Press Release Jambo ASBL – 2023/02
Brussels – July 28, 2023
Jambo ASBL deplores the defamatory remarks made by Mrs. Yolande MAKOLO, spokesperson for the Rwandan Government, as they were taken up in the article of “THE NEW TIMES”, published this Wednesday, July 26, 2023, and entitled “Rwanda questions Belgium’s decision on Amb. Karega“.
By stating that “the Belgian government seems to have capitulated to pressure (…) from negationist organizations and activists, through who they decided to leak the decision”, the author of this article is making three mistakes.
The first concerns the accusation of genocide denial against members of the Jambo ASBL.
The association and its members reaffirm once again, unequivocally, their recognition of the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.
Jambo ASBL condemns the repeated and unhealthy use of the qualifier “genocide denier” which Rwandan officials and their Belgian supporters continue to abuse in order to generate hatred and violence against those who dare to criticize the repressive Rwandan regime.
A complaint for defamation and slander is still under the investigation of a Belgian investigating judge, involving several individuals who have abused this qualifier. The non-profit association Jambo, among others, is a civil party, represented by the firm UGKA – Uyttendaele Gérard Kennes et Associés in Brussels.
The second error concerns the alleged influence of the JAMBO association on the Belgian authorities.
Thus, Madame MAKOLO surprisingly questions the sovereignty and independence of the Belgian Government to take such a decision, but worse, she in turn peddles slanderous remarks against Belgian citizen organizations, including the media Jambonews who made the decision public.
The third error consists of a utterly incorrect analysis of the reasons underlying the decision taken by the Belgian authorities.
The Belgian Government has quite simply taken the necessary decision in view of the extremely controversial career of this ambassador.
For nearly three decades, the Rwandan Government has been acting on conquered ground in Belgium and the fact that it failed to impose an ambassador with a controversial background cannot be blamed either on the Belgian Government or on its citizens.
In a democracy such as Belgium, the citizens’ organizations that Mrs. MAKOLO slanders, has every right to denounce the designation, as future ambassador of Rwanda in Belgium, of a personality such as decried as Vincent KAREGA, based on his diplomatic career stained by controversy and accusations of repression, even crimes, during his previous missions in the DRC and South Africa.
In accordance with the article published on jambonews.net, the initial information was collected from a Rwandan diplomatic source and once its veracity was established, it was published in strict compliance with current journalistic practices.
The social object of the non-profit association Jambo has always been the same and the association remains determined to continue its efforts to promote the rule of law in Rwanda and to work for peaceful coexistence between the peoples of the Great Lakes region of Africa as well as within their diaspora.
For the Jambo NGO,
Robert Mugabowindekwe
Chairman of the Board
