'Noble Rwanda' and the cries of a 'detonating country'
This month will mark yet another trial for the Kigali establishment. President Paul Kagame should be bracing himself for the grand September United Nations Summit on poverty reduction. Recently, the first round was held by experts named by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to supervise the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aiming to halve global poverty by 2015.
Rwanda’s affiliation to this agenda is not the puzzle. The question is; with Kagame among the lead panelists, how far will the military ruler stretch the courtesy of those wanting to hold him accountable.
IAt the last round table, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pulled out of the meeting in Madrid after human rights groups protested Kagame’s attendance. The Spanish judiciary also insists has blood on his hands.
In fact during the Madrid meeting Zapatero was forced to meet separately with the UN boss in a meeting arranged by a (Rwanda?) government minister, an action that completely ruled out other dignitaries.
Although the meeting was moved from the government center at Moncloa Palace to a hotel, this did not wash away the humiliation. Rwanda’s chances are falling from the scorecard facilitated by the rapidly increasing unpopularity of the military regime in Kigali.
The country’s progress is rapidly dwindling, the institutions crumbling and the security situation becoming more appalling each day that passes.
“Explosive cage”
As a result, the country has become an explosive field. This year alone it has recorded a high number of civilian casualties in preventable explosions. Since February 2010, four grenade attacks have taken place in Kigali. On May 15, 2010 two hand grenades exploded, killing two people and wounding 27.
Previously two grenades had been detonated during the early evening, killing one and injuring another person critically. Also on March 4 two grenades were detonated both at Kimironko and Kinamba near the Gisozi Genocide Memorial.
The explosions were coming in the foot steps of the February 19 incident in which three grenades went off nearly simultaneously in downtown, killing one person and injuring 18.
Kigali is not the only locale torn apart by the current wave of explosions. The countryside has seen unsuspecting children killed in such incidents occurring in the face of the government security apparatus and unidentified assailants raining grenades on businesses and markets.
The unpredictability of these grenade attacks has actually forced the Overseas Security Advisory Council ( of where?) to send out a caution to the private sector to remain vigilant. The environment is uncertain and the ground is shifting into the hands of a radical section of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) cadres who have, for long, thrived on terrorizing ‘dissent’ souls in torture chambers.
Many politicians have fled the country carrying on their shoulders files of malice and heaps of fabricated charges. It was a silent and well planned game before but now they are loose.
This is giving the civilian population two conclusions: either Kagame’s government has no security muscle to guarantee their security or, it could as well be the same government behind the grenade attacks simply to instill fear amongst the people.
The recently concluded elections gave the regime a slap in the face. ‘Majority suffrage’ was realised from the Diaspora. That alone speaks volumes! How can Rwandans abroad like Kagame more than those in the country? There is an explanation for that, a very intriguing fact of dishonesty in the face of the regime.
The regime has also extensively eaten into the country’s resources without caring about the future of millions of ordinary Rwandans. Over 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, industrial activities are dull and that is entirely what is making Rwanda cling to small scale business and archaic forms of monopoly.
After realizing they have completely become unpopular within the country, the RPF is now struggling to have a grip on power. It is using all means, violent or manipulative, to make the population dependent on this band of former rebels.
A lot of helpless civilians are still trapped in this web of the power-thirsty machinery of Paul Kagame. But not for so long because the power kitchen is burning from internal wrangling, intrigue and conspiracy, which is bringing down the government, crumbling with no clutches in sight.
Robert Mukombozi is an investigative Rwandan Journalist. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Journalism and Mass communication student at Griffith University, Australia.
RMukombozi@gmail.com
IAt the last round table, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pulled out of the meeting in Madrid after human rights groups protested Kagame’s attendance. The Spanish judiciary also insists has blood on his hands.
In fact during the Madrid meeting Zapatero was forced to meet separately with the UN boss in a meeting arranged by a (Rwanda?) government minister, an action that completely ruled out other dignitaries.
Although the meeting was moved from the government center at Moncloa Palace to a hotel, this did not wash away the humiliation. Rwanda’s chances are falling from the scorecard facilitated by the rapidly increasing unpopularity of the military regime in Kigali.
The country’s progress is rapidly dwindling, the institutions crumbling and the security situation becoming more appalling each day that passes.
“Explosive cage”
As a result, the country has become an explosive field. This year alone it has recorded a high number of civilian casualties in preventable explosions. Since February 2010, four grenade attacks have taken place in Kigali. On May 15, 2010 two hand grenades exploded, killing two people and wounding 27.
Previously two grenades had been detonated during the early evening, killing one and injuring another person critically. Also on March 4 two grenades were detonated both at Kimironko and Kinamba near the Gisozi Genocide Memorial.
The explosions were coming in the foot steps of the February 19 incident in which three grenades went off nearly simultaneously in downtown, killing one person and injuring 18.
Kigali is not the only locale torn apart by the current wave of explosions. The countryside has seen unsuspecting children killed in such incidents occurring in the face of the government security apparatus and unidentified assailants raining grenades on businesses and markets.
The unpredictability of these grenade attacks has actually forced the Overseas Security Advisory Council ( of where?) to send out a caution to the private sector to remain vigilant. The environment is uncertain and the ground is shifting into the hands of a radical section of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) cadres who have, for long, thrived on terrorizing ‘dissent’ souls in torture chambers.
Many politicians have fled the country carrying on their shoulders files of malice and heaps of fabricated charges. It was a silent and well planned game before but now they are loose.
This is giving the civilian population two conclusions: either Kagame’s government has no security muscle to guarantee their security or, it could as well be the same government behind the grenade attacks simply to instill fear amongst the people.
The recently concluded elections gave the regime a slap in the face. ‘Majority suffrage’ was realised from the Diaspora. That alone speaks volumes! How can Rwandans abroad like Kagame more than those in the country? There is an explanation for that, a very intriguing fact of dishonesty in the face of the regime.
The regime has also extensively eaten into the country’s resources without caring about the future of millions of ordinary Rwandans. Over 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, industrial activities are dull and that is entirely what is making Rwanda cling to small scale business and archaic forms of monopoly.
After realizing they have completely become unpopular within the country, the RPF is now struggling to have a grip on power. It is using all means, violent or manipulative, to make the population dependent on this band of former rebels.
A lot of helpless civilians are still trapped in this web of the power-thirsty machinery of Paul Kagame. But not for so long because the power kitchen is burning from internal wrangling, intrigue and conspiracy, which is bringing down the government, crumbling with no clutches in sight.
Robert Mukombozi is an investigative Rwandan Journalist. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Journalism and Mass communication student at Griffith University, Australia.
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