Open letter of support to President Kikwete’s wise statement on Rwanda’s FDLR
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, urged the Governments in the Great Lakes region to work together and end the war which has been going on for nearly 20 years, President Kikwete stressed that the only way out of that situation the region is facing was to speak to the rebels. This has caused different versions and the war of words between Rwanda and Tanzania however The Rwandan Dream Youth welcomed the idea of Mr Kikwete contrarily to the Rwandan Government.
Enclosed is the letter to the secretary General Ban Ki Moon from the Rwandan dream youth in support of President Kikwete�s idea.
UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon
United Nations
New York, NY 10017 USA
212-963-5012 fax: 212-963-7055
Email: [email protected]
May 29, 2013
RE: OPEN LETTER OF SUPPORT TO PRESIDENT KIKWETE�S WISE STATEMENT ON RWANDA�S FDLR AT 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF AFRICAN UNITY, ADDIS ABABA
On May 26, at the AU summit in Addis Ababa, Tanzania�s President Jakaya Kikwete made a statement that will go down in history as the wisest ever. Speaking during the meeting for the parties concerned by the regional Peace Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Kikwete urged local Governments to address issues they have with armed opponents, including the Rwanda�s FDLR based in Congo.
We, The Rwandan Dream Youth Worldwide, wish to ask the UN to support Hon. Kikwete�s statement and call for negotiations between the Rwandan Government and the FDLR in order to put an end to the sufferance caused by two decades conflict.
Since it came to power in the wake of the 1994 genocide, Paul Kagame�s Government focused on wiping out the Hutu rebels who desperately took up arms after the massacre of hundreds of thousands of refugees by the Rwandan army in the forests of Congo. We have to make it clear that the settlement of the FDLR issue is an absolute prerequisite to secure stability in the East of Congo.
In order to achieve and sustain peaceful cohabitation between DRC and Rwanda, it is crucial to address once for all the issue of the Rwandan refugees who are still on Congo�s soil. The troubling fact is that the Rwandan Government is enthusiast to the cause of Kinyarwanda speaking Tutsi Congolese claiming to be excluded in their own country while the same government keeps ignoring the issue of Rwandan refugees who have spent decades in wretched conditions in DRC.
Thousands of Rwandan refugees are reluctant to return due to political intolerance prevailing in the country. Opposition politicians, human rights activists and journalists are permanently in danger of being murdered, put in jail or forced to exile.
In our opinion, it is not possible to address Congo�s M23 issue and ignore Rwanda�s FDLR issue. We are convinced that Hon. Kikwete�s statement could be a stepping-stone to a stronger commitment from all the stakeholders. Tanzania has always been part of all processes meant to bring peace, justice and democracy to Rwanda, that is why we urge the UN to consider talks between Rwandans hosted by Tanzania.
Faithfully.
The Rwandan Dream Youth
Cc
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
EAC Heads of States
The President of the United States of America
The African Union
East African Legislative Assembly (EALA)
All Embassies Accredited to Rwanda
The National Assembly of Tanzania
The Rwanda Civil Society Platform
Ibuka
Source: Inyenyeri News
May 30, 2013 No Comments
Extremist Tutsis ruling Rwanda should end the victim game in the Great Lakes region
They are doing this while they are depriving all humanity to other communities both in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The international community has to stop letting them carrying on their cynical tactics at the expense of millions of lives which are as valuable as theirs, though they don�t appear to take it that way.
They work closely with the President of Uganda Joweri Museveni because of their ethnical closeness. They helped him take power in Kampala in 1986 while they were in exile there since the 60s.
He paid them back by putting them in power in Rwanda in 1994 after them killing 3 Hutu presidents [2 from Burundi: Melchior Ndadaye on October 21st, 1993 and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6th, 1994, and 1 from Rwanda: Juvenal Habyarimana].
They orchestrated the Rwandan genocide and continued in DRC where so far more than 8 million people have been killed as a consequence of their wars to plunder resources of that country.
In between they killed as well Laurent Desire Kabila in 2001 because he was not ready to sell out his country to them. It is true they had helped him remove Mobutu. For that reason they expected him to let them do of DRC whatever they wanted.
It surprises a lot when a criminal plays the victim game.
While in 2011 the Rwandan government sent a killing squad to the UK with a mission to silence for good 2 vocal Rwandan dissidents, its embassy in London didn�t shy away from asking the Metropolitan Police to guaranty their total safety when they would be organising their Rwanda Day on May 18th 2013.
In the eyes of the British police, such attitude put them in a position where those who were applying for permission for a right to protest against Kagame look like thugs aimed at causing trouble.
The protesters of London in front of The Troxy on May 18th had almost to force the British police hand to get their permission to protest. It was only released 18 hours before the start of Rwanda Day at that location.
Tutsi extremists leading Rwanda today are at it again after the Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete suggested that Kigali and FDLR should hold talks to enable the region achieve durable peace.
Though it was expected that the Rwandan government would object categorically to such idea, what was not, was the fact that it would bring up its arsenal of tools in its denouncement.
The one highlighted here is an open letter that the Rwandan Diaspora living in the United States and supportive of the Kagame regime has written to President Barack Obama in relation to his upcoming visit to Tanzania and the suggested talks between Rwanda and its opposition represented by FDLR .
The letter is published to inform i the readers about the tactics that RPF uses. It has used them so often since taking power that nobody should continue to be fooled while the criminal regime claims its innocence about the suffering of millions of Congolese and Rwandans and at the same time appears ready to carry it on.
Open Letter to H.E. Barack H. Obama, the President of the United States of America
May 27th, 2013
Subject: Remarks by H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania at the 21st African Union Summit on May 26th, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Your Excellency the President of the United States of America
We, the undersigned, being survivors of the genocide against Tutsi and Rwandans legally living in the United States of America are appalled by the statement made by H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania at the 21st African Union Summit on May 26th, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in which he called upon the Rwandan government to �negotiate� with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group predominantly composed of members of the Interahamwe militia and the Armed Forces of Rwanda that carried out the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and for the killings of millions of innocent people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
We salute the United States of America�s leadership and commitment to fight the international terrorism, particularly your government�s collaboration with the regional and international players to find a solution to the crisis in the Great Lakes region. Not only you were among the first countries, alongside the United Nations, to name the FDLR, formerly known as the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), as a terrorist group but also you have placed many five-million-dollar bounties on some Rwandan genocide perpetrators� heads, including Sylivestre Mudacumura, the FDLR supreme commander who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, torture and attacking innocent civilians.
We believe President Kikwete is fully informed of these still ongoing heinous crimes committed by FDLR towards millions of innocent Congolese and many foreigners, including innocent Americans Rob Haubner and Susan Miller killed in Bwindi Forest in 1999, to name but a few who lost their lives at the hands of FDLR. In 1994, when more than one million innocent Tutsi were brutally murdered, President Kikwete, then the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Tanzania did not speak up.
Since then, he has seen his country burying hundreds of thousands of Rwandans whose bodies were damped into Akagera River, in Rwanda by the same genocidaires who formed FDLR with the intent to �finish the job �flooding all the way to Tanzania. Given that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is based in Tanzania, we have no doubt that President Kikwete has been following the court proceedings and should comprehend the threat posed by the FDLR to Rwanda�s and the region�s peace and security.
We appreciate the support you have provided to Rwanda since 1994. As you know, our country has worked tirelessly, despite many challenges, to successfully repatriate millions of Rwandan refugees since the genocide and have reintegrated many FDLR fighters in the Rwandan Defense Forces.
As the concerned citizens of Rwanda and legal residents of the United States of America, we acknowledge that Rwanda has paid too big a price for too long and feel obliged to openly and strongly question President Kikwete�s hidden intentions behind such dreadful remarks and hereby request your office to join us in our call to him to immediately withdraw this shocking statement made at the time when as Rwandans, we are still commemorating the 19th anniversary of the genocide and grieving the loss of our beloved ones. President Kikwete should openly apologize to us as survivors of the genocide in Rwanda and Rwandans in general, Congolese, Americans and many more people who have suffered from the FDLR terrorism.
Your Excellency, we trust that the United States of America cannot support this kind of political dealings that serve, if anything, as a setback to any progress led by Rwanda and many regional and international players to restore peace in the democratic Republic of Congo. Though we welcome your upcoming visit to our beloved continent, we recommend you cancel your trip to Tanzania unless President Kikwete openly apologizes and disavows any relationship he might have with the FDLR.
We look forward to our continued collaboration as we strive to fight impunity and international terrorism in order to ensure a peaceful and secure world for all.
Yours faithfully,
Alice Umutoni
Vice Coordinator of the organizing committee
The 19th Commemoration of the Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda in the U.S.A.
Source: The Rising Continent
May 30, 2013 No Comments
Rwanda: The Inside Story On Why The Cabinet Reshuffle Was Long Overdue
Kigali: On the evening of May 24, 2013, news emerged that President Paul Kagame had dropped two well-known cabinet members, and brought in new faces. The President, in consultation with the head of Government, the Prime Minister, brought in Justice Johnston Busingye to replace long-serving Tharcisse Karugarama, as Justice Minister and Attorney Genaral.
Justice Busingye, who has been a major player in the post-genocide reconstruction of Rwanda�s justice system, had been the Principal Judge of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) based in Arusha, Tanzania. The Cabinet Affairs portfolio was filled with Ms Stella Ford Mugabo, who has been in charge of the Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat (PSCBC). Ms Mugabo displaced Engineer Protais Musoni.
Since the announcements were made, along with other changes, the local news media and social networks have been abuzz with speculation as to why Karugarama and Musoni were dropped. Some have suggested that Karugarama is victim of the comments which were attributed to him by a recent story in the Guardian newspaper. In the case of Musoni, the speculators � mainly journalists in and outside Rwanda, suggested he was in for big things.
Much of what has been said remains as speculation because no tangible facts were put forward. A further probing of the two former ministers, who are considered senior RPF members, reveals more disturbing facts about why the appointing authority decided; enough was enough.
Protais Musoni: a case of diminishing returns
Protais Musoni has been in cabinet since 2002, in addition to another long list of previous senior appointments. Prior to that, Musoni had served one of the RPF�s top cadres. But as one insider aware of the insider-goings of government put it, Musoni had been over the past few years turned into a liability to the effective performance of the administrative structure. His performance was more of �diminishing returns�, as very little was coming from him.
But why would the once star-performer turn into the opposite? Sources privy to the details of Musoni�s public engagement tell us that the ex-minister was acting much older than his actual age (60year). The aging element, says the source, was compounded by Musoni�s continuous degeneration into an alcoholic.
The source tells us Musoni had lost moral authority after he was linked to land grabbing in the Eastern Province. The ex-minister himself was a major culprit in a particular case involving 400 acres. In a rare stance, Musoni apologized to his superiors for otherwise galloping appetite for property.
New Lady on the block: Ms Stella Ford Mugabo may not be known to many, but the appointing authority has huge hopes in her to coordinate the entire cabinet owing to her experience managing the often troublesome and complex private sector
Actually, according to our source, allowing Musoni to relinquish such a demanding cabinet role was �long overdue�. The ex-bureaucrat was having hard times keeping up to the demands of his office. Case in point, in late 2011, several journalists had been invited to his office. One of the journalists who attended the session tells us that Musoni would speak and at times go off topic or forget what he was explaining midway.
Such situations happened several times, during when his advisor at the time Kim Kamasa would intervene. The minister also kept removing his spectacles, and wiping his forehead and eyes, a sign the once-vibrant minister, was becoming weaker.
We decided to grant anonymity to our sources, to allow them speak freely. As some of the social media posts suggest, Musoni, like anybody should not be seen as indispensable. As a country that has to move faster than it should, to get to its ambitious agenda, the appointing authority needs a constant supply of fresh blood with new vigour. Ms Stella Ford Mugabo, who has been managing a complex capacity building office, comes in as one of the best on offer.
Karugarama: a �non-state actor�
The ex-justice minister, many will agree, took over the helm of the stewardship of Rwanda�s justice sector in August 2006 as a star entrant. Contrary to how some political appointments are made, Karugarama was considered as one of the sector�s godfathers. Many of the judicial changes have been attributed to him.
But like the old saying goes; it gets to a time when new ideas are actually not new. Karugarama has been �continuously declining in performance�, said one of our sources. The appointing authority needed to �reinvigorate� the sector, added the source.
One of the judicial officials at local level, who have to implement many of the legal reforms, from the central government, tells us it was becoming impossible for them to keep track of the many changes. As another judicial official put it, Karugarama �created insecurity in the laws�. The most affected section of the judiciary was the judges.
Officials with knowledge of the inner functioning of the justice ministry say the judges have repeatedly complained about the constant review of laws � mainly the penal code. The changes were contributing to a pilling up of unsolved case files. As a result, according to the same sources, corruption in the judiciary was becoming a big challenge to the fight against graft.
Karugarama was the minister of justice and attorney, essentially the country�s top law enforcement official, but has been behaving like a �non-state actor�, said another of our sources. Karugarama acts and speaks like an NGO with no role in what is being formulated by the very institution he manages, added the source.
The technocrat? Justice Johnston Busingye (standing) brings into the justice portfolio a background of somebody who has had to live with the “insecurity in the laws” created by his predecessor Karugarama
�Influence peddling�
Officials at the ministry have told us that Karugarama displayed a major lack of ownership of many of the tasks he was given. Case in point; in parliament on June 18, 2012, when the Gacaca courts were being closed, Karugarama embarrassingly looked unprepared, had no speech and did not look like an official in charge.
With more than six years at the same department, the ex-justice minister had created what some employees described as �Karugarama�s network�. Many of the senior positions at the ministry had been filled by personally selected officials. Our sources cite most the senior state attorneys and senior directors, as having been pushed up the ladder to serve his interests.
In a particular case, the office of the Permanent Secretary; this serves as the ministry�s accounting authority, was no longer in charge of crucial dossiers at the institution. The current PS was virtually none existent as all his duties were performed by others who reporting directly to minister Karugarama.
Our sources have put to us that it was through these networks that Karugarama was �influence peddling� in all departments to satisfy his ends.
New faces? Not entirely…
But even with these weaknesses, the bottom-line remains that the ministry needed a new direction. Karugama, like Musoni, could have been a force for good, but had become a liability too expensive to maintain. Rwanda is moving too fast, any institution or individual who blocks the progress in any form should not be allowed to keep serving. Karugama, like Musoni, was not unchangeable.
Even as Justice Busingye and Ms Mugabo are elevated to new portfolios, they must be having weaknesses which the appointing authority may need to look into. Even as the President and PM may believe they have made the ultimate choices, it will not be long that we will begin to see if they can really make a difference.
The justice and cabinet affairs portfolios are some of the government�s key administrative centres which need highly skilled and motivated individuals. We can only hope, Busingye and Ms Mugabo meet the expectation.
Based on RPF�s principles, as has been suggested on social media, sometimes those dropped are accommodated. It can only be speculated that Karugarama and Musoni will eat from the same pot.
Source: Rwanda News Agency
May 30, 2013 No Comments