want to satisfy and they�d want to do it anyhow, they want to do it using their positions, they feel they are entitled and in many ways they infringe on the rights of the majority of these people they are supposed to lead.

There should be accountability at every level; it doesn�t matter whether you�re a general, a president, an ordinary citizen, an MP or a minister; there should be a sense of accountability and that�s what has killed this country before and that�s probably what kills many other countries on the continent.�

Excerpt from article ‘Why I fell out with Generals, says Kagame’ by Monitor Managing Editor Daniel Kalinaki – May 23rd, 2010.

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May 25, 2010   1 Comment

Rwanda: RPF-PSD Marriage – Ghost Opposition, Stooge Candidate

The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda which brings together, the United Democratic Forces (FDU�Inkingi), the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, the Parti Social IMBERAKURI, is very disturbed and deeply concerned with the new RPF strategy of doing away with the real political opposition and embrace its coalition partners for the last 16 years as the Political Opposition.

This comes just a few weeks after the public Request by President Kagame in one of his Press Conferences held in April 2010, telling Liberal Party-PL and Social Democratic Party-PSD to start claiming for the political space the opposition has been calling for.

Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, Rwanda�s Deputy Speaker of Parliament, cannot challenge President Paul Kagame and the RPF in the upcoming August presidential elections.

Dr. Ntawukuriryayo is a former Health Minister and his Social Democratic Party (PSD) have been sleeping in the same bed with RPF since 1994 and in 2003 elections, PSD backed the RPF candidate. The President of PSD, Dr. Vincent BIRUTA, became the Speaker of Parliament then and there-after, till now the Speaker of the Rwandan Senate-the second Supreme Organ in the Country and Number two in hierarchy according to the Rwandan Constitution and also the Deputy Speaker of Parliament is not far away from the top hierarchy and decision makers of the Land.

The usual master plan is already known: the right time the stooge candidate urges his supporters to vote for the incumbent.

It�s very clear that PSD is an RPF satellite and affiliated Party and has never been in opposition since 1994.
It is just coming in to escort and give legitimacy to the RPF Candidate and hoodwink the international community that the elections are free and fair.

The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda strongly condemns this new RPF strategy of doing away with the real and genuine political opposition by embracing its coalition Partners, PSD and PL as its new opposition.

�There are people going to stand. There are other candidates [from] parties that are allied to us that have decided to front their candidates. And I respect that. It is healthy. It will make it more lively and competitive. They have occupied their better place than being always tied with us or even than allowing the likes of Ingabires to occupy the vacuum.

Pres. Kagame, interview with Monitor – see Rwanda: Victoire Ingabire is like Alice Lakwena in Uganda, says Kagame

PSD and PL have never stood up publically to challenge the RPF regime, they have never denounced the injustices of the RPF against the population, they have never confronted the RPF for the democratization of the country, they have always been comfortable with the RPF-established clientele system and they have always supported all RPF activities without giving any critic publically.

An election, where the real opposition is not allowed to participate in, is just a wastage of national resources and wastage of time.

We once again call for a level playing field for the 2010 presidential election; the legitimacy of the results will remain a big problem if the real opposition is closed out.

We also once again call the Rwandan Government to register the real opposition parties: FDU INKINGI and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda without any further hurdles.

Issued at Kigali, 24th May 2010

Signed by:
Ms Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces

Mr. Frank Habineza
Chairman, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda

Me. Bernard Ntaganda
Chairman, Parti Social IMBERAKURI

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May 25, 2010   1 Comment

Rwanda: Victoire Ingabire is like Alice Lakwena in Uganda, says Kagame

President Paul Kagame expresses again how he sees opposition leader Ms Victoire Ingabire.
Here is an excerpt of the interview he had last week with The Monitor Managing Editor Daniel Kalinaki:

Daniel Kalinaki:
Q:/The election seems to be a straightforward affair. Do you feel that it is simply a referendum on your regime?

Kagame:
“There are people going to stand. There are other candidates [from] parties that are allied to us that have decided to front their candidates. And I respect that. It is healthy. It will make it more lively and competitive. They have occupied their better place than being always tied with us or even than allowing the likes of Ingabires to occupy the vacuum.

For just exercising some argument, imagine if Alice Lakwena was still alive and she offered herself as a presidential candidate in Uganda! I wonder if the laws and rules would have let her be. This whole attitude, I link it to how people see us; [that] the Ingabires and Lakwenas are African leaders, fit to lead Africa� We should have better people coming up as opposition. Let opposition or the ones in power be the right people, the right Africans to compete for power and to help the countries move forward. I find it cynical and sarcastic for Africa to be reduced to this.”

Related:
- Rwanda: �This woman will be where she belongs�, says Kagame about opposition leader Victoire Ingabire
- Rwanda: Victoire Ingabire to Paul Kagame: �Do not hold in contempt your own justice system
- Rwanda: Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has confessed, says President Kagame

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May 25, 2010   1 Comment