 Recent visit of Rwanda's Paul Kagame to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where activists yelled: “Kagame…Criminal... Kagame…Criminal” in various languages. Photo by Jennifer Fierberg |
 Kagame during a recent visit to the US. Photo by Jennifer Fierberg |
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 The UK may block the prosecution of Paul Kagame by the ICC. |
http://therisingcontinent.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/kagame-2012/#more-2479Kagame 2012 A critical question should resonate loudly in the mind of those who follow international politics since Kony 2012 came out on March 5th, 2012. Why would a global campaign to track a criminal with apparently ill equipped 300 followers be staged while the same countries which are after the former having been providing billions of £, $ and Euros and persist in backing another criminal leader of a country whose responsibility in worse atrocities has been irrevocably proven? We remember well Kony 2012, the phenomenal viral clip that Invisible Children launched online to track Joseph Kony, the Ugandan rebel leader of the Lord Resistance Army. Adam Branch is clearer on the real intentions from backers in the chase of Kony. "…Invisible Children's campaign is a symptom, not a cause. It is an excuse that the US government has gladly adopted in order to help justify the expansion of their military presence in central Africa. Invisible Children are "useful idiots", being used by those in the US government who seek to militarise Africa, to send more and more weapons and military aid, and to bolster the power of states who are US allies." Kony campaign: a distraction In the views of concerned Africans, the entire Kony 2012 campaign was a distraction by interested parties from the real criminal that the world, and particularly survivors of his crimes and oppression and all citizens of the Great Lakes region, should track. This is not to excuse atrocities that Joseph Kony is accountable for. But it is only about putting elements of a situation in their real context. Since October 1st, 1990 when Rwanda was invaded by Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels, or even before if one considers his involvement under Yoweri Museveni leadership and mentorship, the Rwandan president has been the master-minder of uncountable atrocities, in Rwanda and far beyond the country's borders. 8 million people dead and more, who continue to live with the negative consequences of his ventures in the whole Central African region, constitute a pessimistic estimated number of victims of his crimes. That US have finally decided to withhold $200,000 of its military aid to Rwanda further to the international outrage of Kagame's direct involvement in destabilising the Democratic Republic of Congo through M23, that could be seen as a sign. But as Scott Morgan points out on his blog, the general public should not be fooled by the gesture. In fact, Milton Allimadi, editor of Black Star News, considers the decision of reducing US Military Aid to Rwanda not to be enough. "This is not even a slap on the finger-nail. But it's a beginning. That's why Clinton was sent to Kigali. To whisper warning into Kagame's ears even while they posed around little children." Allimadi goes even further questioning the motives of the visit. "How can a former U.S. President who actually helped facilitate the killings in Rwanda in 1994 by training the officers of the RPF in Uganda before 1990, then ignoring the invasion of Rwanda on October 1, 1990 from Uganda (and blocking it from discussion in the U.N. Security Council), go to Kigali today and again ignore the massacres being carried out today by Rwanda-trained killers in Congo? The Clinton visit this week and the fact that he doesn't address the ongoing massacres show (1) He knows the role U.S. played in 1994 calamity when he was president (2) He continues to provide cover for Kagame 3) He does not care about the lives of Africans (4) He is an exceptionally contemptible human-being." Call for an international warrant More is needed to stop impunity and arrest the Rwandan leader that some have called the African Hitler. A call to request an international warrant for Kagame was launched on Saturday July 21st, on Facebook. 248 people have already joined the call in two days. More are needed. The Facebook page is called Kagame 2012, not as in Kony 2012. Obviously there have been previous calls to end impunity of the Rwandan leader. But the momentum is now since the most reluctant unconditional supporter of president Kagame finds themselves that things have to change, even if not as radically as most of those who have suffered under his watch would've wanted. Please do circulate this message and provide possible suggestions to the initiators of Kagame 2012 and those doing similar actions on how to improve on effectiveness of campaigns to end impunity in the Great Lakes region. African led solutions Kony 2012 was American led by Invisible Children to serve interests external to the African continent. Kony is a minor issue compared to Kagame's one. The millions of African people who died in the last 2 decades in the Great Lakes region under a significant responsibility of one man should normally call outrage from all the corners of the planet. Kagame 2012 is African led. Africans need to find themselves African solutions to their own problems, and not let others misrepresent them on issues they can stand for themselves. |
http://allafrica.com/stories/201203121333.htmlRwanda Focus (Kigali)Rwanda: Education, Not Parliamentary Seats, Will Empower WomenBY EDWARD OJULU, 12 MARCH 2012On March 8, nations around the globe marked the International Women's Day for the 102nd time since it was first observed in 1910. As usual, there was more talk and political posturing than tackling real issues that hinder political, social and economic development for the less privileged women, especially those in rural Africa. Emphasis appeared to be on symptoms rather than confronting with frankness the real problems that keep women, and by extension all people, under social and economic deprivation. This means that we are either pretentious or simply out of touch with real issues that hurt ordinary women. One of the most simplistic thoughts to come out of this year's women's day is the hype about the "worryingly low" number of women representatives in parliaments around the world. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global body, laments that woman representation in parliaments remained a paltry 19.5 % in 2011 due to lack of funds for campaigns, antagonistic nature of competitive politics and lack of support from spouses etc. According to this report, among 188 countries, Rwanda and Andorra have more than 50% women representation in parliament while Belize, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Solomon Islands have zero. In Africa, commentators are lamenting about fewer women CEOs in the private sector, higher positions in police and military services etc. Some are even grumbling that there are few women in newsrooms! While I do not subscribe to any form of inequity, especially race and gender-based discrimination, merely increasing the number of women in legislative assemblies, armed forces, media and board rooms is not an end. Neither is it the best policy intervention to empower millions of women living in abject poverty. Some regimes in Africa have selfishly used this to buy political support from women by placing a few women in top positions. In some countries some seats in parliament have been reserved for women with the hope that more women will be spurred into leadership position. That those beneficiaries of this affirmative action will gain confidence, exposure and resources required to compete for even higher political positions and be able to influence policies that benefit all women. Unfortunately, once there, these ladies enter the comfort zone - wrongly believing that their being in such privileged positions is in itself an end to women empowerment. By failing to influence broad policies that aim at liberating the lowest woman from the yoke of slavery, exploitation and degrading cultural practices, women in leadership positions have failed fellow women. There is need therefore to make it known to the women who have benefited from any form of affirmative action that they must not look at their positions as an end in itself, but as means through which to influence radical social and political reforms that will benefit all women. There are several problems women in African countries face which the clamor for more parliamentary and cabinet seats will never solve. One of them is education for girls. Before we talk about more seats in parliament and board rooms, we must design an education policy specifically tailored to stop poor girls from dropping out of school for lack of mere sanitary pads. All girls must stay in school long enough to attain university education or vocational skills for women to gain economic independence. Good governance The reality is that even if all parliaments in the world were to be 100% occupied by women, there are not enough seats for all women to directly benefit from. At the same time, there are not enough places in newsrooms and board rooms for all women in the world. Women must use their numerical strength to ensure that respective governments deliver services such as clean water; quality health, education and agricultural services to them. Rather than watch as corrupt regimes plunder resources, civil society must organize women to demand for accountability and good governance so that more girls will access good food, education and health services. So, instead of lamenting about the low numbers of women in parliaments, we should be worried about the high number of girls dropping out of school before completing primary level. Only educated women stand a chance to sit in parliament. |
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Kagame's RPF Using Harvard For Propaganda Purposes In an interview, Mark Tracy, a member of the Harvard delegation visiting Rwanda, (organized by Angelique Kantengwa who until 2009 had an important job at the Rwandan national bank) , claimed that Rwanda as a country, its people and President Kagame have taught them many lessons that they are eager to take to their own countries when they go back. "Frankly speaking, the portrayal of Rwanda in the Western press does not equal what we have seen here, so we are very enthusiastic about becoming ambassadors and taking the message back to our countries,"What stories in the western press is Mark Tracy talking about? This very broad claim can't be justified and is a gross mischaracterisation of the debate taking place in western press on Rwanda. Mark Tracy probably did not even read Jimmy Wu's article on Rwanda in the Harvard Review before going on his trip. " the ICC hand is slowly closing in on Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda like a horse shoe"Can Mark Tracy explain to us why:   |
