Gen. Nyamwasa responds to Kagame

Sunday Monitor

Posted Sunday, May 30 2010 at 00:00

A week after President Paul Kagame of Rwanda accused former army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa and former intelligence boss Col. Patrick Karegeya of running away from accountability, the two officials, who live in exile in South Africa, give their side of the story in a statement emailed to Sunday Monitor by LT. GEN NYAMWASA.

“When I left Rwanda, my intention was to reunite my family, start a new life. Forget politics, the military and diplomacy –areas where I had previously served. I thought I would go into academics, consultancy or something different and actually take a lasting holiday from President Kagame with whom I had served for the last 16 years. Unfortunately, this was not to be. My name is always in the media for all wrong reasons.
After my departure, President Kagame addressed a press conference where he labelled Patrick Karegeya and I as terrorists; while passing out cadets officers in Gako, he called us thieves; in Parliament he called us flies whom he will crush with a hammer; with Jeune Afrique he called me a traitor and with Monitor he called us reckless unaccountable officers.

For the record
For purposes of clarity and for the sake of our families, friends, countrymen and all those who read your publication, I am forced to respond to put the record straight. In my presentation, I may make comparisons and analogies but they are by no means intended to offend. Otherwise silence may mean consent.

RELATED STORIES

• Why I fell out with Generals, says Kagame

President Kagame is not honest when he alleges that we ran away from accountability. [Our] disagreements [are] centred on governance, tolerance, insensitivity, intrigue and betrayal of our colleagues.

Furthermore, it is my considered opinion and strong convictions that we struggled for a country where there would be freedom of speech and association. On the contrary, towards the end of the last century, these ideals started shifting and the focus was no longer the country and Party but President Kagame.

This phenomenon was nurtured and promoted by opportunists and sycophants. I despised the trend of events and the category of people involved. The meeting prior to my departure was despicable and I held a number of people involved in contempt having transformed the RPF into a party where its main pre-occupation is furthering intrigue and hatred.

President Kagame should have told you that in 2003, together with another colleague, we asked to leave the Army and Government because we felt we did not fit in the scheme of things. He objected and expressed fear that if we left – we would cause trouble outside. I kept soldiering on hoping that there would be some sense of reason and may be things may change somehow. In retrospect, maybe I was naive or trusted too much or continued in self-denial like some of my friends are today.

Accountability for all
President Kagame accuses us of escaping from accountability. We believe accountability is paramount but what we do not agree with is that an unaccountable person should victimise his perceived opponents in the name of accountability. If accountability is going to be used as a political weapon to frame perceived opponents, then it ceases to be meaningful or useful.

Accountability should begin from the top, beginning with the President before he demands accountability from his subordinates. In Rwanda, the Head of State is the most unaccountable person and has no moral authority to demand accountability from anybody. In Rwanda, President Kagame is the institutions.

I would wish to illustrate my point as follows: Firstly since President Kagame likes to talk about accountability to institutions, I would expect him to have appeared before Parliament to account for owning two XR Executive Jets which he hires to himself and makes at least two trips to America a month to receive fictitious honours, doctorates for himself and his wife or visiting his children.

Costly trips
The minimum cost for each trip is close to $1 million. The two aircraft were bought by government money and registered in the names of a pseudo company. He should appear before the Ombudsman together with his adviser and an embassy official to explain where they got $100 million to buy the two executive aircrafts. The minister of finance should tell Parliament why government should service privately-owned aircraft. Does this reflect zero tolerance of corruption which the President constantly enforces? [The Rwandan government says it leases the jets from a private company in which private Rwandan nationals own a stake – Editor]. Secondly President Kagame should explain to Parliament who is the owner of the embassy building in London and his connection with the company in whose names the embassy building is registered.

Gallery politics
Thirdly he should explain to the party and to the people of Rwanda why he heads a party without a treasurer and how much money RPF has since it owns all the biggest companies in the country and contributions of party members.

Fourthly, why was Arab Contractors simultaneously constructing his private residence in Muhazi together with the Ministry of Defence using government facilities? Minister Bikoro had to account for one container of tiles, how much money did President Kagame pay to Rwanda Revenue Authority for construction materials for his own houses?

President Kagame’s accountability demands are a farce, demagogue and playing to the gallery. Of course acting tough and ‘spitting fire’ insulates him from the inquisitive eye. However, everyone knows it is meant to intimidate, dupe the international community and create impressions for donors. To sustain all this, he employs intrigue, treachery, manipulation and betrayal. This was my point of departure.

As far as I am concerned, I always made sure that my property declaration forms were submitted to the Ombudsman on time and fortunately I have all the receipts to that effect. I have never appeared on the list of government officials suspended for lack of accountability. President Kagame would have been too happy to have me arrested if there was any irregularity in my declarations.

Turning point
President Kagame is on record commending me as an exemplary officer when I was Army Chief of Staff and served for uninterrupted five years as ambassador in India. At what stage did I become an unaccountable officer and terrorist? How can he turn around to ask for accountability after 10 years? Col. Karegeya served as intelligence chief for an uninterrupted 10 years. President Kagame called him nothing, useless and now terrorist! At what stage did President Kagame learn that Col. Karegeya was useless and nothing after all those years? The people of Rwanda are used to this mudslinging. Last month he appointed Commander of the Reserve Force and arrested him for abuse of office after one week. When did investigations take place? Another general is arrested for committing immoral acts – who is the complainant?

History at glance
During President Kayibanda’s regime [1962 – 1973], political dissenters were labelled ideological traitors. Later, President Habyarimana [1973 – 1994] would say that those escaping to exile were afraid of peace and tranquillity. In the 1980s President Habyarimana would remind Rwandans and the international community that his government was registering the highest GDP in the region, an island of peace and no one should talk about the democratic deficit that existed.

These days President Kagame accuses his perceived opponents of genocide ideology or terrorism and corruption. Everyone is expected to sing that Kigali is clean and we have developed. Do we develop without consciousness? I am afraid Rwanda has not changed a bit in terms of leadership.

Erlinder’s Arrest: A Blessing or Curse

Kigali will argue they have finally got their man but the arrest of Prof Peter Erlinder on Friday in Kigali has every potential to go down as a defining moment in the history of this tiny country, who many now know, enjoys tussling it out with the mightiest.

The American Professor of Law at William Mitchel College of Law in St Paul, Minnesota, a successful criminal lawyer and lead counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is now, as Kigali will want the world to know, in their hands – ready to face the long arm of the law for denying genocide – at least for now. Don’t be surprised if when the charge sheet is presented, it contains associating with terrorists and promoting divisionism. The three, according to prosecutors in Kigali, MUST go together; otherwise the case wouldn’t be TRULLY RWANDAN.

Having arrived in Rwanda on Sunday, May 23, to defend incarcerated opposition politician Victoire Umuhoza Ingabire – another member of the public whose charge sheet includes the three named charges, Erlinder who a Rwandan prosecution source described as ‘a big fish given his association with known genocidaires’ now has to get himself a lawyer and consider his defence for Ingabire impossible.

Already, the American Embassy has made it clear it won’t be commenting further on the case apart from confirming that Prof Erlinder has been arrested.

But what exactly are the politics here?

Before i go any further, it is perhaps imperative that we get to understand who Prof Erlinder is and how he fits into this amazing Rwandan cobweb. Erlinder is not only famous for being a successful and intelligent criminal lawyer, he was lead counsel in the famous Military I trial in Arusha where it was argued and established that there was “no planning or conspiracy on the part of the former government to commit the genocide”.

Earlier this month, Prof Erlinder was again among a group of attorneys who sought to serve President Paul Kagame for wrongful death in a $350 million dollar suit filed in Oklahoma. As a long time critic of the regime in Kigali, Prof Erlinder was always in Kagame’s black book and it was not a surprise when his name appeared alongside those of people considered evil and worth eliminating by the Rwandan regime as leaked on the internet by Keith Harmon Snow.

Even with the US declaring itself yesterday and choosing to lay-bear the fears inside Rwanda in a scathing report published on the internet Thursday May 27, Kigali today decided enough was enough and moved in on the Professor.

Why is the question?

From the day Victoire Ingabire was arrested, Erlinder made it clear he was prepared to be part of her defence team. His interest was publicised and Rwanda knew then, that Erlinder was on his way. Sources within Rwanda’s prosecution have told me that fearing Erlinder’s interest in the case and his expression of willingness to defend Ingabire, the government started circulating stories in the local and regional press aimed at scaring away the America. Newspaper reports hinted at the possibility of an immediate arrest on arrival for previously denying the genocide ever took place.

But the more Erlinder was threatened, the more he made certain his desire to travel and represent Ingabire. And since much of the evidence in the case against Ingabire is circumstantial and some of it from coerced testimonies, Rwanda feared a smart counsel of Erlinder’s stature would quash it, thereby making a successful prosecution impossible. Such, would of course exonerate her from all the charges, allowing her to register her party FDU-Inkingi in time for the presidential elections in August.

Bring in Plan B

As the government worked around the clock for a way to prevent an embarrassment, Prof Erlinder arrived in Kigali. He was never arrested because technically the leaked list threat was never official – and thus not enough to effect an arrest – especially since the government had been denying knowledge of it. So, Erlinder was left to enter the country and instead another tactic devised. Working with the Bar Association of Rwanda, the government decided this time to delay in the hope of refusing Erlinder permission to practice.

Again, a newspaper campaign was mounted against his visit with emphasis on the fact that he had no legal right to practice in the country despite his interest in defending Ingabire. However, as a law professor and a counsel who had worked at the ICTR in neighbouring Tanzania, this move was destined to fall through. It is then that “on orders from above,” police was instructed to arrest him.

Curse or Blessing

In arresting Prof Erlinder, the Rwandan government may have overlooked one simple fact – the obvious case of the arrest having two sides. Erlinder’s arrest can only be either a blessing or curse for Rwanda.

A source told me today that part of the reason they arrested him was because they hoped the arrest of such a high profile figure would send a signal to all the “genocide deniers” and regime critics that no one will be tolerated and if it means fighting it out in court, the government is prepared “to arrest and shame”.

As stupid as this argument is, it disregards the fact that Prof Erlinder while a “big fish” is no ordinary tilapia or tuna! If the fish paradigm is to be followed, Prof Erlinder might indeed be a whale that will rock the boat and turn the tables up for what has never been heard or seen.

Kigali should know this, especially because the establishment knows and understand the truth. Incarcerating Erlinder will of course arouse more publicity to Kigali to add to the one already aimed at Rwanda over Ingabire’s arrest or the recent bombs and chaos in the run up to the August elections.

Some one will have obviously overlooked this and advised President Paul Kagame to sanction the arrest. Usually, this is what happens in Rwanda when anger overrides sane reasoning.  We have seen this with the head of state kicking off and throwing tantrums in the middles of state addresses or speeches to ambassadors accredited to the country or in a recent example, going against the tenets of justice by attempting contempt of court as in what happened in his last interview to Daily Monitor a week ago.

With a president so gaffe prone that he forgets where he has to put a comma and goes until the last full stop, a case involving Erlinder or one in which he has to take the stand is the last thing Kigali needs.

Sometimes, you get your man or your fish but when the fishing stick it too weak to pull the fish up from the sea, it might be better to just ignore, me thinks

…..now over to you my little monsters!

Rwanda’s Kagame tries to link bombs to critical press

By Tom Rhodes/Africa Program Coordinator

Journalists in Kigali are on tenterhooks after President Paul Kagame, left, made new accusations of their supposed involvement in a bomb attack inRwanda. Just months before Rwanda’s presidential elections, Kigali was recently hit by two grenade attacks that killed two people and injured 30 others, according to news reports.

In a press conference last week, Kagame accused Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa, a former ambassador to India and chief of staff, and another senior ex-military officer, Patrick Karegyeya, of polotting the first grenade attack. The president went on to say that journalists had met with Karegyeya in South Africa prior to the attacks, leaving a not-so-subtle implication of impropriety. “There are those [journalists] who found Karegeya inSouth Africa and spoke to him. There are even those who went there, but have not returned,” he said.

No journalists were named, but Charles Kabonero and Jean Bosco Gasasira, founders of two private vernacular weeklies, knew that the president’s message was aimed at them. Both papers had conducted interviews with Karegyeya. For his part, Kabonero makes no apologies. “I believe that Kagame is educated enough to know that, as a journalist, if I had a chance to meet [Osama] bin Laden I would not hesitate to do it [in order to] to get news. It’s the job. So, yes, I met Karegyeya for journalism-related purposes,” he told CPJ.

Nyamwasa and Karegyeya have left Rwanda, but Nyamwasa has denied the president’s allegations in interviews with international news outlets. Over the weekend, the former president of the Rwanda Journalist Association, Deo Mushayidi, was arrested in connection with the recent grenade attacks. Prosecutor General Martin Ngogaannounced at a press conference that Mushayidi was part of a network of people threatening Rwanda’s security.

This is not the first time the Rwandan government has accused independent journalists of involvement in a bomb attack. The pro-government bimonthly magazine, The RwandaFocus, claimed in April 2006 that Kabonero conspired with a military officer to launch a wave of bombings in Kigali. Reporters Without Borders investigated the allegations and claimed the allegations were baseless.

Further, Rwanda is not the only African country that accuses journalists of conducting terrorist activities. In December 2008, freelance award-winning journalist Andrison Manyere was seized and imprisoned for nearly four months in Zimbabwe on false bombing charges. Another Zimbabwean freelancer, Frank Chikowore, was arrested on false charges in April 2009 for allegedly setting a bus on fire. Both arrests and accusations occurred around tense election periods.

Godwin Agaba, a Rwandan correspondent for the Ugandan online publication 256 News,went into hiding after he heard Kagame’s televised remarks. The reporter, who has written about Nyamwasa, was warned to stop writing about the general, a vocal critic to the president, according to CPJ sources.

In fact, any interviews with critics of the current regime seem to raise eyebrows with the president. During the same press conference last week, Kagame singled out the Nairobi-based regional weekly, The East African, which he described as “insulting” and “offensive,” for interviewing opposition candidate Victoire Ingabire, according to the Kenya-based Media Institute.

One thing is clear: Kagame’s televised warnings will help silence critics prior to the August presidential election. With pro-government media outlets outweighing the country’s beleaguered private press, the chances of balanced election coverage are now slimmer than ever.

Gov’t now links fugitive General to Col. Karegeya

RNA

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of ex-army chief Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa took another twist Tuesday when the Rwandan government suddenly blamed him for the recent grenade attacks in Kigali, which killed 3 people and injured dozens, RNA reports.

Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga told an impromptu press conference that Lt. Gen. Nyamwasa has been in “constant contact” with Col. Patrick Karegeya – a former head of intelligence. The two have now linked up in South Africa, Ngoga said, reading from a prepared statement.

No questions were allowed at the press briefing, with Mr. Ngoga claiming that the prosecution was setting the record straight to stop “unfounded rumours” being published by the media.

“Security and judicial officials have evidence indicating that Lt. Gen. Kayumba and another officer who fled before called Col. Patrick Karegeya, working together, have planned and started implementing acts aimed at creating state insecurity,” Ngoga said.

“Among these acts includes hurling grenades in Kigali city and other places,” Ngoga added.

The country’s top prosecuting authority said Col. Karegeya has not been interrogated on the accusations because he has not been around. “Gen. Kayumba was interrogated once, but fled before he could respond to the second summons,” Ngoga told listening reporters, in a mixture of English and Kinyarwanda.

Announcing the sudden fleeing of Gen. Kayumba on Friday evening, the Foreign Affairs Ministry statement did not say the charges on which he is being pursued. The government claimed the General was in Uganda, but it emerged on Tuesday that he only used Uganda as transit route – heading to Kenya, where he flew to South Africa on Sunday.

Mr. Ngoga confirmed that Gen. Kayumba was indeed in South Africa, affirming that he had linked up with Col. Karegeya. A combination of judicial, security and diplomatic efforts are underway to have the two men extradited to Rwanda to face justice, according to Ngoga.

Col. Karegeya was the head of the External Service Organisation (ESO) before he fell to the wrong side of the law in 2005. The following year saw him battling insubordination and desertion charges which resulted in him being stripped of his rank and he was jailed for about two years.

In November 2007, it emerged that Col Karegeya had fled the country, but there has not been any information about his whereabouts.

When three grenades exploded in Kigali two weeks ago, the Police claimed Rwandan rebels in eastern DR Congo – the FDLR, were behind the blasts. Three people are already in detention over the blasts – and they have apparently confessed. The accusations ended there.

Meanwhile, information available to RNA claims that on Monday, another grenade was found at the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) headquarters in Kacyiru before it exploded. The MINALOC office is located in the same area with several other ministries and government departments. A few meters away are the US Embassy and the Office of the President.