Kagame's Killing Fields is the latest book by author David Himbara. This book follows Kagame's Economic Mirage published by same author in 2016. The two books share one main thing - they are both based on hard evidence drawn from official governmental or multilateral agencies' records. As Himbara explains in the two books, it is his strategy to avoid anecdotal materials which are easily disputed.
Kagame's Killing Fields is a shocking account of killings in Rwanda, DRC, and beyond - all unleashed by Kagame from 1994 to 2016. Ironically, Himbara's data on Kagame's Killing Fields is mostly from The United States' government - a country that has been most supportive of the Kagame regime. Perhaps what will shock people who read Kagame's Killing Fields is the chapter on the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Himbara paints a picture that is sharply different from the official Rwandan view. Himbara heavily quotes Kagame and his party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in their vehement opposition to the UN intervention to stop genocide, after the initial UN withdrawal instigated by the Clinton Administration in the US. According to Himbara, Kagame was interested in power as opposed to saving lives. External intervention would have denied him outright power - such intervention would have led to power-sharing.
The book is most depressing on what followed in the RPF takeover in 1994, the massacres in Rwanda such as Kibeho in 1995, through the invasion of Congo, and the subsequent deaths of up 5 million in that country between 1996 and 2000.
This book is a must read for everyone interested in human rights, international law, and political studies. It is an eye opener - and for those who see Kagame as a saviour. On the contrary, he is a monster, as Himbara ably demonstrates. The book should shame Kagame's diehard supporters such Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. It is hard to imagine that they have no idea of who Kagame truly is.
Ifoto yerekana uko inzego zishinzwe umutekano ziri guhohotera abategarugori i Kigali ngo ni abazunguzayi!
Rwanda : Banyarwandakazi, twizihize dute "Umunsi mpuzamahanga w’abagore 2017?"
Nkuko bimaze kuba akamenyero, buri tariki ya 08 Werurwe isi yose yizihiza umunsi mpuzamahanga w’abari n’abategarugori. Buri mwaka kandi umuryango mpuzamahanga w’abibumbye ushyiraho intego rusange igomba kuzirikanwa. Agashya muri uyu mwaka wa 2017 ni uko noneho hashyizweho intego izazirikanwa mu gihe cy’imyaka 3 : ni ukuvuga 2017, 2018 na 2019. Iyo ntego muri rurimi rw’igifaransa ni “les femmes dans un monde de travail en évolution: pour un monde 50-50”. Tugenekereje mu rurimi rw’ikinyarwanda, byasemurwa gutya: imyitwarire y’abagore mu ruhando rw’imirimo ijyana n’ibihe uko bigenda bisimburana: mu rwego rw’akazi, hakwiye uburinganire butaziguye hagati y’abagore n’abagabo.
Kuri iyi tariki ya 08 Werurwe 2017 rero, mw’izina ry’ishyaka RDI-Rwanda Rwiza, nifuje guterura ngo ngire icyo mbwira Abanyarwanda, cyane cyane Abari n’abategarugori nyine, mpereye ku ijambo Perezida wa Repubulika, General Paul Kagame, aherutse kuvugira mu mwiherero wa 2017. Nyuma y’uko uwahoze ari Minisitiri w’Intebe, Bwana Habumuremyi Pierre Damien, atangarije ko abakozi bose mu Rwanda barangwa no gukora nabi, uretse Perezida Paul Kagame wenyine; muri uyu mwiherero, Perezida Kagame yeruriye abayobozi bose, ababwira ko azi neza ko mu mikorere yabo bamubeshya kandi bakanabeshya n’amahanga !
Ubu isi yose izi ko u Rwanda ari igihugu ntanga-rugero mu bintu byinshi,ariko cyane mu kugira umubare munini w’abari n’abategarugori mu nzego zifata ibyemezo no mu buyobozi busanzwe. Nyamara ababikurikiranira hafi, bemeza ko abo banyarwandakazi bashyirwa mu myanya hadashingiwe ku bushobozi bafite, ko ahubwo « icyama cya RPF » cyitoranyiriza abari n’abategarugori ba Ndiyo Bwana » naba « Mpemuke ndamuke », bazajya bikiriza «ndiyo bwana». Niyo mpamvu tutatunguwe na gato n’iriya mvugo ya Perezida Kagame wanenze bikomeye imikorere y’abayobozi kandi aba ariwe wabishyiriyeho ubwe, akenshi akabashyiraho nta no kugisha inama inzego zibishinzwe !
Kuva kera umubyeyi yarangwaga no guca ukubiri n’ikinyoma. Abagore, nibo benshi mu bayobozi, iyo baza kugira ukuri mu kazi bashinzwe, ntabwo perezida wa repubulika yari kubona ko mu mikorere y’igihugu harimo kubeshya abanyarwanda no kubeshya abanyamahanga. Mu nyandiko zabanjirije iyi, nagiye ngerageza kenshi kugira inama Abari n’Abategarugori, mbereka ko ubwinshi bwabo bwagombye kuba umusemburo wo gukemura ibibazo bikunze kugaragara mu miyoborere y’igihugu cyacu. Hari naho kandi twagiye tuburira abari n’abategarugori incuro nyinshi ko ibibi bikorerwa abanyarwanda bazabiryozwa, niba ntacyo bakoze.
None dore imyaka igiye kuba 24, Abari n’Abategarugori bakorera mu kinyoma, bagakoma amashyi gusa nta n’impamvu yo kuyakoma, uretse gutinya kunyagwa umugati. Ngo agapfa kaburiwe ni impongo : Bayobozikazi, mumenye ko amateka azabaryoza amahano yagiye akorwa mu gihugu mwinumiye, dore ko n’igihe kizagera FPR-Kagame ikabigarika, ikagereka amabi yose kuri benshi muri mwe, mutagifite kirengera ! Rubanda itarahwemye kubasaba kwamagana amarorerwa y’iyi ngoma, izagera ubwo izabahinduka, yunge mu rya Prezida Kagame, maze ibabaze iti «ubwinshi bwanyu bwamariye iki igihugu? Kubakira ku kinyoma gusa ?»
Ntarirarenga
Abari n’Abategarugori bashinzwe kuvuganira Rubanda, ndongera uyu munsi mbibutse ko nta rirarenga. Muri iki gihe havugwa inzara ya “NZARAMBA” mu gihugu ; iyi nzara ikaba iri koreka abangavu mu busambanyi, ikaba iri gukura abana mu mashuri, n’ibindi. Turabasaba gutabariza abakene musaba Leta ya FPR gusaranganya ibihari, muyisabe ihagurukire gukumira ubwiyongere bw’iyi nzaramba, iriya mishinga yo kubaka imiturirwa muri Kigali ibe ihagaze. Abadamu bakwiye guhora bazirikana ko ubwinshi bwabo bukwiye gushingirwaho bagashyigikirwa ukuri. Birababaje wa mugani wa perezida Kagame, kubona ubwinshi bwanyu mubwitwaza mu kwimakaza ibinyoma!
Nta rirarenga, badamu nimuhaguruke muzibire intambara iri kongera gushozwa mu burasirazuba bwa Congo, musabe Leta kureka gukomeza gushora urubyiruko rw’ u Rwanda mu ntambara ya M23, bityo mwazabonekamo intwari. Nimubaduke mwamagane irigiswa ry’abantu ryongeye kwaduka mu gihugu. Kuba muri benshi mu buyobozi byari byiza ariko mukwiye kwiminjiramo agafu ijwi ryanyu rikagira umumaro, bityo mukikuraho igisebo cy’uko ubwinshi bwanyu aribwo buri koreka u Rwanda, maze umuco wa FPR wo gukorera ku kinyoma, umuco ubu wari umaze kumenyekana ku isi hose, Perezida Kagame azareke kuwubagereka ku mugongo.
Bari na mwe Bategarugori, cyane cyane abajijukiwe n’imiyoborere y’igihugu, mufite inshingano ikomeye yo kurwanya akarengane gakomeje gushavuza no guhekura ababyeyi batari bake. Mukwiye gutinyuka, cyane cyane mwebwe mukiri urubyiruko, kuko ari mwe Rwanda rw’ejo. Nimugire ubutwari nk’ubwa Diane Rwigara, uherutse guhamagarira Abanyarwanda kwatura, bakamagana ibitagenda mu gihugu, basaba ko ibintu bihinduka. Mujye muzirikana kandi ko mu mateka y’Urwa Gasabo, harimo n’abagore b’intwari, nka Ndabaga mwene Nyamutezi wo mu Bwishaza, wacunguye se ku mirimo y’ubuhake bw’i Bwami, akarusha ibigwi abagabo, kugeza aho asiga umugani ngo « ibintu bigeze iwa Ndabaga », bishatse kuvuga ko ibihe bidasanzwe, ko ibintu byadogereye, nko kubona abagore batabara, byari bimenyerewe ko urugamba ari urw’abagabo gusa.
Umwanzuro
Ikibazo cy’imiyoborere y’u Rwanda biragaragara ko kidashobora gukemuka hatabayemo uruhare rugaragara rw’Abari n’Abategarugori. Vision ya LONI iri guteganya uburinganire bwa 50 – 50 kugera mu mwaka wa 2030, mu Rwanda ho twari dukwiye kwishimira ko iriya vision yari yaragezweho hamwe na hamwe, kuko mu nzego nyinshi umubare w’ abagore utambutse kure uw’ abagabo. Uku kutagaragaza umusaruro nyawo rero mu byukuri ahanini bituruka k’ukuba FPR ishaka gukomeza kuyobora igihugu yonyine, ku buryo n’abandi baza baturutse mu yandi mashyaka, FPR ihita ibashyiraho iterabwoba maze bagahita bayijya mu kwaha. Kuba Umukuru w’ igihugu atangiye kuvugira ku mugaragaro ko mu nzego zose bakoresha ikinyoma gusa, iki ni ikimenyetso simusiga ko hakenewe Leta ihuriweho n’ amashyaka menshi, harimo n’atavuga rumwe na FPR.
Kugira ngo iyi ntego izagerweho, turasaba umuryango mpuzamahanga kudufasha kotsa igitutu Leta ya FPR ikemera politiki y’ amashyaka menshi, ikemera gukorera muri demokarasi, maze abadamu baturutse hanze ya FPR bakaza gufasha bagenzi babo kugerageza gukorera mu kuri, bityo umubyeyi nyarwanda akongera akagirirwa ikizere. Ni ngombwa rero ko ibintu bihinduka, ingoma ngome ya FPR-Kagame igasezererwa, mu buryo bwose bushoboka. Bari namwe Bategarugori, iyo mpinduka irihutirwa muri uyu mwaka w’2017, dore ko niba Abenegihugu badahagurutse ngo baharanire uburenganzira bwabo, Kagame n’agatsiko ke bazongera kwiba ubutegetsi bwa rubanda, binyuze mu matora afifitse nk’uko amenyerewe mu Rwanda.
Nimucyo duhagurukane n’abagabo bacu na basaza bacu, maze twereke ingoma y’igitugu ko tuyirambiwe, tuyigamburuze mu buryo bwose, maze impinduka itegerejwe na benshi, izasesekare mu Rwatubyaye mbere y’impera z’uyu mwaka. Nta gushidikanya ko impinduka nk’iyo yatuma u Rwanda rwongera kuba u Rwanda, Abanyarwanda bakongera kubana mu bwumvikane, bagatunga, bagatunganirwa.
Marie MUKAMWIZA
Commissaire wa RDI Rwanda Rwiza
Ushinzwe Imibereho myiza n’ Iterambere
Looking at the images of the 2017 National Leadership Retreat, one might mistake Kagame for an obituary announcer, and leaders listening to him as mourners. It is a gloomy and fearful occasion. It is therefore a legitimate question – what is the purpose of the National Leadership Retreat in Rwanda? This Retreat is unlike similar exercises. Normally, Retreats enable leaders, executives and other stakeholders to improve performance and delivery of services. In particular, leadership retreats provide space to do at least four things:
Engage minds to reflect on past performance and to fine-tune future policy execution.
Recognize unproductive patterns, both within leadership and in workplace interactions in order to adjust for improved performance and delivery.
Initiate change by connecting fully with those in charge of oversight and sector programs.
Respond to opportunities and challenges for better results.
Rwanda’s Leadership Retreat has little in common with such exercises. Kagame uses the Retreat to exert his power and position to make other leaders feel insignificant. Worse – Kagame declares Rwandan leaders useless. The abuse has now become a ritual.
Who does Kagame humiliate? Rwanda’s National Leadership Retreat is attended by government officials including President Paul Kagame, Chief Justice, President of the Senate, Speaker of Parliament, Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and other senior officials. The gathering also includes military chiefs, business leaders, and heads of civil society organizations.
In a style of old-school totalitarian headmaster, Kagame reduces the entire Rwandan leadership to inept and even corrupt people. This is precisely how Kagame just described Rwandan leadership at the 2017 Retreat.
Perhaps the 2015 Leadership Retreat was the worst in this regard. Shockingly, the President stated:
“Everybody has become like the other – the killers of yesterday and the liberators of yesterday…full of self-importance and doing nothing for this country that has suffered so much.”
According to Kagame, he is the only one left to save Rwanda as he put it in 2015. Were it possible he would even “take arms and fight” against the current non-performing and corrupt system.
In most bizarre moment of the 2015 Leadership retreat, the Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda who doubles as Kagame advisor, tried to rescue Rwandan leaders from Kagame by listing all the good things that Rwanda has supposedly achieved. Mwenda extraordinarily claimed that Rwanda has a better healthcare system than even the united States of America.
Kagame then turned on Mwenda:
“I really don’t like your comments. You can reserve them for your Independent newspaper. You write them and I will read them there.”
Fast forward to 2017. Kagame has once repeated the ritual, terming the Rwandan leaders zombies who come to the retreat only to leave and repeat same motions – incompetence and no delivery.
Kagame seems to forget four factors:
He is the builder of the current system since 1994.
He is the appointing authority of all the officials he is now cursing.
He is their chief executive officer; chief operational officer, and chief financial officer.
He has used the same people he is abusing to grab power – he is set to rule until 2034 and possibly beyond.
By characterizing the Rwandan system as incompetent and corrupt, Kagame is conceding that he is a total failure. He is, after all, the architect of the system.
Le parti RDI-Rwanda Rwiza condamne le régime rwandais du FPR-Kagame pour ses entraves à la démocratie et à la liberté des opposants à mener toute action politique dans leur pays.
Le parti RDI-Rwanda Rwiza dénonce et condamne la fâcheuse décision du Gouvernement rwandais de refuser à la délégation du parti Ishema l’entrée au Rwanda qui était prévue le 23.11.2016. Alors que Monsieur l'abbé Thomas Nahimana, Secrétaire Général de ce parti, et ses trois compagnons dont la brave Mme Nadine Kasinge et son bébé âgé de 7 mois, étaient en transit à l’aéroport de Nairobi prêts à embarquer pour Kigali, ils se sont vu refuser l’accès à leur vol, au motif que les autorités rwandaises avaient donné à la Compagnie Kenya Airways l’ordre formel de ne pas laisser le sieur Nahimana et ses compagnos monter dans l’avion à destination de la capitale rwandaise.
Le refus d’entrée exprimé à leur égard par le pouvoir de Kigali est une entrave majeure à la liberté et à la démocratie. Il dénote, une fois de plus, la fébrilité du régime du FPR-Kagame qui craint la compétition politique, comme il l’a déjà démontré par le passé en jetant en prison Madame Ingabire Victoire lorsqu’elle est allée concourir à l’élection présidentielle de 2010; et en refusant au Président du parti RDI, le renouvellement de son passeport rwandais et le visa d'entrée au Rwanda dans son passeport belge en 2013, alors qu’il devait y aller pour faire enregistrer le parti et y exercer des activités politiques d’opposition.
Le parti RDI saisit la présente occasion pour réitérer sa grande admiration et ses hommages les plus déférents à Madame Ingabire, dont le courage et le combat politique exceptionnels continuent de faire trembler le dictateur rwandais et sa clique. Nous sommes également sensibles à la forte détermination de Madame Kasinge dont la famille fut décimée par le FPR en 1994 et qui, malgré ces lourds antécédents et son état de maman d’un petit ange de 7 mois, a pris le risque d’aller au Rwanda pour y faire de la politique dans des conditions dont nous savons tous la dureté. Le parti RDI tient à féliciter le parti Ishema et ses dirigeants pour l’acte courageux qu’ils ont posé en tentant de se rendre au Rwanda en vue d’y participer aux prochaines élections nationales, dont la présidentielle de 2017.
Nous voudrions enfin lancer un appel pressant à la vingtaine de partis politiques d’opposition opérant en dehors du Rwanda, afin qu’ils engagent, sans plus tarder, une concertation visant à définir les modalités d’un retour au Rwanda à effectuer ensemble le plus tôt possible. Il ne fait point de doute qu’un tel retour en force des opposants rwandais dans leur mère patrie ferait trembler davantage le dictateur de Kigali, qui prend souvent un malin plaisir à mépriser l’opposition rwandaise et à dénigrer sa capacité à imposer un changement politique au Rwanda.
Fait à Bruxelles, le 28 Novembre 2016 Pour le parti RDI-Rwanda Rwiza, Faustin Twagiramungu, Président.
How The King Of Rwanda Became A Driver For The King Of Morocco
The answer is - power and money. Morocco's King Mohammed VI has a lot of cash. Forbes calculated his wealth to be US$5.7 billion, which makes the Moroccan King the 6th richest billionaire in Africa.
Evidently, Morocco is keen to rejoin the African Union, having quit the Organization of African Unity in the 1980s. The Moroccans seem to have settled on Kagame as their frontman in Africa. Kagame has in other words sold Rwanda to another rich buyer in which he gets a cut.
Why do I say that?
Look at these intriguing events between since June 2016:
* June 20, 2016, the Moroccan king decorated Kagame with the Grand Collar of Wissam Al-Mohammadi, Morocco's highest national award of honour.
* October 18-20, 2016, the Moroccan king made a state visit and promised to invest in Rwanda, and to finance Mrs Jeannette Kagame Nyiramongi's Imbuto Foundation.
At the end of his state visit to Rwanda, the Moroccan king was driven to the airport by Kagame himself. There he was - driver Kagame shamelessly becoming an errand boy for another head of state. When Kagame smells money, he will do whatever it takes to have it, no matter how crude and distasteful.
Little wonder that the Moroccan have now become Kagame spokesmen even involving themselves in internal Rwanda politics.
October 28, 2016, Ahmed Charai, publisher of the Moroccan weekly news magazine L'Observateur, published in Huffington Post "Let Kagame Have a Third Term as President."
The Moroccans apparently wish to keep their Rwandan driver in power indefinitely.
In the past two weeks, two perfectly healthy Rwandans died mysteriously in Kagame's republic. First to perish was Senator Jean de Dieu Mucyo. Mucyo died on October 3, 2016, reportedly after "falling down the stairs" at Parliament.
Then today (October 10), we learnt that businessman Vénuste Rwabukamba also mysteriously died after "shooting himself".
Meanwhile new statistics on Rwanda are equally gloomy. Data from the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) paint the following picture of Rwanda's external trade in first half of 2016:
* Imports - US$1.3 billion;
* Exports - US$325 million;
This disastrous trade imbalance explains why the currency is falling - trading at US$1 = Rwf830.
From the World Bank, we learn that foreign investment into East Africa in 2015 was as follows:
* US$323 million into Rwanda;
* US$1 billion in Uganda;
* US$1.4 billion to Kenya;
* US$1.9 billion for Tanzania.
And then Kagame had a word for France, which has apparently reopened its investigation into the events leading to Rwanda's genocide. Said Kagame:
"If starting all over again is a showdown we will have a showdown, there is no problem about that."
Kagame's republic remains synonymous with mysterious deaths, bad statistics, and showdowns.
____
David Himbara
Kiswahili becomes an official language in East Africa
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has passed a resolution to make Kiswahili the official language of the East African community alongside English reports The Citizen.
Kiswahili was elevated to an official language from the current status of lingua franca after a heated debate by the lawmakers after three legislators from Tanzania and Kenya tabled the motion to recognize the language as one of the languages. Kiswahili will be used in all meetings, correspondences and discussions within the region.
“It is our conviction that the Heads of State of EAC will endorse this motion to enable amendment of the EAC Treaty which has only English as the official language,” said Ms Shy-Rose Bhanji from Tanzania
There is already lobbying for the issue to be brought up before the Extra-ordinary summit of the regional leaders early next month in Dar es Salaam.
According to the legislators who presented the motion, Kiswahili played a major role in bringing together the East African nations in the pre-independence days helping the nations to come together against the colonial administrators.
In Rwanda, only 50 percent of the population speaks in Kiswahili while in Burundi it is 70 percent.
“The Assembly also needs to be practical to acknowledge that there are some partner states like Uganda with large population that does not speak Kiswahili and in the Treaty there is the provision for development as a lingua franca,” Ms Bhanji said.
According to the Daily News there was a proposal for the establishment of Kiswahili Learning Centre to train, staff, members and all stakeholders involved in the integration process to fully comprehend the language. Kiswahili is the Bantu language and the first language of the Swahili people.
______ CCTV-Africa
All the armed groups in Rwanda, including Kagame's RPA/F, butchered people in what Kagame's partners-in-crime and propagandists now force down the throat as Tutsi genocide.
The 1994 Rwandan massacres official narrative is a pack of lies that the world should redress with an objective international inquiry. The RPF Tutsi genocide narrative is pretty much the proverbial tale of the hunter!!!
The shameful stage-managed Arusha ICTR trials were " victor's justice". Like Galileo stood for the principle he knew to be true, I stand for what I know to be true; RPF/A/Kagame's then rebels, like other armed groups that existed in Rwanda, perpetrated the 1994 massacres.
The current Tutsi genocide hoax was constructed and " promoted" to cover up Kagame and his then rebels' horrific crimes. I hope and pray that, like time vindicated Galileo, I SHALL be vindicated when political interests change and there is an objective /neutral group to investigate what really happened in Rwanda that time. In the meantime, I SHALL never buy into the 1994 genocide propaganda.
Those who doubt that Kagame's ship is sinking, look at the following statistics and factors:
Collapsing export earnings to $268 million, from $275.12 million in the same period in 2015.
Increased trade deficit from $858.98 million up in 2015 to $902.69 million in the first six months of 2016.
Collapsing Rwanda Franc now trading at $1=810+.
Famine hitting different parts of Rwanda.
Dumping of long-term cronies, especially Agnes Binagwaho who rose from a family doctor to health minister; Eugene Gasana who bizarrely was both a minister and ambassador at the UN, now escaped to unknown destination.
Kagame built a US$300 million convention centre to make Kigali an African tourism hub. He has so far managed to host an African Union meeting that brought to Rwanda 4,000+ people and a couple smaller events since.
On 5-6 September 2016, Kagame is hosting the Global African Investment Summit that hopefully might attract 1,000.
To get a better sense of the challenge that lies ahead in making Kigali, and Rwanda a tourist hub, let us look at the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda's 2015 data.
As indicated in the table Rwanda received 1,219,529 visitors as follows:
* 1 million came from Africa by land - mainly from Burundi, DRC Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
* 35,000 from the Americas;
* 63,000 from Europe;
* 32,000 from elsewhere.
Obviously, the richer tourists with heavy pockets are most likely to be from richer countries in America, Europe and Asia. Shockingly, the total number of the potentially richer tourists that came to Rwanda in 2014 was a mere 130,000.
Ok Mr President, perform a miracle! Make the Kagame Convention Centre pay by making Rwanda a tourist hub. You are evidently starting this mission from a deep hole. You need all the luck.
Rwanda is officially a nation of spies. People are employed to spy in each village, street, and in each building complex. This is the case in Rwandan diaspora. The sole purpose of spying is to keep an eye on others in their ‘area’ and reporting them to President Paul Kagame if something appears to be amiss. The thoroughness with the regime pursues this mission is such that no-one wishes to cause offence.
Wise Rwandans in and outside the country keep their thoughts to themselves unless they wish to invite trouble. In this sense, Rwanda is a perfect example of a nation run on fear.
The only remaining problem for Kagame is loyalty within his narrow circle of trusted sycophants. The ranks within this grouping is shrinking, too.
A few weeks, health minister Agnes Binagwaho was dumped. She was one of the few long term sycophants that had managed to survive for a long time.
It is now the turn of Eugene Gasana, Rwandan ambassador to the UN. So trusted by Kagame that Gasana was even a cabinet minister for cooperation while living outside Rwanda. Don't ask me how he conducted ministerial duties while living in New York!
Gasana is now dumped - recalled from ambassadorship! What has he done? No one knows for sure. Methinks, however, that Gasana forgot that in Kagame's Rwanda you keep your thoughts to yourself or you are finished. In the recent past, we saw Gasana outspoken even challenging the Americans at the UN. More recently we saw Gasana debating in the media whether or not he is the real father of one of Kagame children. That debate may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
Rwandan American lawyer and former National University of Rwanda professor Dr. Charles Kambanda
France sponsored the UNC Resolution 2303. The Draft came to the UNSC under Chapter 6 Article 36 of the UN Charter.The Resolution passed with 11 countries voting in favor of sending 286 police officers to Burundi. Four ( 4) countries abstained; China, Angola, Venezuela and Egypt. Russia voted for Resolution 2303 after the UNSC agreed to include an explicit phrase; "... in cooperation with the government of Burundi". The government of Burundi is categorical; they will not allow more than 50 unarmed UN police officers.
Resolution 2303 has caused a lot of excitement among regime change campaign quarters. The thinking among Burundi regime change campaign quarters is that the UNSC sanctioned Police Force will probably "cooperate" in bringing down President Nkurunziza's government. The EU and the US, the major Burundi regime change campaign supporters, are expected to pick the bill for the UNS proposed police force. With Resolution 2303 on the table, the question is whather or not the government of Burundi is under legal obligation to let in the 286 UNSC police officers. I answer in the negative.
There is a big difference between UN Charter Chapters 6 and 7. Both UN Charter Chapters touch and concern Dispute Resolution. However, while Chapter 7 Resolutions are legally binding, Chapter 6 UNSC Resolutions are advisory and/or voluntary. Chapter 7 resolutions authorize forceful methods such as economic sanctions and humanitarian intervention ( military attacks) while Chapter 6 resolutions are UNSC proposals. Chapter 6 UN Resolutions/proposals are necessarily subject to the concerned government's consent. There is what is famously known as Chapter 6 and half resolutions. Chapter 6 and half UNSC Resolution cannot go beyond authorizing a UN Peacekeeping force, again subject to the concerned country's explicit consent.
The International Court of Justice ( ICJ), in Namibia case, made it clear that the only legally binding UNSC Resolutions are those taken under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. There is good policy reason for the ICJ's legal reasoning; the UNSC does not replace the Sovereign and, the UN or any organ thereof is not a Sovereign.
France sponsored Resolution 2303 under Chapter 6 Article 36 of the UN Charter. Because Resolution 2303 came to the UNSC under Chapter 6, Resolution 2303, Resolution 2303 explicit language notwithstanding, Burundi government consent to deployment of the 286 UN Police contingent is imperative. The government of Burundi is at liberty to accept the UN force with modification or object the entire UNSC Resolution Police Force deployment proposal.
Didas Gasana, a Rwandan journalist who has taken political refuge in Sweden
Much has been discussed after the Rwandan government announced recently that her un-employment rate stands at 13.2%. Many interpreted this to imply that the rest of the working age population- 86.8%- are gainfully employed. Sadly, it is not the case.
According to the government’s own figures, there were 6,611,000 persons 16 years old and over living in regular households in Rwanda in February 2016. About 3,161,000 of them were in the labour force, either employed (2,831,000) or unemployed (430,000). An additional 3,350,000 persons were outside the labour force including some 2,205,000 persons engaged wholly or mostly in subsistence foodstuff production, not classified as employment according to the new international standards on statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization. And remember, a size-able portion of those involved in subsistence farming do not sell their produce for monetary gain.
Thus, the national labour force participation rate, that is the percentage of the working age population engaged in the labour force, was 49.3 percent indicating that slightly less than half of the working age population was either working for pay or profit or seeking employment.
The employment-to-population ratio, i.e., the percentage of the working age population who is employed, is an indicator of the performance of the national economy in providing employment to its growing population. The ratio was 42.8 percent.
The un-employment rate represents the percentage of the labour force that is unemployed, which is at 13.2 percent, indicating that roughly for seven employed persons there was one person unemployed but remember that 3,350,000 persons were outside the labour despite being in the working-age bracket.
The un-employment rate is not the only indicator of the unmet needs for employment. Other indicators combine unemployment and time-related underemployment and potential labour force. The potential labour force includes persons who were available for employment but were not seeking employment during the reference period as well as persons who were indeed seeking employment during the reference period but were not currently available for work.
Thus, by the government’s own estimates, the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment is 34.0 percent more than twice the unemployment rate. The combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force is even higher at 45.4 percent. The composite measure of labour underutilization that combines unemployment, time-related underemployment and potential labour force was 60.3 percent, indicating that more than half of the labour force was affected by some form of labour underutilization.
Verdict: It is false to claim that 86.8% of Rwanda’s working age population is employed.
President Paul Kagame recently dumped Health minister Agnes Binangwaho. Beginning as a family doctor for the Kagame family for years, Binagwaho rose to become one of the most powerful and feared figures in Rwanda as health minister.
Not only was Binangwaho a confidante of Kagame's, she was very close to Mrs Kagame whose NGO is active in health sector. Binangwaho was also a darling to donors who over the years poured billions of dollars into Rwanda's health sector.
So what has happened? Why do think Kagame dumped Binangwaho? I have my own theory, but before sharing it, I wish to hear from others who might have richer insights.
Please inbox me your views! Here is David Himbara facebook: ____
David Himbara The Author of Kagame’s Economic Mirage
Kagame's Ministry of Finance has debt data that goes only up to 2014. In 2014, external debt was US$1.7 billion, while domestic debt was US$562 million. Total public debt in 2014 was in other words US$2.3 billion.
For the year 2015, the Joint Staff Rwanda Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) by the IMF and the World Bank reported Rwanda's external debt to be US$2.1 billion.
I do not have the figure for domestic debt for 2015.
For 2016, we are aware of the African Development Bank loan of US$163 million, World Bank loan of US$90 million, European Union loan of US$20 million, and IMF loan of US$204 million. That is a total of US$477 million loans borrowed in 2016.
I do not have the domestic debt for 2016.
We therefore know for sure that Rwanda debt in July 2016 is US$2.5 billion - excluding domestic borrowing for 2015, and 2016. We nonetheless estimate Rwanda's current total debt to be US$3 billion that would include domestic borrowing for 2015 and 2016 as well as foreign loans we have not capture.
Let us be very clear. Debt in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. True, public debt means a government is spending more than domestic tax revenues combined aid grants in the case of Rwanda. But if debt is not building some kind of productive capacity and is instead building white elephant projects, then we are in trouble.
For those friends who asked me to write this, address this question: is Kagame's US$3 billion debt building productive capacity to render Rwanda prosperous or he is lost in delusional fantasy land?
Ishema Party and the New Generation Coalition: Invitation to the farewell conferences
1. In order to materialize the plans of ISHEMA Party and the New Generation Coalition of leaders,
2. In order to honor the promise we made unto Rwandans to return to Rwanda to exercise our political rights and work hand in hand with the people as we struggle to build a nation where democracy prevails and based on values of the Truth , Intrepidness and Social justice,
3. Implementing the resolutions of the Congress of Ishema Party held in Brussels, Belgium from the 15th to the 17th of January 2016;
4. Subsequent to the farewell to the Rwandans living in Australia and America,
We are happy to invite all the Rwandans living in European and African countries to the farewell conferences scheduled as follows:
(1) In Oslo, Norway: on Saturday July 23rd 2016 from 2 pm (14h00). All the Rwandans living in Scandinavian countries are welcome. The meeting room will be communicated shortly.
(2) In Brussels, Belgium: on Sunday July 31st 2016 from 2 pm (14h00). We will convene at Rue Eloy 80, 1070 Anderlecht.
(3) In Munich, Germany: on Saturday September 3rd, 2016 from 2 pm (14h00). The meeting room will be communicated very soon.
(4) In Lille, France: on Saturday September 10th 2016 from 2 pm (14h00). The meeting room will be communicated without delay.
(5) In Lusaka, Zambia: on Saturday September 17th, 2016 from 2 pm (14h00). The meeting room will be communicated in few days.
(6) In Capetown, South Africa: on Saturday September 24th, 2016. The meeting room will be communicated shortly.
(7) In Amsterdam, Netherlands: on Saturday October 1st 2016 from 2pm (14h00). The meeting room will be communicated shortly.
During these conferences, Rev Father Thomas NAHIMANA, the candidate of the opposition to the 2017 presidential elections will be joined by a Team of leaders from Ishema Party and the New Generation coalition to launch the campaign manifesto “Together to Modernize Rwanda”.
* The participants will:
· Hear testimonies, exchange views and ideas and donate their contribution towards the party registration and electoral campaign.
· Ask questions and get proper answers on the manifesto “Together to Modernize Rwanda”.
· Discuss the possibility to join us in our journey to Rwanda
All are invited to support the change which is needed by the majority of the Rwandans.
President Omer al-Bashir will travel to Rwanda on Saturday to attend the African Union summit in Kigali, Sudan Tribune learnt. The 27th African Union Summit will take place in the Rwandan capital Kigali from the 10th to the 18th of July 2016.
Al-Bashir attended the African Union summit in South Africa in June 2015 although South Africa is a member to the International Criminal Court (ICC). A local court ordered to prevent him form leaving the country, but Johannesburg government facilitated his return to Sudan.
In May of this year al-Bashir visited Uganda and Djibouti, which are ICC state members of Rome Statute.
As a host-country of the African summit, the Rwandan President Paul Kagame has announced that his country will not arrest President al-Bashir during his coming visit to participate in the African Union summit.
“President al-Bashir is welcomed in Kigali at any time. He will be free in his second home country. We will not respond to the ICC calls to arrest him. We will not take any action of such type against him”, Kagame said.
Rwanda is not a state party to the tribunal of war crimes but has the obligation as a member of the United Nations to cooperate with the court. However like many other African capitals, Kigali is critical to ICC and to its focus on Africa.
In April 2007, the judges at the Hague-based tribunal issued an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir, and for the governor of North Kordofan state Ahmed Haroun, who at the time served as state minister interior.
DJIBOUTI & UGANDA: On a related development, the ICC said Tuesday it had referred Djibouti and Uganda to the United Nation Security Council for failing to arrest al-Bashir while he was on their territory.
As ICC members, the two countries are obliged to arrest the Sudanese president. However, the African governments refuse to arrest him saying they are committed to an African Union decision calling to not cooperate with the Hague based court .
"On 11 July 2016, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided that the Republics of Uganda and Djibouti had failed to comply with the request for arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir to the ICC and referred the matter to the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute and the United Nations Security Council,". said a statement released on Tuesday.
"It is now up to them to take the measures they deem necessary regarding this matter," the ICC further said.
Al Bashir is facing two ICC arrest warrants for five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes and three counts of genocide. (ST)
Most comic book superheroes are Europeans or white Americans but one artist in South Africa has been trying to change that.
"Kwezi" (star in Xhosa and Zulu) is the brainchild of Loyiso Mkize, who describes it as a coming-of-age story about finding one's heritage.
He's been speaking to the BBC about his work in visual art and why he feels Africa needs to have its own superheroes.
