by David Hundeyin
[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule with an iron hand, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus)and mass arrests of Hutus by the RPF criminal organization =>AS International]
This remarkable analysis of
the myth that sustains the most notorious totalitarian dictator delves into
Kagame’s unusually iron powerful rule over the Rwandan people
Worldwide
Human Rights organizations, United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada
and the European Union particularly Netherlands and Belgium should think twice on the consequences before praising
the Rwandan bloody dictator Paul Kagame who amazingly benefit of the Western hypocrisy and double standards.
Human Rights organizations, United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada
and the European Union particularly Netherlands and Belgium should think twice on the consequences before praising
the Rwandan bloody dictator Paul Kagame who amazingly benefit of the Western hypocrisy and double standards.
When I set about writing this, two
poignant quotes kept bouncing around in my head, which describe everything I
want to express in this column. The first, by Martin Luther King goes thus:
“Nothing in the entire world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and
conscientious stupidity.” The second quote, from a speech by US President John
F. Kennedy at Yale University goes thus: “For the great enemy of truth is very
often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth —
persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”
poignant quotes kept bouncing around in my head, which describe everything I
want to express in this column. The first, by Martin Luther King goes thus:
“Nothing in the entire world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and
conscientious stupidity.” The second quote, from a speech by US President John
F. Kennedy at Yale University goes thus: “For the great enemy of truth is very
often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth —
persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”
These two quotes perfectly sum up my
views on the sudden appearance of Paul Kagame as a kite being flown within
Nigerian political and policy circles. Regardless of who is behind the sudden
emergence of an East African strongman as a purported example for Nigerian or
African leadership, it is very important to question and challenge this
dangerous narrative before it takes root and begins to infect national decision
making, as is so often the case. The case for Kagame-style leadership as a
panacea to African development issues hinges on two major beliefs: that Kagame
is a “benevolent dictator” who leads with his country’s interests in mind, and
that he is a “competent dictator” who knows how to get things done and achieve
results.
Let us briefly interrogate these two
notions.
notions.
The ‘benevolent dictator’ is
fictional
fictional
What is most commonly used to sell the
myth of Paul Kagame is the idea that he is some sort of patriotic strongman –
the father of the modern Rwandan nation who came in like a hero at the
country’s darkest hour to steer it away from genocidal division toward the cusp
of a 21st century economic breakout. His “example” is typically cited by
non-Rwandan Africans as a stark contrast to their incompetent and corrupt
(elected) governments. “If only Kagame’s peers across Africa could be like him!
Africa would be so developed by now!”
myth of Paul Kagame is the idea that he is some sort of patriotic strongman –
the father of the modern Rwandan nation who came in like a hero at the
country’s darkest hour to steer it away from genocidal division toward the cusp
of a 21st century economic breakout. His “example” is typically cited by
non-Rwandan Africans as a stark contrast to their incompetent and corrupt
(elected) governments. “If only Kagame’s peers across Africa could be like him!
Africa would be so developed by now!”
This myth conveniently ignores some
very inconvenient facts that tell a completely different story about who Kagame
is and what the modern state of Rwanda is actually built on. First of all,
Kagame’s portrayal as a hero in the context of the events of 1994 could not be
wider of the mark. It often comes as a shock to many who discover upon some
cursory reading, that there was a second genocide happening almost concurrently
in Rwanda as well as in neighboring Burundi and Eastern DRC in 1994. This
genocide, which was characterized by massacres and rapes of hundreds of
thousands of Hutu civilians and refugees between 1990 and 1996, was twice recognized the UN in 1997 and 1998 as a genocide under Article 2 of the 1948
Genocide Convention.
very inconvenient facts that tell a completely different story about who Kagame
is and what the modern state of Rwanda is actually built on. First of all,
Kagame’s portrayal as a hero in the context of the events of 1994 could not be
wider of the mark. It often comes as a shock to many who discover upon some
cursory reading, that there was a second genocide happening almost concurrently
in Rwanda as well as in neighboring Burundi and Eastern DRC in 1994. This
genocide, which was characterized by massacres and rapes of hundreds of
thousands of Hutu civilians and refugees between 1990 and 1996, was twice recognized the UN in 1997 and 1998 as a genocide under Article 2 of the 1948
Genocide Convention.
Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic
Front (RPF), and later on his Rwandan-backed Alliance of Democratic Forces for
the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), were repeatedly implicated in these
sordid events, but the sheer ferocity of the 1994 Tutsi genocide perhaps
allowed him to fly under the radar as the lesser of two evils. By invoking the
memory of April 1994 at every opportunity, Kagame has successfully convinced
the world to forget that he was in fact, a tribal warlord fighting an
illegitimate war against an elected government, before a series of “convenient”
events led him into power in Kigali.
Front (RPF), and later on his Rwandan-backed Alliance of Democratic Forces for
the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), were repeatedly implicated in these
sordid events, but the sheer ferocity of the 1994 Tutsi genocide perhaps
allowed him to fly under the radar as the lesser of two evils. By invoking the
memory of April 1994 at every opportunity, Kagame has successfully convinced
the world to forget that he was in fact, a tribal warlord fighting an
illegitimate war against an elected government, before a series of “convenient”
events led him into power in Kigali.
What Kagame really is more than
anything else, is an opportunist – the ruthless winner who got to write history
and cynically exploit the world’s emotions by presenting a complicated – and by
no means concluded – conflict as a 3-month spurt of madness that he heroically ended?
Rather than contextualize the Rwandan genocide as part of a wider African Great
Lakes regional crisis, and acknowledge the ongoing role of the Kagame regime in
destabilizing and plundering the Eastern DRC, Africa and the world have falled
for his contrived and carefully cultivated leadership myth, allowing him to
repeatedly escape difficult questions.
anything else, is an opportunist – the ruthless winner who got to write history
and cynically exploit the world’s emotions by presenting a complicated – and by
no means concluded – conflict as a 3-month spurt of madness that he heroically ended?
Rather than contextualize the Rwandan genocide as part of a wider African Great
Lakes regional crisis, and acknowledge the ongoing role of the Kagame regime in
destabilizing and plundering the Eastern DRC, Africa and the world have falled
for his contrived and carefully cultivated leadership myth, allowing him to
repeatedly escape difficult questions.
Difficult questions like: “Why do
Rwandan opposition members keep going missing?” “How did he get 99 percent of
the votes cast in the 2017 Rwandan election?” “Why are Diane Rwigara and the opposition leader Ingabire Victoire in prison?” “Why does his government regularly seize,
expropriate and auction homes, property and businesses belonging to government
critics and to ordinarily people only because they happened to be born Hutus?” “How come Rwanda has barely any coltan deposits, but is one of the
world’s largest coltan exporters, while coincidentally sharing a border with
the Eastern DRC which has extensive coltan deposits and an everlasting civil
war fueled by armed groups linked to Kigali?” “How many civilian massacres and
mass rapes did the RPF under his leadership carry out between 1990 and
1996?” “Why did he respond to a 2006 report by French magistrate
Jean-Louis Bruguière, linking him to the assassination of former Rwandan
president Juvenal Habyarimana by breaking off Rwanda’s diplomatic relationship
with France?”
Rwandan opposition members keep going missing?” “How did he get 99 percent of
the votes cast in the 2017 Rwandan election?” “Why are Diane Rwigara and the opposition leader Ingabire Victoire in prison?” “Why does his government regularly seize,
expropriate and auction homes, property and businesses belonging to government
critics and to ordinarily people only because they happened to be born Hutus?” “How come Rwanda has barely any coltan deposits, but is one of the
world’s largest coltan exporters, while coincidentally sharing a border with
the Eastern DRC which has extensive coltan deposits and an everlasting civil
war fueled by armed groups linked to Kigali?” “How many civilian massacres and
mass rapes did the RPF under his leadership carry out between 1990 and
1996?” “Why did he respond to a 2006 report by French magistrate
Jean-Louis Bruguière, linking him to the assassination of former Rwandan
president Juvenal Habyarimana by breaking off Rwanda’s diplomatic relationship
with France?”
In an alternate universe, Paul
Kagame would be answering questions about RPF war crimes and his role in the
events of 1994 at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. Instead, because of the power of the “benevolent
dictator” myth, this charming, narcissistic Mobutu Sese Seko regens with a nice
smile and good PR is currently the toast of many within Africa’s
ironically-termed intelligentsia.
Kagame would be answering questions about RPF war crimes and his role in the
events of 1994 at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. Instead, because of the power of the “benevolent
dictator” myth, this charming, narcissistic Mobutu Sese Seko regens with a nice
smile and good PR is currently the toast of many within Africa’s
ironically-termed intelligentsia.
The ‘competent dictator’ is another
myth
myth
When Customs Controller General,
Col. Hamid Ali recently made a comment comparing Nigeria’s nonsensical border
closure to China’s alleged border closure in the 20th century, it was a sign
that Nigeria’s government has moved on from selling myths and inaccurate
information to Nigerians, and started formulating real policies with long term
consequences based on false information. Why this worried me was that it presented
the possibility of a scenario where the Kagame myth will be used as a basis for
policy and political moves that will destroy our hard-won democratic freedoms
and wreck our economy for nothing.
Col. Hamid Ali recently made a comment comparing Nigeria’s nonsensical border
closure to China’s alleged border closure in the 20th century, it was a sign
that Nigeria’s government has moved on from selling myths and inaccurate
information to Nigerians, and started formulating real policies with long term
consequences based on false information. Why this worried me was that it presented
the possibility of a scenario where the Kagame myth will be used as a basis for
policy and political moves that will destroy our hard-won democratic freedoms
and wreck our economy for nothing.
If an MDA head and his boss in Aso
Rock are making policy decisions based on Chinese ‘historical events’ that
simply did not happen, they can also make decisions based on a Rwandan success
story that is entirely fictional. As of today, for example, Rwanda has roughly
one doctor per 15,600 people. To put that in perspective, Nigeria has roughly
one doctor per 2,500 people, and it is widely accepted that this figure
represents a healthcare emergency. Rwanda’s per capita GDP is also a miserable
$850, putting it behind Chad and war-torn Yemen, and just ahead of economic
powerhouses like Haiti, Afghanistan and South Sudan. In 25 years since seizing
power, Paul Kagame’s regime has managed to pave just 1,000km of the country’s
12,000km of roads – about 8.3 percent of the total road network.
Rock are making policy decisions based on Chinese ‘historical events’ that
simply did not happen, they can also make decisions based on a Rwandan success
story that is entirely fictional. As of today, for example, Rwanda has roughly
one doctor per 15,600 people. To put that in perspective, Nigeria has roughly
one doctor per 2,500 people, and it is widely accepted that this figure
represents a healthcare emergency. Rwanda’s per capita GDP is also a miserable
$850, putting it behind Chad and war-torn Yemen, and just ahead of economic
powerhouses like Haiti, Afghanistan and South Sudan. In 25 years since seizing
power, Paul Kagame’s regime has managed to pave just 1,000km of the country’s
12,000km of roads – about 8.3 percent of the total road network.
Even in the famously clean and shiny
capital city Kigali, only the most important roads are paved, with the majority
of streets still brown earth roads. Most tellingly, anything from 30 to 50
percent of Rwanda’s national budget is still funded by foreign aid every year,
more than a quarter of a century after Paul Kagame seized power. Behind the
shiny, clean streets of Kigali and the PR-savviness of Kagame’s regime,
complete with poverty statistics manipulated to look good as discovered
recently by the Financial Times, Rwanda remains a dirt poor banana republic
populated by impoverished and terrified people.
capital city Kigali, only the most important roads are paved, with the majority
of streets still brown earth roads. Most tellingly, anything from 30 to 50
percent of Rwanda’s national budget is still funded by foreign aid every year,
more than a quarter of a century after Paul Kagame seized power. Behind the
shiny, clean streets of Kigali and the PR-savviness of Kagame’s regime,
complete with poverty statistics manipulated to look good as discovered
recently by the Financial Times, Rwanda remains a dirt poor banana republic
populated by impoverished and terrified people.
If there is such a thing as a
“competent dictatorship,” Rwanda is not it, and I cannot stress this point
enough. The economically illiterate decision to self-harm by closing the borders
without sorting out any of the underlying issues that make imported goods more
competitive, is an example of ruinous national decision decision-making based
on myths like “the Chinese closed their borders.”
“competent dictatorship,” Rwanda is not it, and I cannot stress this point
enough. The economically illiterate decision to self-harm by closing the borders
without sorting out any of the underlying issues that make imported goods more
competitive, is an example of ruinous national decision decision-making based
on myths like “the Chinese closed their borders.”
Hopefully, we won’t have to learn
the hard way that the myth of Paul Kagame – no matter how much we want to
believe in it – is just a myth.
the hard way that the myth of Paul Kagame – no matter how much we want to
believe in it – is just a myth.
More revelations:
ANJAN SUNDARAM: I think the
numbers are skewed. I wouldn’t trust any government in a country in which
there’s no free press.
numbers are skewed. I wouldn’t trust any government in a country in which
there’s no free press.
“Bad News” is a jarringly intimate record of how the RPF oppressive government’s distortions of the truth play out on the level of an individual mind. It’s all about the denial of freedom of conscience — about how Kagame’s dictatorship’s wholesale reconstruction of reality corrodes and then co-opts the psyche, molding Rwandan citizens into timid reflections of their doubts and fears.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a “time”, yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a time, yet It cannot be destroyed => Wolverine
