Kagame Addicted To Violence -Diplomacy Is Foreign To Him

The Rwandan head of state Major-General Paul Kagame speaking in Rwandan parliament on September 19, 2018.

By David Himbara

General Paul Kagame loves and lives by violence. Diplomacy is foreign to him. Here are 14 cases whereby he engaged in or threatened violence against other countries between 1997 and 2019.

  1. 1996 — Kagame invaded Zaire/Congo and overthrew General Mobutu Sese Seko.
  2. 1998 — Kenya expelled Rwandan diplomats and close Rwanda embassy after the assassination of Seth Sendashonga, former Rwandan interior minister, in Nairobi.
  3. 1998 — Kagame are-invaded Congo in a failed attempt to overthrow Laurent Kabila.
  4. 1999/2000 — Rwanda and Uganda armies fought in DR Congo for the control of the regional capital of Kisangani
  5. 2011 — The UK Metropolitan police warned Rwandan exiles living in London that they face an “imminent threat” of assassination at the hands of the Rwandan government.
  6. 2012 — Sweden expelled a Rwandan diplomat for a spying on Rwandan exiles there.
  7. 2012 — UN issued the Congo Mapping Report accusing Kagame of possible genocide.
  8. 2013 — Kagame promised to hit Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete after the latter advised Kagame to talk to Rwandan opposition groups.
  9. 2013 — USA and other Western countries imposed sanctions on Rwanda for sponsoring M23 rebels in DR Congo.
  10. 2014 — South Africa expelled Rwandan diplomats and closed its visa office in Rwanda after Patrick Karegeya, and former Rwandan intelligence chief is assassinated in South Africa.
  11. 2015 — Rwanda harbored armed groups who sought to overthrow the government of Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza.
  12. 2018 — Burundi Declared Rwanda an ‘Enemy Country’.
  13. 2018 — South Agovernment an inquest into the murder of Patrick Karegeya; the prosecutor announced that the four killers are associated with the Kagame government.
  14. 2019 — Kagame closed the common border with Uganda and declared President Yoweri Museveni a destabilizer of Rwanda.