I hate repressive regimes. I hate the presidents who think they are the only ones capable of leading their nations until they turn into the cults of personality. The self-made heroes. But I also dislike the citizens who blindly worship such leaders. Togo’s late president Gnassingbe Eyadema (and now his son Faure), Robert Mugabe, Habyarimana, Kagame, Museveni and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema are a few examples in Africa. They made people worship them like demigods or just semidevils. Every substantial decision revolves around them.
It boggles my mind to the level I fail to understand how on earth the gang of four in the African Great Lakes Region: Museveni, Kagame, Kabila and Nkurunziza have escaped the long arm of the law / international justice until today. I hate whoever commits a murder and other serious crimes and gets away with them.
It paints a picture that no matter how many innocent citizens that these regimes kill, they have to let the fun go on. As of now, I want to focus on Kagame and Museveni. Well, I have been closely observing the Kenya’s situation. Mr. Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta were under my 360º view radar over the years.
However, since things started to stabilize – despite the ongoing killings, kidnapping and disappearances of innocent Kenyans – the political climate seems promising. At least that’s my personal and pessimistic viewpoint. My next article will retrieve my archived satellite images about Kabila and Nkurunziza’s benign dictatorships. I’ve been watching you!
I am pretty sure you are still wondering why I said that removing Kagame and Museveni from power will be a long fight. Of course, it will be so hard. I used to be naive. I thought that since RNC seems to be well organized, built strong networks and has great collaboration with other opposition parties like FDU-Inkingi; that would guarantee a swift fight that would define post-Kagame era.
The same goes to the establishment of Uganda’s FDC together with DP and UPC for post-Museveni Uganda. However, the recent article by Didas Gasana (A renegade view: What if Paul Kagame surprises us come 2017? Are we ready?) made me think twice.
Lifting the veil of rent seekers: Kagame and Museveni Company, Ltd.
Call them dictators, authoritarians, totalitarians, murderers, fear-mongers or else but they are serving the interests beyond themselves. They are rent-seekers for bigger western incorporation (Western, Inc.). This is not a new discovery but it is surprising that after 20+ years.
The Kagame & Museveni Co, Ltd financiers are not openly welcoming a change. The Western, Inc. (US, UK, Belgium allies) has got all they wanted from Congo but they still tell their puppets that it’s not enough.
Kagame is not a demigod. Is he a semi-devil? Not really. He is NOT the ONLY person who can lead Rwanda. He is vulnerable and he knows it. Unfortunately, his masters do not want to let him go. At least not this year contrary to some prophesies I read (I will elaborate on this in another article).
There are many reasons that would have made Museveni step down from power but the same masters still say no regardless of the protests against him and many dissidents’ voices in Uganda and abroad. The same goes to Kabila and Nkurunziza who are however seemingly excluded from the inner core of the Western, Inc. The CEOs and COOs of this company forget that they can reverse the puppets’ clientelism and work directly with Kabila and Nkurunziza.
From my personal observation and after reading the diplomatic cables of the US State Department and other intelligence files, it is obvious that the gang of four does not care about the interests of their citizens. The latter are used like bargaining chips or demo arrest targets (the case of Rose Kabuye, E. Karenzi Karake, etc.) to measure how safe Kagame is. It does not matter how many die as long as that serves the long-lasting selfish goals of the gang.
Reponse to Didas Gasana: Are we (the game changers) ready?
Is Theogene Rudasingwa’s RNC ready? Are FDU-Inkingi, AMAHORO PC, and Bosco Ntaganda’s PS-Imberakuri ready? What about Frank Habineza’s Democratic Greens and Deo Mushayidi’s PDP-Imanzi? Is the king crowner (Leo Majeshi) ready? His prophecies insist that he and the Rwandese Democratic Monarchy (RDM) are all set. But are they really ready to crown King Kigeli V NDAHINDURWA? Is it all that he cares about or the wellbeing of Rwandans?
In my opinion, I DO NOT THINK WE ARE READY TO DEPOSE KAGAME. At least not this year. It is really unfortunate and disheartening in spite of the efforts we put in this game.
I recently watched the “Tyrant” TV show from the conservative channel “FX Network” also available on Hulu.com The show is set in a fictional Arab country called Abbudin. But, in one way or the other, it reveals the happenings in the nations led by the gang of four.
Kagame is a tyrant by choice. Even if the Western, Inc. did not care much about the blood shedding in Rwanda and DRC (Congo) from 1991 to 2000; it was surprised of how much efforts that Kagame’s 40 military commanders invested in the massacres. One veteran told me, ‘we killed them until our hands were completely exhausted’. This is the guy who joined the RPA in 1993.
I must confess. I am a fan of Didas Gasana. I recall reading his article in the Rwanda Newsline or Umuseso about how Kagame created a government of fear. I was in Rwanda. I lived in that fear. I saw the RPA soldiers disappearing and hatching to death the innocent Hutus and forcefully grabbing children and recruiting them as soldiers. I also saw with my own eyes the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi brutally murdering innocent Tutsis.
However, there is nothing left to lie to the genocide survivors. Many of them watched the “BBC’s This World: Rwanda’s untold story”, read some books like “Rebuilding Rwanda: 20 years after the Genocide”; ‘God sleeps in Rwanda’, etc. I also went beyond and read some individual memoirs like Immaculee Ilibagiza’s Left to Tell, Dallaire’s Shake hands with the Devil, etc. I personally disagree with some of these resources but they helped me understand the Rwanda genocide narratives from competing yet contradicting points of view.
Unfortunately, the people whom the RPF regime labels Genocide survivors are being abandoned (the discussion about who planned the genocide, who was targeted and who survived it will be included in my other article or a book in terms of eyewitness account). I am not saying there was no genocide and I do not care about the controversial anti-revisionism laws in Rwanda. I will just be narrating what I myself saw. I wish the Pentagon would declassify and release the satellite images to support my narrative.
My case is not to advance a double genocide theory. My concern is to assess how ready we are to confront and remove Kagame from power because he failed us. Is the Westesrn, Inc. ready to help us? Probably. Let’s face it. The mapping report came up. The French and Spanish arrest warrants emerged. The New Times and the News of Rwanda called them null and void.
The Rwanda’s Untold Story was widely broadcasted. Bosco Ntaganda served four years in prison for illegal demonstrations. Tom Ndahiro and Herbert Murangwa are still determined to discredit the opposition figures. Theexposer.net tried to do the same but it lost interest, credibility and the readers did not want to waste their time reading the nonsense news and cartoons.
Mushayidi and Ingabire are still in isolation but the game still goes on. The referees are still the same. Some RPF players were labeled ibigarasha and thrown outside the playing field but the game survived. Then, who is going to change its rules?
Meanwhile, the survivors know that FARG is being phased out. They do not like being forced to enter the military or else be left out. They do not want to be dragged into Burundi conflict for the interest of Kagame and his inner circle to extend their territory. They already know the foreign aid for genocide cause after 21 years is drying out.
We all know that Rwanda’s economy is experiencing hard times despite the rumors that Rwanda’s treasury has tons of minerals from Congo (DRC) under Kagame’s sharp eye supervision! If so, why does the government forcefully raises Emmanuel K. Karake’s bail pounds from defenseless business people, common farmers and peasants in Rwanda?
Western, Inc. and the game change: Triggering a paradigm shift
I always wondered whether the international community, western donors (including the Western, Inc.) to the gang of four and the regional powers ever want to change the game. Yes, they do. But, it is sometimes too late for them after nurturing the human monsters, who refuse to step down.
The donors feel ashamed but cannot give up because it is a big profitable business for them too at the expense of their taxpayers. However, the pressure from such taxpayers makes things worse and the cover-up may blow up soon. Still, we need to be careful about how we trigger the paradigm shift for their international policy change.
I personally agree with Innocent Twagiramungu’s article in the Rwandan.com to push harder until the Western. Inc. change their policies in Africa and especially the Great Lakes region. David Himbara’s four key ingredients (Evidence, Action, Knowledge and Impact) are a good starting points for mobilizing the regional and international players (http://www.democracyinrwandanow.org/news-dirn/2015/6/15/stop-kagame-from-crowing-himself-king-of-rwanda).
A good example was the US Congress subcommittee hearing on Developments in Rwanda in which David Himbara and Robert Higiro participated (http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-developments-rwanda). It seems like a new approach but how far can we go?
By changing the game, we need to push the referees (Western, Inc.) harder by pleading our case much louder. The Western, Inc. still dares to publicly call the gang of four their friends simply because they allow them to loot the minerals in Congo (DRC).
The taxpayers’ investment in USAID and UKaid is covered by the minerals and other extractions from the East Africa. That’s a fact. Surprisingly, the Western, Inc. spies on the gang of four every single day and knows their strengths and weaknesses. We can capitalize on this instead of waiting for the water to alter itself. The time to jump in is now.
Now that we seem united to fight for one cause, let’s strengthen our networks like Theogene Rudasingwa and other opposition figures did. They have been working hard to accomplish network building around the world. We can either directly or indirectly make the Western, Inc. hear our case.
We should not stop from the Congress hearing. The representatives / members of parliament may often be too busy (and bureaucratic) to advance our cause. It is a good achievement that some of us have overcome RPF fear and terror. We don’t have to offload the interests of the Western, Inc. but we can diplomatically advocate for our negotiating advantages.
It does not mean I am pushing for endless imperialism but all we want is a win-win scenario. Among the gang of four, Kagame and Museveni master this strategy. I realized that it almost worked for MDC (the major opposition party in Zimbabwe) too despite after losing all the sources of foreign funds/aid, Mugabe still clang to power.
Let’s hope that Kagame and Museveni will not act like him. Instigating the internal strife within the RPF nucleus is also at our advantage. But can we elicit more heated contentions for the members to see the reality. We will discuss next time on further strategies including military tactics as a last resort. Watch out this section!
By Bertin Mugabire
