Rwanda president Paul Kagame tiptoes around democracy

Gwynne Dyer: Rwanda president Paul Kagame tiptoes around democracy
By Gwynne Dyer

First Published by Straight.com
Rwanda president Paul Kagame will not risk real democracy, despite a remarkable economic growth rate of 11 percent last year.

Did Paul Kagame really stop the genocide in Rwanda 16 years ago, or did he just interrupt it for a while?

That question frightens him so much that he will not risk everything on the outcome of a democratic election.

Kagame is running for reelection to the presidency of the traumatised central African country next month. If economic success automatically brought political success, he would be a shoo-in: Rwanda’s economy grew by 11 percent last year.

But in fact, his resounding election victory in 2003 was the result of ruthless manipulation, and this one will be the same.

In recent months, opposition party leaders in Rwanda have been arrested and charged with denying the genocide.

An opposition newspaper was banned and its co-editors attacked. (One died, one survived.)

Leading generals in the Rwandan army have been arrested or have fled into exile. (One was wounded last month in an attempted hit in South Africa.)

So is Kagame over-reacting? Maybe.

If you cut Kagame open, you would find engraved on his heart William Faulkner’s terrible truth: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

One-tenth of Rwanda’s population–at least 800,000 people, Tutsis and those who tried to protect them–were murdered by their neighbours, mostly with machetes, only sixteen years ago.

Not nearly enough time has passed yet for generational turnover to take the edge off the grief and the hate. Everybody pretends it’s over, but of course it isn’t. How could it be?

Kagame’s whole life has been shaped by genocide. He grew up in Uganda, where his parents fled when an earlier wave of violence killed about 100,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in the early 1960s.

He became the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a mainly Tutsi exile organisation dedicated to overthrowing the Hutu extremists who ruled the country, and he led the RPF army that marched in to stop the great genocide of 1994.

He knows, of course, that Tutsis and Hutus are not really separate ethnic groups.

All of Rwanda’s 19 major clans includes both Tutsis and Hutus. They speak the same language and they live in the same villages.

The term once distinguished cattle-herders from farmers, and later the wealthy from the poor. Rich Hutus could become Tutsis–but the Tutsis naturally always remained a minority of the population.

He also knows, however, that the colonial authorities exploited those class differences and gave the Tutsis political authority over the Hutus in return for their loyalty.

By the later 20th century the Tutsis and Hutus had become ethnic groups for all practical purposes, with a constant undercurrent of resentment by the Hutus against the Tutsis.

After independence in 1960, the killing got underway very quickly. It peaked in 1994.

This past will not leave Rwanda alone. The very words “Tutsi” and “Hutu” have now been banned in Rwanda, but a ministerial investigation in 2008 found anti-Tutsi graffiti and harassment of Tutsi students in most of the schools that were visited.

The army is exclusively Tutsi and the government almost entirely so, because Kagame does not really believe that this generation of Hutus can be trusted.

To make his position even more precarious, Tutsi solidarity is breaking down.

The arrests, exile and attempted assassination of various generals may be in response to real plots.

Most Tutsi generals belong to the Nyiginya clan, which traditionally provided the country’s king. Kagame is from the Umwega clan, and some of the Nyiginya think that power has remained in the wrong hands for too long.

It is an awful situation, and Kagame has only one strategy for avoiding a return to genocide: hang on to power, and hope that rapid economic growth and the passage of time will eventually blur the identities and blunt the reflexes that have made this generation of Rwandans so dangerous to one another.

His model is Singapore, an ethnically complex state that avoided too much democracy during the early decades of its dash for growth.

If Rwanda could become the Singapore of central Africa, then maybe its citizens would eventually come to believe that their stake in the country’s new stability and prosperity was more important than the history.

But Singapore did not have so far to travel, and its history was not drowned in blood.

The logic of Kagame’s strategy obliges him to stay in power: his first duty is to Rwanda’s Tutsis, at least half of whom have already been murdered.

But he must provide prosperity to the Hutu majority too, in order to reconcile them to Tutsi survival, and his relatively corruption-free government has made impressive progress towards that goal.

Nevertheless, in a free election, most Rwandans would vote along ethnic lines.

His Rwandan Patriotic Front would instantly be replaced by a Hutu-led regime of unknowable character and purpose. He dares not risk it, so real democracy is not an option.

If Kagame is now killing opposition journalists and dissident generals, then he is making a dreadful and probably fatal mistake, but it may not be him.

In the ruthlessly Machiavellian world of Rwandan politics, other possibilities also exist. Either way, he has the loneliest, scariest job in the world, and he must know that the odds are long against him.

The new edition of Gwynne Dyer's latest book, Climate Wars, has just been published in Canada by Random House.

"Am I not a survivor of some kind too?"

From Democracy Watch

"Am I not a survivor of some kind too?"
“When the genocide started, we all ran for our lives. We [peasants] didn’t know that Tutsis were the ones getting killed until the second night. Because we all feared government militias, I helped my Tutsi family and friends hide before returning to my village. That is one thing this new government doesn’t recognize; that all Hutu did not kill. Some of us even lost our lives trying to save Tutsi…!”

Joseph has been in prison since July 2001 when his neighbour accused him of committing acts of genocide against Tutsi in 1994. He proclaims his innocence, saying that he was wrongly accused because of his land holdings. Since the genocide, Joseph has worked hard to rebuild his life and livelihood. His Tutsi wife and three of their six children were killed shortly after the genocide began in April 1994. Since September 1996 when he was able to begin working his almost one acre of land, Joseph has lived with the suspicions of individuals who returned to Rwanda after the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) stopped the genocide in July 1994.

Many newly arrived returnees sought to occupy homes and land that had been abandoned during the genocide. Joseph did not abandon his land, choosing to hide out in Rwanda instead of following most of his countrymen into neighbouring Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). Joseph says bluntly, “Any hardworking or honest Hutu runs the risk of being denounced as some one who killed during the genocide? Why? Because we might say that this government is not as peace loving as it says it is. To be Rwandan is to be quiet. To be Hutu is to be invisible. This is the new Rwanda….”

The “New” Rwanda
Since taking office in July 1994, the ruling RPF has instituted a variety of policies to eliminate the ethnic hatred that Hutu have for Tutsi. In creating one Rwanda for all Rwandans, a new Rwandan citizenship will be created. According to the government, an ethnically unified Rwanda is the key to sustaining present and future peace and is the foundation of democracy in the country.

“Not all Hutu killed”
A key RPF mechanism to ensure that Hutu reconcile with Tutsi is the policy of national unity and reconciliation. Hutu are encouraged to tell the truth of what they did during the genocide, and Tutsi to forgive and forget what happened to them during the genocide. For men like Joseph, who shared their lives with Tutsi friends and family, the official policy of truth telling means that the government does not recognize the different types of killing that took place during the genocide. The official and only acceptable version of events is that Hutu killed, and Tutsi died. Joseph says, “It is almost like this government doesn’t want any Hutu to declare themselves Rwandan! If you are in prison, you cannot participate in life. You lose your family and your land. But I did not kill, even though I stand accused of killing Tutsi from my community. When I saw my wife die, I ran with my remaining kids into the hills. We hid until it was safe to come out. Am I not a survivor of some kind, too? But we are not allowed to talk about that. There is no discussing Hutu who saved Tutsi. Not all of us killed. Some did, some didn’t . That is what war is like….”

Hutu need recognition too
Because Joseph is in prison, he feels comfortable speaking out about the lack of official government recognition for Hutu survivors of the genocide. Yet, as he speaks, the heaviness in his heart is palpable. His shoulders are rounded in a posture of defeat. He fears for his sons, who he has not seen since being arrested in 2001. He laments, “How is it justice for a peasant like me to rot in this prison? Okay, I did not survive genocide like the government says because I am not Tutsi. I acknowledge this. But did I not risk my life to save my family. I live with the knowledge that my wife and daughters died before my eyes. Now my sons are living as orphans because I am guilty of what? Not telling my truth? I told the government my truth but it was not recognized as true. I will rot the rest of my days in this prison.”

PADIRI UBALD RUGIRANGOGA YABA YARAHINDUTSE UMUKANGURAMBAGA WA FPR-POWER:Is Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga a Cadre of RPF-Power?)

PADIRI UBALD RUGIRANGOGA YABA YARAHINDUTSE UMUKANGURAMBAGA WA FPR-POWER

Bibaye ngombwa ko mfata ikaramu n’urupapuro, nkandikira Padiri Ubald RUGIRANGOGA kugira ngo mwiyame ku mugaragaro kuko mbona asigaye yarigize umucamanza w’icyamamare, umutegetsi w’icyatwa abandi bagomba guhakwaho kugira ngo baramuke, akaba asigaye afite ububasha bwo kugena abapfa n’ababaho! Tumaze kwitegereza iyo mikorere ye twasanze Padiri Ubald ari umunyakinyoma, umugizi wa nabi ukwiye kwirindwa. Muri iyi nyandiko, nzinduwe no kugaragaza ukuntu uyu mugabo ari umupadiri wo kwitonderwa (dangereux), ukwiye gufatwa uko ari, ntihagire uzongera kumwibeshyaho.

A. Waba uzi Padiri Ubald Rugirangoga?

Padiri Ubald RUGIRANGOGA yavukiye muri Segiteri ya Rwabidege, Komini ya Karengera, Perefegitura ya Cyangugu. Hari taliki ya 26 Mata 1955. Se yitwaga Yakobo, nyina Adela, akaba umwuzukuru wa Bidadaza. Amashuri yisumbuye yayigiye mu iseminari nto yitiriwe Mutagatifu Piyo wa 10 yo ku Nyundo, kugera mu 1973 ubwo yagiye gukomereza i Burundi. Yagarutse mu Rwanda ahitira mu iseminari nkuru ya Nyakibanda, ahabwa ubupadiri taliki ya 22 Nyakanga 1984.

Njye namubonye bwa mbere mu mwaka w’1993, nyuze i Nyamasheke, ni bwo nari ntangiye Seminari nkuru. Aho mariye kuba umupadiri mu w’i 1999, twarakoranye muri Diyosezi yacu ya Cyangugu. By’umwihariko twakoranye muri sekeretariya ya Sinodi ubwo hategurwaga Yubile y’imyaka 100 ivanjiri igeze i Rwanda. Muri ubwo butumwa, twari abapadiri bane n’umulayikikazi umwe. Bose baribuka uko twakoranye neza, ndetse n’iyo byabagaho rimwe na rimwe ko tutumvikana mu bitekerezo, twahagarikaga akazi tukiyambaza Roho Mutagatifu, akaduha kuvuga rumwe nuko tukikomereza akazi. Imyanzuro ya Sinodi ya Cyangugu twashyize ahagaragara ntawigeze ayigaya, uhereye ku mwepiskopi wacu kugera ku bakristu basanzwe. Ubald sinamubonaga gusa nk’umupadiri unkuriye mu myaka, ahubwo nabonaga anihatira kugaragara neza, mu byo yavugaga no mu byo yakoraga, nkabona hari byinshi byiza umupadiri w’umusore nkanjye yamwigiraho.

Nyamara ariko hagati yanjye na we byose ntibyakomeje kuba shyashya. N’ubwo atabyeruraga ngo abivugire ku mugaragaro, ntiyabuze kunyereka ko atishimiraga ubutumwa nakoraga muri Komisiyo ya Diyosezi y’Ubutabera n’Amahoro. Koko rero iyo Komisiyo yakoraga neza, kuko yari yarashinze imizi mu miryangoremezo ya Diyosezi yose. Byaduhaga kumenya amakuru menshi aturutse hasi mu bakristu: twamenyaga ibibazo bafite, akarengane bahura nako, abahohoterwa n’ubutegetsi, abarenganywa n’inkiko gacaca, abagize uruhare mu bwicanyi, n’ibindi. Ayo makuru yose ni yo Padiri Ubald yanyerekaga ko ntakagombye kumenya. Ni bwo bwa mbere numvise ko ibyo byiyumviro atabiterwa n’impamvu z’Iyobokamana ahubwo ko abiterwa no gushaka kurengera izindi nyungu zizwi na we gusa.

Icyo yantekerezagaho cyaje kujya ahabona nsohotse mu gihugu. Koko rero, guhera mu kwezi k’Ukuboza 2005, byabaye ngombwa ko mva mu Rwanda, njya kwikomereza kwiga mu Bufaransa. Ngira ngo guhera ku munsi nagendeyeho, uyu mupadiri yabonye rugari atangira ibyo kuntaramana, mu nzira, mu basirikari, mu bategetsi, mu nshuti…: ngo ntiyumva impamvu ngiye. Bukeye ngo kuki niga filozofiya, ngo kuki ngomba kwiga amategeko mpuzamahanga (droit intenational) ...? Byose narabyumvaga nkicecekera, ngakeka ko ari amagambo y’abantu cyangwa se agashyari gasanzwe mu bavandimwe, ko bitazatinda gushira. We ariko ntiyagohetse, yari ageze n’aho agenda ahagarika abantu mu muhanda, abanzi n’abatarigera bambona, ngo nibareke abasobanururire ukuntu ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside yanyaritse mu mutwe. Ibyo byafashe indi ntera ubwo yiyemezaga kujya kunshinja ingengabitekerezo ya jenocide mu nama y’abapadiri bose ba Cyangugu (Presbyterium) yateranye kuva ku ya 26 kugera ku ya 28 Mata 2010. Ngo yitwaje ko naba naragiye Arusha gutanga ubuhamya bushinjura. Icyakora akirinda kwerekana icyo naba naravuze imbere y’urukiko n’icyo we anenga ubwo buhamya. Amagambo yavugiye muri iyo nama bayantondoreye uko yakabaye ndumirwa, ariko n’abayumvaga ngo ntibabuze kwibaza icyo ibyo bisobanura.

Ntibyaciriye aho kuko muri Kamena 2010 amakuru aturutse mu nzego z’iperereza zo mu Rwanda yangezeho ambwira ko Padiri Ubald amaze igihe akora uko ashoboye kwose ngo njye n’abandi bapadiri yikomye b’i Cyangugu, dushyirwe ku rutonde (hitlist) rw’abagomba kwicirwa mu mahanga.Ubwo ni nabwo namenye ko muri FPR hasigaye harimo ibice bibiri. Ngo hari igice cy’abantu bashaka amahoro, n’igice bita “pawa” (power) ngo kigizwe n’abumva ko Abanyarwanda bagomba gukomeza kwicwa kugeza igihe Nyagasani azahindukirira! Ngo icyo cya “power” ni cyo Ubald na murumuna we Reveriyani bagomba kuba bashyigikiye. Ugira ngo ndashyiramo amakabyankuru azambaze mubwire n’ibirenze ibyo!

B. Ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside

Icyaha cya jenoside kirazwi kandi giteganijwe mu mategeko mpuzamahanga. Ariko icyaha cyitwa “kugira ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside” nta handi kiba mu mategeko y’ibihugu byo kw’isi uretse mu Rwanda rwa nyuma y’1994! Cyateganijwe mu itegeko ryiswe “itegeko N°18/2008 ryo ku wa 23/07/2008 rihana icyaha cy’ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside”. Warisanga mu Igazeti ya Repubulika y’u Rwanda, Umwaka wa 47, n° 19 yo ku wa 01 Ukwakira 2008.

Ingingo ya 2 y’iryo tegeko itanga igisobanuro: “Ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside ni urusobe rw’ibitekerezo bigaragarira mu myifatire, imvugo, inyandiko n’ibindi bikorwa bigamije cyangwa bihamagarira abantu kurimbura abandi hashingiwe ku bwoko, inkomoko, ubwenegihugu, akarere, ibara ry’umubiri, isura, igitsina, ururimi, idini cyangwa ibitekerezo bya politiki, bikozwe mu gihe gisanzwe cyangwa mu gihe cy’intambara”.

Nk’uko bigaragarira buri wese, “kugira ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside” ni icyaha kidasobanutse neza, umuntu yashyira ku wo ashatse wese yaba umuzungu cyangwa umwirabura, yaba umuhutu umutwa cyangwa umututsi, kuko bigoye kwisobanura ko utagifite. Benshi bemeza ko Leta ya FPR yahimbye icyo cyaha kugira ngo yigizeyo, ihutaze, ifunge cyangwa yice abo ikeka ko batavuga rumwe nayo. Ngira ngo Abanyarwanda twese twamaze kwibonera neza uko Leta yacu igenza uwo yahamije icyo cyaha.

Iyo Padiri Ubald wihaye Imana yiyemeje kugishinja nkana bagenzi be b’Abihayimana nka we, bishaka kuvuga ko aba yamaze kubashyira mu rwego rw’“abagamije cyangwa abahamagarira kurimbura abandi”. Bitabaye ibyo byaterwa n’uko yaba abafata nk’abarwanya Leta iriho bityo akaba abasabira igihano kiremereye giteganywa n’ingingo ya 6 y’iryo tegeko :”Iyo ukoze icyaha cy’ingengabitekerezo ya jenoside ari umuyobozi mu nzego z’imirimo ya Leta, mu mitwe ya politiki, mu mirimo y’abikorera, cyangwa umuyobozi mu mirimo itagengwa na Leta, umuyobozi w’idini, cyangwa uwahoze ari umuyobozi muri izo nzego, ahanishwa igifungo kuva ku myaka cumi n’itanu (15) kugeza ku myaka makumyabiri n’itanu (25) n’ihazabu y’amafaranga y’u Rwanda kuva kuri miliyoni ebyiri (2.000.000) kugeza kuri miliyoni eshanu (5.000.000.)”!

Kandi ngira ngo twese tuzi ko iyo umuntu w’igikomerezwa nka Padiri Ubald yaguhagurukiye, biba byarangiye kuko tutayobewe uko inkiko z’iwacu zikora! Kwiregura ntibyoroshye.

None se koko ubu umuntu yabigenza ate, bagabo? Uko biri kose, iyo myitwarire ye yanteye gusubiza amaso inyuma, ndongera nitegereza Padiri Ubald, nsobanuza amateka ye, ibyo yavugaga, n’ibyo yakoraga, numva mbaye nk’usobanukiwe kurushaho.

Ubald we, n’ubwo umusizi yivugiye ngo “burya guceceka si ubucucu, ni ugucengerwa n’ibyo uzi ugacira mu nda ugatuza”, jye ndasanga no guceceka bigira aho bigarukira. Ubu nkaba nanjye niyemeje kugusubiza kugira ngo nkumenyeshe ikintu kimwe gusa: Ibuye ryagaragaye ntiriba ricyishe isuka, tuza tubane! Ese ubona wisararanga, abakristu n’abandi bapadiri b’i Cyangugu bakakwihorera, ukagira ngo ni uko bose ari ibigwari cyangwa se bakaba bagutinyira ko uri Nyirubutungane?

C. Dore uko tukuzi:

1. Padiri Ubald uri umwicanyi.

Iyo ugeze kubo wita abicanyi, usya utanzitse! Sinkubwiye ngo ubahunde ibisingizo, ariko ujye unibuka ko urubanza ari urw’Imana. Igihe ucyitwa umupadiri wa Kiliziya, ni nde wakugize umucamanza wa bagenzi bawe, Ubald we? Nyamara ariko ikibazo gikomeye si icyo. Nagerageje kwibaza ikigutera gukora ibyo ukora, nsanga ari rya rondakoko twamaganaga muri Sinodi! Yewe, ko ubanza nawe ryaragucengeye, rikaguhuma amaso y’umubiri n’ay’umutima. Na we ubwawe uzisuzume neza, uzasanga ari ryo rikuyobora n’ubwo ushobora kwishuka ngo uri mutaraga. Urashaka urugero: abicanyi ni bantu ki kuri wowe? Igisubizo cyawe turakizi, twacyumvise kenshi, tugifata mu mutwe: ni abishe Abatutsi muri 1994. Ni byo koko, abishe Abatutsi ni abicanyi kandi bakwiye kubiryozwa. Ariko n’uwishe umuzungu, umutwa cyangwa umuhutu aba yishe umuntu. Si umwicanyi se? Ndakwibutsa ko wowe ubwawe, padiri Ubald na Murumuna wawe w’umupolisi ari we Superintendent Reveriyani Rugwizangoga mufite ibiganza bijejeta amaraso! Muzabanze musobanurire ubutabera uko mwishe Sindayiheba Yohani taliki ya 2 Nzeri 1995. Reka nkwibutse uko byagenze: muri Mata 1995 wowe n’uwo murumuna wawe mwagiye ku matongo y’iwanyu. Muvuyeyo mugeze i Rwabidege, wowe Ubald wavuye mu modoka ujya gutuka abaturage bari bibereye mu kabari, ubashinja ko bishe umukecuru wanyu. Ni bwo Sindayiheba Yohani akubwiye atuje ko ibyabaye mu 1994 ari ishyano ryagwiririye igihugu cyose. Wowe na murumuna wawe mwahise muva hasi ngo avuze ko umukecuru wanyu ameze nk’abandi bose. Sibwo umufashe mu ijosi ugatangira kumuniga ushaka kumwica! Iyo umubikira mwari kumwe witwa Jean Marie wo kwa Uberiti atamukwamururaho, ntuba waramutsinze aho? Wagize ikimwaro cy’ibyo umaze gukora, ugenda warubiye. Bwarakeye mu gitondo, mugaruka gufata Sindayiheba Yohani, murumuna wawe yirirwa amufungiranye mu nzu i Kamembe, mutegereje ijoro ngo mujye kumwicira i Kigali. Muri uwo mugoroba, abantu barabakomereye, by’umwihariko umugabo w’umukada bitaga Asmani (Imana imuhe iruhuko ridashira) si we wamubakuye mu nzara agasubira iwe mu gicuku? Hanyuma se mwaramuretse aratuza? Taliki ya 2 nzeri 1995, ahagana mu masa mbiri z’umugoroba, ntimwitwikiriye akabwibwi mukagaruka iwe kumukinguza, mugahita mumurasa mukamutsinda aho? Mwibagiwe akantu kamwe gusa: uwububa abonwa n’uhagaze! Hari abaturage babateye imboni.

Abashumba baragwira ra! Ubald we, uri umushumba wica intama, ni ukuri kw’Imana! Nta wakekaga ko wagera aho! Ariko buriya Sindayiheba wamuhoye iki koko? Hari n’uwo wumvise ko hari icyo amushinja? Ni uko rero, n’iyo ubutabera bw’abantu butabikuryoza, Imana uvuga ko wihaye yo ntizabura kubikubaza. Iyo ikaba ari na yo mpamvu ituma ngira nti: Mbere yo kujijisha ngo urabwiriza abicanyi kwemera ibyaha, nawe ubwawe mwigisha, banza utinyuke ujye mu Kiliziya y’i Mwezi, ari ku cyumweru, abakristu bateranye. Aho kubacunaguza nk’uko wabimenyereye, ubatuka ngo ni abicanyi bose uko bangana, uzemere ukubite ibipfukamiro hasi, ubabwize ukuri ku byerekeye abantu bose wicishije hariya uvuka, n’abo washinje ibinyoma. Nibwo ahari uzaba utangiye gusengera mu kuri. Naho ubundi, abantu bose bamaze kumenya ko uri “Bangamwabo”, abaturage b’iwanyu barakubona bagahunga nk’ababonye Rubebe! Wowe ho ukikirigita, ugaseka ngo bose bazi ko wirukana amashitani.

2. Padiri Ubald ushinja inzirakarengane ibinyoma ugatoza n’abandi kubikora

Uribuka se amajoro wararaga ugenda, uva i Mushaka ujya hariya uvuka, ukikijwe n’imbunda n’abasirikari bakurindiye umutekano, ujya gutoza abaturage uko bagomba gushinja ibinyoma bagenzi babo? Harya jenoside yabaye uri muri kariya gace noneho ukaba warajyaga kubabwira amakuru uzi neza? Wiyibagije ko wari uri i Nyamasheke? Hanyuma se uriya mugabo witwa Sinzabakwira Straton, wari warigize Bourgmestre wa Karengera, woheje ngo ajye yirirwa ashinja ibinyoma abo wanga, ukamushukisha kuzamufunguza no kuzarihira abana be amashuri, ubona ko abantu babibonamo ubutungane? We se ko mukorana kandi ari umwicanyi uzwi na bose, ni we muntu ukwiye kwizerwa wabonye i Cyangugu? Cyangwa hari icyo mupfana! Koko ibisa birasabirana! Twese tuzi uko wamurindagije ngo ajye yirirwa afungisha inzirakarengane afatanije na Nyakwigendera depute Kanakuze Yudita. Ni nde wibagiwe ko iyo imodoka y’inshuti yawe Kanakuze Yudita yahingukaga mu karere, abantu bakwirwaga imishwaro, bakarara mu gihuru bihishahisha? Ibintu byarahindutse koko. Hambere aha, iyo umuntu yazamukaga mu ntera, yaharaniraga kuzamura akarere k’iwabo, mbese nk’uriya muminisitiri wagejeje amashanyarazi i Mwezi. Yari umugabo koko.

Hari ikindi cyerekana ko wowe Padiri Ubald, ufite ikibazo gikomeye. Iyaba ari jye wangaga gusa nari kugira ngo nijye nyirabayazana. Harya ngo abagize inama nkuru ya Paruwasi ya Mwezi murapfa iki? Hari ikindi ubahora kitari uko banze guha rugari ubwibone bwawe (la vaine gloire que tu aimes tant!)?

Inama nkuru ya paroisse ya Mwezi yateguraga ibirori by’itangwa ry’ubupadiri bwa ba Fratri Silivani Ayobamvuga na Gilibereti Komezusenge muri 2009. Muri iyo nama koko hari umuntu w’incuti yawe watanze igitekerezo ko, ubwo wujuje imyaka 25 uri umusaserdoti, Paruwasi yagukorera yubile, igahimbazwa muri ubwo bukwe bw’itangwa ry’ubusaserdoti. Abandi bamaze kuvuga icyo batekereza, hafatwa icyemezo cy’uko iminsi mikuru itavangwa, ahubwo biyemeza kuzagushakira undi mwanya ukwiye, nawe bakagukorera ibirori bya yubile! Ngo inkuru ikugereho ko utakiyerekanye mu itangwa ry’ubusaserdoti: yo!yo!yo!yo! Sibwo wishyize ku karubanda, ukisararanga, ukarimbura ibiti n’amabuye, ugatangira gutukanira mu isoko, ku manywa y’ihangu, ukemeza ko inama nkuru ya paruwasi ya Mwezi igizwe n’interahamwe gusa! Sibwo uhuruje ibyo bikomerezwa byawe, maze abantu bagakubitwa, abandi bagafungwa, abashoboye bagatorongera, padiri mukuru agahabuka, agata paruwasi!

Hari aho utageze uvuga ngo abapadiri bose babaye i Mwezi nta kindi bakoze uretse kwigisha ingengabitekerezo ngo ari na byo byateye abaturage b’ i Mwezi kwicana mu w’1994? Wowe se ko wigishije iyo “vanjiri yawe” i Nyamasheke, wahavuye ute? Bo ntabwo bicanye? Aho i Nyamasheke uvuga nanjye nahabaye nyuma yawe. Ishusho wahasize si iy’umupadiri ushyize Iyobokamana imbere, ahubwo ngo wari umupadiri wifitiye inyungu za politiki arengera, yewe n’ishyaka rya politiki warimo ntibararyibagirwa. Uribuka ko utashoboraga kuramutsa umuntu n’umwe mudahuje ishyaka? Harya Inspectrice w’amashuri witwa Nyirarukundo hari ikindi mwapfuye uretse kuba yaranze kuva mu ishyaka rye ngo aze mu ryawe?

Nuko rero ngo warashavuye cyane ko naba naragiye Arusha gutanga ubuhamya bushinjura imfungwa? Koko nagiyeyo nk’uko benshi bajyayo n’ubu. Ikindi rero, nubishaka uzajyeyo ubaze neza, jye navugiye ku mugaragaro, ntagombye kwihisha mu kabati nkawe n’incuti zawe kandi navuze ibyo niboneye n’amaso yanjye. Ubwo rero ngo inka zacitse amabere kuko ntabanje kuza kukureba ngo umpfunyikire ubuhamya njya gutanga Arusha! Iyo ni ya mikorere ya za gacaca ushimagiza? Ujye uyishoramo abandi, njye undeke. Mu bo woshya kubeshyera abandi sindimo. Njye niga amategeko, sindi nkawe utekereza ko abantu bagomba gucibwa imitwe nyuma y’imanza zishingiye ku mpuha gusa. Inkiko nyazo zigira uko zikora. Wowe rero ngo ureba ibyihishe mu mitima, ukaba uzi ukuri kose (ukwabayeho n’ukutarabayeho) , uzajye imbere y’urukiko rw’Arusha umvuguruze. Kandi ibyavugiwe imbere y’umucamanza ntushobora kubivugururiza mu kabari. Fata indege ujye Arusha maze uvugishe ukuri, dore ko wibwira ko nta wundi wavuga ukuri uretse wowe wenyine. Imanza zose z’abantu zizabe ari wowe zeguriwe, mugani wa ya ndirimbo? Nyamara icyakubabaje si impamvu zo gushaka ukuri, ni inyungu za politike uba ushyize imbere.

3. Padiri Ubald uvanga amasaka n’amasakaramentu

Padiri Ubald, intama waragijwe ziri muri paruwasi ya Mushaka (dore ko ari na yo mvukamo) ntizikimenya ijwi ryawe. Uravuga bakikanga. Ngo iyo utangiye inyigisho ku cyumweru, hari abakwihisha munsi y’intebe! Ntibakimenya gutandukanya ijwi ryawe n’iry’Umuyobozi w’akarere cyangwa irya Afande. Nk’iyo ufungira abantu amasakaramentu ngo ni uko inkiko gacaca zabemeje icyaha, iryo kenurabushyo (pastorale) riba ari bwoko ki? Mu mategeko ya Kiliziya (Droit Canon), hari aho waba warabonye ko uwo Inkiko gacaca zishinje icyaha, Kiliziya imuhanisha gufungirwa amasakaramentu? Ko usa n’aho Bibiliya yawe itakiri iyo tuzi? Icyakora Abanyamushaka bo barumiwe pe! Ese ubwo uzi ko hari benshi waciye mu kiliziya kubera ko ngo utacyigisha ijambo ry’Imana, ahubwo ukaba wararisimbuje ibitekerezo bya FPR-pawa? Uzatinyuke ubwire Musenyeri wawe ko wasezeye ku bupadiri, ukaba usigaye warihitiyemo akazi ko kuba umupolisi n’umukangurambaga wa FPR-pawa, nibwo uzaba utagisengera mu kinyoma!

4. Padiri Ubald wigisha tewologiya y’amacakubiri

Umwihariko twese twari twarakurekeye ni uwo kuzenguruka igihugu usengera abarwayi ngo bagakira amashitani. N’ubwo Kiliziya itayobewe ko ubwo bubasha Yezu yabuyihaye, ariko ntijya yibagirwa ko hari n’ibigirwa-ngabire shitani yifashisha ngo igirire nabi roho za benshi. Mu buryo bwawe bwo gusengera abandi, hari byinshi bitera kwibaza. Dore nk’iyo wowe ubwawe wakoresheje ibiterane byo gusabira abarwayi, ntutinya guhagarara ku maguru yombi ngo wemeze ko hari umuntu ukize ibitega abanzi be bari baramutumye! !! Ubwo urumva icuraburindi uba uroshye mu mitwe y’abo banyantegenke bakwizeye? Uba ubemeje ko ibitega bibaho kandi ko hari abantu babituma abandi. Uwishuka ngo uramukijije iyo ageze mu rugo atyaza umuhoro agahita asanga wa muturanyi we bafitanye akantu ati “Imana yampishuriye ko ari wowe undoga ibitega”! Ubwo urugamba rukaba ruraremye. Ntaho uzi byabaye? Nyirabayazana w’ayo makimbirane hari undi utari wowe n’inyigisho zawe z’ubuyobe zikora ishyano?

Diyosezi zose zo mu Rwanda zari zikwiye kukwamagana, ukareka gukomeza kubeshya abantu no kubateranya. Kandi nabyo iyo umuntu abisesenguye neza, asanga atari impamvu z’Iyobokamana zigutera kwihambira kuri iriya baringa yo gukiza amashitani! Harimo inyungu za politiki zizwi nawe, abazi gushishoza bazabisuzume.

5. Padiri Ubald urikuza ukaniyemera

Ushimishwa no kuvuga hose ko uri intungane. Wivugira ubwawe ko usengera mu kuri, ko ukiri isugi, n’ibindi bigwi udahwema kwivuga. Bityo, nk’umufarizayi mwiza, ugahita wemeza ko udasa n’abandi, b’abasambanyi, b’ibisambo, b’abicanyi, bigisha ingengabitekerezo….

Nyamara Yezu ati “mujye mushishoza, abahanuzi beza muzababwirwa n’imbuto bera” (Mt 7,15-20). Paulo mutagatifu na we ataho ati “imbuto za Sekibi (ibikorwa by’umubiri) zirigaragaza:….kwangana, gukurura intonganya, ishyari, uburakari, kwikuza, amakimbirane, amacakubiri…” (Galati 5, 19-20).

None se Padiri Ubaldi, ko tubona wirirwa ushiha abandi bapadiri, ubashinja ibinyoma, ubiba amacakubiri mu bakristu ushinzwe n’abo utatumweho…aho izo mbuto wera ntizerekana neza ko umwanya wawe uri mu bahanuzi b’ibinyoma? Ntakubeshye, hari benshi batakirirwa babishidikanyaho.

Ifaranga umaze kurirunda, imodoka zawe ebyiri z’akataraboneka zirozwa zikabyagira mu gikari cya paruwasi Mushaka, mu gihe bagenzi bawe bajya mu butumwa n’amaguru, ntacyo bikubwiye. Uravuga rikijyana muri Diyosezi, urizimiza ukicyura, nta we ukubaza ibyo ukora. Abategetsi bakomeye n’abasirikari bakuru nibo musangira, warabifatiye, ingoma ikuri mu bitugu! Ahasigaye ugakandagira abatindi ntacyo wishisha kuko ntawe ukopfora ngo utamuhamagarira abamuraza mu munyururu. Ikiri impamo ni uko ukandagira isi igatigita, nawe si ukubigendera ukamena amabuye. Ahari wibagiwe ko ikuzo ry’iyi si ari iry’akanya gato. Reka nkwibutse agakuru uzi neza: mu bihe byashize, iyo bimikaga Papa mushya, bamwambikaga ya ngofero ya zahabu bita “tiare”, abakaridinari bakamuheka kubitugu, bakamutambagirana imbere y’imbaga y’abakristu berekana ko afite ububasha n’ikuzo by’ikirenga; hanyuma ariko bagakora n’ undi muhango uteye ukwawo : barundaga ubwoya bw’intama imbere ye bakabuha inkongi (maze uko umuriro usabira ugahita uzima) bakongeraho aka kajambo gateye amatsiko ngo “sic transit gloria mundi” ( Ng’uku uko ikuzo ry’iyi si riyoyoka bwangu”). Bumva, wumvise?


Umwanzuro(Conclusion)

Padiri Ubald we, ng’uko uko tukuzi, ujye wifora imbere y’abana bato n’Abazungu. Guhera ubu, ujye uvuga ibyo wahagazeho ureke impuha. Nshyira hasi, ntacyo nagutwaye. Unkure mu mubare w’abo wagize akabaho ukanandagizaho ibirenge byawe .Yaba njye cyangwa bariya bapadiri bandi washyirishije kuri “hitlist”, uzagira icyo aba, haba ejo cyangwa ejobundi, impanga ye uzayibazwe! Tanga amahoro muri Cyangugu, induru yawe, n’ukwiyemera kwawe abantu barabihaze. Bakuvanye i Mushaka, abakristu bahumeka: imyaka irenga icumi yose ubamena amatwi, ubaca n’amafaranga ya buri munsi uboshye ikoro, ntibamenye n’irengero ryayo? Jye sinumva impamvu bagombye kukwihanganira igihe kingana gityo! Ntugire ngo ni ikindi bagucaga, mu bushishozi bwabo baribwiraga bati “uhagarikiwe n’ingwe aravoma”. Gusa ariko, umunsi ingwe yaba itagihari, Kamenyero ashobora kuvoma ibirohwa!


Padiri Thomas Nahimana

Bikorewe i Paris, taliki ya 10 Nyakanga 201

COMMENTS FROM EDITOR
It is shameful to read this other side of the story of a Priest who claims to preach a message of healing among the parishioners of Cyangugu as said in the JHWeekly. It is true Fr.Ubald might have lost about 3,000 parishioners but this figure might be more than that considering that the Ubald's figure does not include my father,mother, my siblings, uncles, and other relatives that killed in 1997 when the Tutsi led RPF hunted us down into the DR Congo forest after destroying the refugee camps of Eastern DRC in October 1996. Fr. Ubald should know that the Chrsit's gospel never takes side. I am sorry that Interahamwe killed his family but also he should do the same to me that his RPF soldiers whom he champions for as the liberator killed my family twice. The first group was killed in the Kibeho Refugee Camp in 1995, and the second time my family was exterminated in 1997 when the RPF led by President Kagame and Nyamwasa came and destroyed refugee camps where we were living when I was still 11 years old. This Tutsi led army had a mission of revenge and extermination of any Hutu species starting from the fact that they had killed the two Hutu presidents Habyarimana Juvenal of Rwanda and Ntaryamira Cyprien of Burundi who were downed on April 6,1994 which sparked the mass killing on 1994. I pray that Fr.Ubald Rugirangoga become true to himself and preach a gospel of forgiveness not the one for publicity hunting and RPF propaganda machinery but the one that will reconcile all tribes of the region. I always apologize for his people who were brutally killed in 1994 because I believe that no soul should be sent back to the giver by human brutality. He also should be sorry for his RPF power ideology of accusing all Hutus to be murderer without taking into consideration the agony and feelings I have when I remember how my dad died under my watch when we were in Tingi-Tingi Refugee Camp in DRC.