8000 temples and churches and the closure operation continues! Nothing can be expected from Kagame in terms of safeguarding the cult. The Kigali regime, dominated by former refugees from Uganda, is notorious for its dislike of clerics, especially the Catholic clergy, whom it beheaded between 1994 and 1996. In 1994, RPF soldiers murdered three bishops and a dozen priests in Gakurazo and hundreds of others everywhere they went sowing desolation in Byumba where priests and about forty seminarians in retreat from the diocese were coldly massacred; in Kageyo; Nyinawimana, Rwesero; Mugina, Ruhengeri, etc. In 1996, during the first Congo war, in South Kivu, Bishop MUNZIHIRWA Christophe, then Archbishop of Bukavu, perished and a dozen Rwandan priests and sisters in Kalima; Bishop NIKWIGIZE Phocas was kidnapped and tortured to death when he returned with the Rwandan refugees who had found asylum in North Kivu, the list is not exhaustive. At most, the agents in Kigali never let their guard down, for good reason, Axel Rudakubana massacres little British girls with knives and provokes the hatred of nationals against migrants demanding their deportation as Rishi Sunak and Kagame wanted in their deal that screwed up. This analysis attempts to determine the motive behind these events, which constantly tarnish the image of the Kigali clique that has been mistreating Rwandans since 1994.
1.Facts
1) Kigali (Agence Fides) – In the last seven months, 8,000 churches have been closed due to a government directive. The decision to reduce the number of places of worship, both Christian and Muslim, in the country provides for the closure of churches that do not have sufficient hygiene and safety features to continue their activities. This is according to the pro-government agency Kigali Today Press. The accusation made by Rwandan Christians – Catholics and Protestants – who make up 90% of the population, is that the government is using the new law to justify the closure of churches and mosques. Is closing churches, requiring theological degrees from church leaders, really an adequate solution to the problem of religion in Africa? ” intervenes Father Donald Zagore, theologian of the Society of African Missions, who explains that this can be a solution, but we will have to pay attention to the impacts that such a decision could have on the fundamental nature of religious dynamics. “Religion has a different way of functioning from any political party or association. Wanting to put order in a disorder is one thing, but consciously or unconsciously killing the prophetic character of religion that escapes all logic and academic imperatives, in the name of a certain mechanization of the religious sphere, with a view to its good management, is another.
It must be said loud and clear; one can be a good theologian without ever being a man or woman of faith. Academic and intellectual training is certainly necessary, but in religion, it is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite remains faith. God calls to his service, not men and women who are necessarily intelligent or educated, but above all men and women convinced of their faith and ready to live and bear witness to this faith even at the risk of their lives. Also, they should seriously ask themselves if when they have finished their multiple degrees in theology as the Rwandan government wishes, will they stop making religion their business? To be clear, comments Father Zagore, “two major points can be emphasized. First of all, it must be recognized that our populations take refuge en masse behind these “cheap” pastors because they are in search of hope. Hope of which they are deprived because of their politicians and their unquenchable thirst for power which makes the people still languish in misery.” In addition, the priest continues, there is the African conception of God and religion that is not too healthy and deserves to be purified.
In the dynamics of a spiritualism that is sometimes too emotional, God finds himself in the exclusive role of miracle worker and solution. This means that God is not far from being assimilated to a charlatan.Â
2) It all started on July 29 in Southport, north of Liverpool, with the stabbing of three girls participating in a dance class: Bebe King (6 years old), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7 years old) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9 years old).The suspect arrested, Axel Rudakubana (17) was born in Wales to Rwandan parents. But rumours on the Internet have pointed to him as a Syrian refugee who has just arrived in England, or an Islamist, raising deep anger. Demonstrations brought large numbers of people to the streets, and some quickly escalated. On July 30, after a public vigil in tribute to the victims, a hundred white men, from the city’s poor neighborhoods and from the working class, attacked a mosque in Southport shouting: “This is our country!” and “Allah, Allah, what the fuck is Allah?”
2.AnalysisÂ
1) Closing of temples as revenge
To date, in Rwanda, more than 8000 temples have been closed for a series of conditions that these religious institutions hardly fulfill. There is reason to wonder the real reasons for this abrupt suspension of prayers to the great displeasure of The flock. According to information from people close to the government, the leaders of these religious institutions were invited to contribute financially to the presidential campaign of the head of state and sulked, not to say outright refused, while their bank accounts are full of money and the country’s secret services are aware of the amounts they have there. To top it all off, this money comes from the offerings of the population that they know how to mobilize, surpassing the local administrative authorities. So, as the population remains reluctant to finance the RPF but rather enriches these pastors, the RPF wanted to recover this money indirectly through the latter. Faced with such a refusal, the regime became enraged and decided to take revenge by blocking the source of income of these religious institutions.
2) A deicidal regime
Religious freedom is enshrined as a right in the Rwandan Constitution in Article 37 but, according to World Monitor Watch, any reference to the Christian religion has been eliminated from the preamble of the Constitution; during genocide commemorations, no priest or pastor may intervene – unless the event is organized by a church – and in the offices of the administration, it is not permitted to hold prayer meetings. According to government sources, the authorities decided to close places of worship following the construction of too many Christian churches and temples per capita, without however calculating the high fragmentation of villages in Rwanda that are populated by a small number of people. Very often, these villages are located miles from each other and, because of the lack of infrastructure connecting the inhabited centers, each of them builds its own church to avoid its inhabitants having to walk 20 km or more to participate in a liturgy. Recently, a church was even closed during a wedding, denounces the Christian website World Monitor Watch, as participants were asked to abandon the ceremony in progress. A Christian community was also forbidden to celebrate liturgies in the courtyard of a school, chosen because of the lack of a church in the area, insofar as it had a wooden entrance door and not a metal one.
3) Suspicion of insecurityÂ
The war that Rwanda is waging in the east of the DRC with the threat expressed by President Tshisekedi that he could attack the aggressors, the Kigali regime fears that the wazalendos and especially the FDLR rebels will be able to infiltrate the country and take advantage of religious gatherings to sow disorder. In this context, the state requires that each temple and church equip itself with the apparatus that controls weapons.
4) Prevention of revolts
Like the riots that shook Kenya and Uganda, Rwanda fears that the starving population may one day rise up. As the pastors and priests excel in mobilizing the masses, there is an urgent need to train them politically because they can easily divert their followers by exploiting their misery and call them to revolt.
5) Axel Rudakubana and the Kigali regime
Without a doubt, the power of Kigali is behind the murders committed by this 17-year-old boy. Indeed, Axel Rudakubana is the nephew of Gasamagera Wellars, Secretary General of the RPF. According to sources close to the government, not content with the failure of the Rwandan-British deal that would bring millions of pounds to the country with the reception of migrants from the United Kingdom, the RPF politicians planned the crime and ordered this young man who had the advantage of being a migrant in Great Britain. By murdering these girls, they expected that it would stir up the hatred of the English against migrants and that the authorities would finally surrender by taking into account the harmful effects of immigration in terms of crime and resolves to resurrect the deportation project that Sunak and Kagame had conceived.
6) A Promising stratagem
Anti-immigration sentiment has been bubbling up in the United Kingdom for many years. It prompted millions to vote for Brexit and led the previous Conservative government to propose controversial immigration plans. In the wake of the far-right riots that have hit the United Kingdom, Keir Stammer’s new government now has the daunting task of bringing the British people together after years of anti-immigration Conservative rhetoric. The far-right riots were largely sparked by false information about the murder of three young girls who were attending a dance workshop in the English town of Southport. Social media users incorrectly identified the attacker as a Muslim immigrant. This misinformation led to a week of riots that the British Prime Minister described as “an act of far-right brutality”.
7) Love affair with conservatives
The British Conservative Party’s love affair with Rwanda began in 2007, when it was in opposition, with a project called “Umubano”, founded by Andrew Mitchell. The former development minister organised a plane trip for MPs every August to work on development projects – and to train cricketers. A cricket association linked to the project began raising funds, and a few years ago, the state-of-the-art Gahanga Cricket Stadium, also known as Kicukiro Oval, was inaugurated just outside Kigali. Some see the asylum seeker deal as part of a sophisticated strategy to improve Rwanda’s image, which is increasingly tarnished by its human rights abuses and blamed aggression on the DRC with irrefutable evidence.
Conclusion: Falls short of expectations
The closure of temples and churches solves nothing but distances the population from its leaders; the anti-immigration revolt was put down and Keir Stammer’s government remained unshakable in its policies. Indeed, on Wednesday evening, the British police, who were expecting new riots from far-right demonstrators, found themselves confronted by peaceful anti-racist activists who showed up in large numbers. Faced with strong anti-immigration sentiment that prompted millions to vote for Brexit and led the Conservative government to propose controversial plans to fly immigrants to camps in Rwanda, the new Labor government has now abandoned these policies, seeing them as a waste of taxpayers’ money. Moreover, Rwanda’s very restrictive policy towards religious denominations risks reinforcing the discontent of the already desperate population that the pastors were trying to calm by entrusting them to God in a kind of psychological counselling. By exaggerating their suffering, the regime attracts enemies and the anti-RPF sentiment that simmers in their hearts may explode one day.
