Open Letter To President Paul Kagame
My dear Sir, you have offered to repatriate thousands of African immigrants stranded in Libya. These immigrants were desperately trying to reach Europe where they hope to earn a living.
Mr. President, you also offered Israel to repatriate thousands of African immigrants who languish in Israeli refugee camps.
Your Excellency, it appears that you have forgotten or you are not aware of the old saying that “charity begins at home.” Evidently, large numbers of Rwandans are crossing into Uganda as illegal immigrants and settling in forest reserves. These poverty-stricken Rwandans in their thousands are illegally moving to Uganda in search of a livelihood of any kind.
President Kagame, this is very sad. It is now reported that in the districts of Kagadi, Kakumiro and Kibaale in western Uganda, “70% of the new forest reserve encroachers are from Rwanda.
”Rwandans are ferried in buses from Kabale to Kagadi on a daily basis, without any travel documents and end up in the forest reserves.”
Rwandans enter the country through Kisoro sometimes, even without travel documents…The porous border is making work even more difficult to prevent the encroachers because people move freely from Rwanda to Uganda, without any hindrance…Some Rwandans are arrested and charged over illegal entry, but are not repatriated.
Most of them come to offer cheap labor in the forest reserves, but end up acquiring pieces of land in the same reserves.”
Mr. President, if you are so generous and a Pan-African leader seeking to help other Africans in need, why don’t you begin with your countrymen and women? Why don’t also cater to the needs of Rwandans who are leaving the country as laborers and forest encroachers in Uganda?
Lastly, President Kagame, we are now in July 2018 — which is one year and a half away from 2020 which is your target for making Rwanda a middle-income country. The thousands of Rwandans fleeing poverty and invading Ugandan forests indicate that your goals of making Rwanda prosperous are delusional. It is time to concede defeat. You must now go back to the drawing board.
Your Sincerely,
David Himbara
