With Every False Accusation, Kagame is Paying the Price for Standing Tall.

 

Every false accusation directed at President Kagame is intended at damaging his standing as a responsible leader.

President Paul Kagame.

There has been an endless wave of accusations against President Paul Kagame. Some accuse him of causing insecurity in DR Congo in order to plunder minerals while others accuse him of killing political opponents and abusing human rights, among a host of ill-deeds.

For a while now, whenever the M23 re-emerges to fight for what it calls political oppression and Tutsi killings by the FDLR and satellite groups (and the FARDC sometimes), DR Congo authorities point fingers at Rwanda.

The arrest of Victoire Ingabire in 2010- for crimes of genocide ideology, divisionism and terrorist acts- was met with stiff opposition.

When Rusesabagina, was upheld and prosecuted, his sympathizers called for his “immediate release” and claimed he had been “wrongfully detained” and that Rwanda’s judicial system was not free, so an unbiased verdict was not to be expected. 

Recently, the Burundian Head-of-State claimed that RED TABARA is housed, trained and equipped by Rwanda.

These and other accusations are part of the price President Kagame was bound to pay for daring to think big and act tenaciously in developing Rwanda.

With every false accusation, there is a Rwandan interest being ignored, either knowingly or ignorantly. And whenever there is a Rwandan interest worth protecting, President Kagame has acted accordingly.

For every accusation highlighted, I will offer a Rwandan interest Kagame’s accusers ignored, which he sought to protect: 

First, in the case of the M23, Rwanda is accused of creating the group and arming it to fight the Congolese government. The Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD)- the M23’s predecessor- emerged out of Congolese Tutsi’s need to protect themselves against armed Hutu groups. Laurent Kabila’s then newly-found love with those genocidal groups necessitated Rwanda’s moral and material support to the RCD as Rwanda sought to neutralize them for its long term security. When the M23 re-emerged in 2022, Rwanda was accused of having hosted and released the group into DR Congo. However, before it re-launched its military campaign the M23 resided in Uganda. Members of the group later went int DR Congo for promised negotiations with the Tshisekedi government.

Rwanda was preparing for the Commonwealth Heads-of-Government Meeting when the FADRC-FDLR coalition fired rockets into Rwanda. Here, Rwanda’s ability to host the Meeting under a reliably secure environment was being put to test. Considering Rwanda’s heavy investment into the tourism sector, failure to ensure a successful conduct of CHOGM meant severe loss to Rwanda’s tourism sector and economy. Could Rwanda have conducted military operations against the FDLR-FARDC coalition to protect itself, enable a successful convening of  CHOGM  and save its economy? My observation is that, since it was necessary for Rwanda to act both defensively and preemptively, launching military operations against the FARDC-FDLR coalition under the M23 shadow was the most appropriate way to achieve desired security goals without causing damage to its political goodwill.

Second, the arrest and imprisonment of Victoire Ingabire for complicity in terror acts and genocide denial and divisionism was necessary to protect a delicate society with fresh wounds of genocide. President Kagame could have let Ingabire have an open environment to conduct her divisive politics. Unfortunately, letting Ingabire free would have had severe repercussions for Rwanda’s journey of unity and reconciliation since people who shared Victoire’s ideology would have been encouraged to push forward with their divisive agenda.

Third, when Rusesabagina decided to form a terror group for his political ambitions, he put Rwanda’s security at great risk with his armed group’s guerrilla attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. Was it in order for Rwanda to pursue him? Absolutely. The security of Rwandans is more important than any man’s political ambitions. Of course, those sympathetic to Rusesabagina cared little about the pain and damage he inflicted on Rwandans.

Recent accusations by the Burundian President are even more appalling. RED-TABARA is based in South Kivu- DR Congo. It is from there they launched recent attacks on Burundi. Ndayishimiye’s claim of RED-TABARA being trained and armed by Rwanda is diversionary. Before Ndayishimiye’s claims, Rwanda had called Burundi’s attention to the amiable relationship between Burundian troops (deployed to DR Congo under the EASF) and the FDLR-FADRDC coalition. Burundi neither countered Rwanda’s claims nor offered a remedy. Instead, Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda. Had Rwanda chosen to remain silent, not revealing its knowledge of the collaboration between Burundian troops and the FDLR-FARDC coalition, it is very likely that the Burundian President could not have made the accusations.

 Every false accusation directed at President Kagame is intended at damaging his standing as a responsible leader. In a region such as the Great Lakes and Africa, where leaders are famous for negligence, it is expected for leaders like Kagame, who stand firm in the discharge of their duties, to always attract unintended enmity and accusations.

By: Steven Caleb Katurebe