Of Joseph Bideri and the game with few winners

He had his moments. This we have to agree. A one time government spokesman, Monsieur Joseph Bideri, became famous as the erstwhile chief propagandist capable of bringing down anyone inside or outside the country as long as his bosses demanded as such. A high flying bureaucrat, Mr. Bideri in yesteryear Rwanda was the cowboy with powers to succeed the laws of the land. In two words: Very Powerful.

Those who worked with him during his days as the government’s chief propagandist, remember him ever so well. Their memories fresh with the aura of authority that seemed to go with the incredible Joseph, some are surprised he has ended up fleeing the country back to where he —well—came from.

At the pinnacle of his limelight, Mr. Bideri is famously remembered for telling the world that “Rwanda was not an obstacle to peace”. He was of course referring to Rwanda’s decision not to withdraw troops from Congo following the Lusaka Peace Accord. How ironical that when his country is back in the news, perhaps not over the same issue but something related to the Congo, the man who nine years ago said his paymasters were not obstacles to peace, is running for dear life.

When news broke that Bideri had fled the country to Canada, I was among those who received it with scepticism. Surely? Bideri running for dear life? How?

If there is anyone who has so passionately defended the establishment in Kigali, it is Joseph Bideri. His defence of the ideals of the regime was so entrenched in his psyche that at one point, as head of Orinfor, he still felt he was so powerful to determine and decide what went on in all publications related to the government. I remember him mingling so easily and effortlessly in the affairs of The New Times, even when the latter had a functional and able bodied Editor in Chief at the time.

Dedication, some will say. It seemed to me that behind the hard working persona of the man or stooge that was Bideri, there was always a pushing desire to please. A desire which to some appeared pushed by the need to please and perhaps hide something or make up for something sinister. Otherwise, how would you explain Bideri’s insistence to poke his nose in whichever public institution with connection to the government, his continued desire to dislodge Editor in Chiefs at the pro-government daily, or his untiring efforts to speak ill of anyone falling out with the regime in Kigali?

Bideri will have now realised that serving the regime in Kigali with whatever amount of zeal does not make one indispensable. Question now is, has he learned any lessons? The notion that all men are born equal is one that Bideri to me never understood or if he did, always chose to ignore. I am yet to know why he was sent on leave just days before he fled. But if the story that he engineered the sacking of the whole New Times marketing team on grounds that they were Ugandans is true, then it makes me wonder what it is that he has against Ugandans.

In 2006, the same man, while at Orinfor and board member of The New Times, ordered the immediate sacking of all foreigners at The New Times. The paper as a result lost a host of talented editors, reporters, marketers and designers as Kenyans and Ugandans packed up. He replaced them with locals and due to the imbalance in expertise and quality what had started becoming a better newspaper went back to a hopeless tabloid, specialising in dog eat man stories.

And because he (Bideri) was indispensable, no one even queried his decision. Not even the Board chairman. The move besides being xenophobic, proved completely counter productive. If you want to develop and promote home grown talent, you do so from within, recruit locals, give them time to learn on the job from their superiors and then phase out, if you want, the old stock.

But the man sailed on. In 2008 Joseph Bideri was again in the news, this time accused of messing up the finances of Orinfor, involvement in an infighting battle for power and influence with one Kije Mugisha and failing to process the acquisition of a new and modern printing press. Given the dealings in present day Rwanda, any other person would have been sent to prison for this mess. Bideri survived and was instead shipped to Kacyiru to take over from another sad comrade Ignatius Kabagambe, as the Editor in Chief of the government mouthpiece.

At New Times, Bideri has overseen the transformation of an English daily that his predecessors created from a slightly readable tabloid to some sort of gutter thing where officials and men of little conscience trade accusations and settle scores with those they hate. The handling of the election period, the Kayumba saga, and lately the UN Mapping Report has not helped matters. TNT is still the same old boring TNT if not worse.

It is worthy to note that this is the same man who as boss engineered the sacking of the most successful Editor in Chief of the New Times in its 13 year history. It was Bideri who sacked Sanyu John Bosco, the Editor under whose tenure TNT saw a surge in both sales and readership. With Sanyu gone, the same Bideri orchestrated the installation of Eddie Rwema, the flamboyant young journalist whose days were cut shot by yet another of Bideri and State House import, Ignatius Kabagambe. The latter though keen on becoming the top dog at TNT had his tenure cut short when he was replaced by Bideri after working so hard to frustrate another arguably competent Editor in Chief, David Kabuye.

Inside sources at the New Times have said that Bideri would still be in charge had he not messed up the marketing system through his ill-advised interference and decision to tax evade. With staff going unpaid for three months and the company going as far as near bankruptcy, this was bound to backfire. And backfire it did.

With Rwanda Revenue Moving in to demand the payment of tax arrears and staff beginning to worry about their wages and reporters choosing instead to stay in the newsroom or at home due to the lack of vehicles to take them to the field, “the possibility of TNT falling flat on its belly” was imminent. And because TNT is ruled by someone even more powerful, he demanded answers and Bideri had none. His forced leave was a stern reminder that his time had come, being someone who has previously sent predecessors in forced leaves before moving up on them, he quit the country.

But as he tries to settle in Canada, I wonder if Joseph Bideri has any idea what being a puppet or being used to such extents that you lose your common sense means. What we can deduce is that no one is indispensable in Rwanda or anywhere in this world, if there is, then it is because their time has not come yet. So my friend, Prof Nshuti, when you let yourself be used to write stuff that would make Lucifer cringe, remember that there is going to be time, when you might want to use the same words to defend yourself. Do not say there were never any precedents!

Over you my little monsters…

When men become stooges for the sake of their daily bread

Be very afraid when an expatriate turns out with information that even the senior citizens in a given country have no idea about. And when that expatriate is an American who for over 10 years has been advising a president – who gradually is turning into a dictator –  it helps to be very frightened.

I can only imagine Michael Fairbanks is only trying to justify his stay in Rwanda as a money reducing agent given his astronomical salary for doing: well, nothing other than advising the head of state on how to effectively become a bona fide dictator. For, why would an American advisor to the head of state know to details that a Rwandan General who himself said he fled Paul Kagame’s repression, actually ran away from a military tribunal for sleeping with another man’s wife?

If this were true, and assuming of course that the said General whoever it is (quite a few of them have since fled) ran away because somewhere in Rwanda, an irate husband is lurking and fuming, why would the affected general find it relevant speaking to a senior presidential advisor about his family tribulations? Do these advisors not have work to do? Are we meant to believe really, that the few remaining generals in Rwanda are too dippy to think through even the simplest of issues like domestic disputes?

Interestingly, Michael begins his piece somewhere in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He is a catholic who despite having lived in Africa for years still believes that nothing good comes out of it, until he goes to Rwanda. Notice too, that this is an academic and teacher who though he does not say until when, confesses to having been racist. Now, any one who has been a victim of racism or any racial taunts like I have, will agree that you simply don’t become racist. Racism is an ideology. Had he been Rwandan, his confession would have led him to jail for the equivalent of racism in Rwanda (ethnic hatred) is a crime under genocide ideology laws. But he is a free man now because he is on the right side of the political spectrum.

Like David Hume and Otto Weininger, Michael Fairbanks belongs to the same school of thought who believed that no genius has perhaps scarcely ever appeared amongst the Africans, and that the standard of our morality is almost universally so low that it is beginning to be acknowledged  black people’s emancipation was an act of imprudence.

He will not tell you why a young catholic boy would be racist even when Catholicism preaches love for one another and compassion. Why? Because explaining this would lay bare the true Michael Fairbanks. He has been in Africa long enough, studied and researched about her people and thus, knows very well how to handle those in charge. Even if it means offering advice on family disputes between generals who can’t keep their wives at bay, he will do so, as long as there is a massive paycheque and he keeps in good books with the regime.

In typical PR language, Mr. Fairbanks clearly goes over the political spin stating that Rwanda is the only country in Africa that spends more on education that it does on its military. While this may be true, he tactfully falls short of giving us the real figures and whether the overall illiteracy levels in Rwanda have gone down as a result. He might be true in his assertion that the Rwandan government spends less on its military but he neglects the fact that the Rwandan defence budget is mostly classified thus hard to exactly tell how much is spent each year.

In 2007, I remember speaking to the then State Minister for Energy and he was well in support of phasing out the number of foreign advisors that are on Rwanda’s employ. The minister’s argument was that these fellows are siphoning the country’s foreign exchange courtesy of astronomically wages footed by the tax payer. Yet, these are the sort of jobs that locals could do for far less money. We all recall when in 2006 the government of Rwanda through the ministry of education signed a contract to import 200 Kenyan teachers at $3000 each a month, to teach sciences in Rwandan secondary schools.

Had it not been for my opinion critiquing the move, the government would have signed a further 500. All this was being done while the local teacher earned a paltry equivalent of $250 at the time. I was cautioned about the story and no one has even ever bothered to make the ministry of education account for what differences these teachers made and whether there is anything to show for the massive investment or if they are still in the country, anyway.

Judging from what Mr Fairbanks says in his Huffington Post Op-Ed republished by Rwanda News Aagency, it would appear he was in the country then. If this is a gentleman who we should believe as being in Rwanda to help the country develop, I would like to know if he ever asked the authorities or even advised them against the policy as opposed to say investing the amount on training local teachers who the country would later turn to instead of depending on the expensive lot from Kenya.

Am even sure Mr. Fairbanks (a former Wall Street banker), like many in his trade will have read the February article in The Times of South Africa where it was discovered that Rwanda, a very poor country by any standard, had spent a staggering $100 million between 2003 and 2008 on the luxurious Bombardier Global Express BD-700 jets. The two acquired to transport the man he is so keen at advising. If Mr. Fairbanks was keen at seeing Rwandese out of oblivion, his first words to the man who employs him would have been that the $100 million could help set up 5 medical centres throughout the country so locals can have easy access to standard treatment instead of relying on one referral hospital in the capital, Kigali.

Instead, Mr. Fairbanks (who has been on the same planes on his trips with the president outside Rwanda) fearing for his job was busy leading his employer on and suggesting that he actually shuts down the BBC and later Umuseso for publishing and relaying news considered anti-establishment. And if you are President Paul Kagame, why would you fire a stooge like this one?

The fact that an academic of his stature who has written some books and been brought up in a catholic family, claims Victoire Ingabire an opposition leader is minor because she just acquired a Rwandese passport baffles even the simples of minds. How about Frank Habineza, has he also been in possession of a Rwandese passport for a couple of months. What does Mr Fairbanks want the world to believe as being the reason why his party, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda is yet to be allowed holding a meeting?

He suggests the criticism against Rwanda’s law on genocide in relation to oppression are unfounded and baseless arguing that even in Europe, vague laws have been adopted before. Well, if over a dozen European countries have laws that are vague or considered vague, is that reason for Rwanda to make vague laws?

He says “I called the Communications Director for the President and formally requested the list of news outlets that work in the country that have not been banned. The office provided the list to me in a few hours, and I was told that no one else has ever made that request. It is a varied list of world-class organizations functioning well.

Time, Newsweek, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AP, AFP, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, CBS, CNN, NBC, CBC, Guardian, Times of London, Independent, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Economist, Al Jazeera, NHK, East Africa TV, SABC, ETV, France 24, TV5, FR3, TF1, RFI, Canal+, Jeune Afrique, Der Spiegel, Arte TV, VPRO”.

Did he ask whoever was on the other end of the line why the BBC was not on the list? And of course if we are to assume it was not on because the list as stated was of world-class organisations functioning well, is he complicit in the belief that the BBC functions badly? Really?

It is sad when sensible people are carefully turned into yes men for the sake of money. I have even seen friends turn into enemies and overnight supporters of the regime in Kigali that everything I say, they jump on to abuse me as being anti-Rwanda and more Ugandan than I am Rwandese. Bullocks! Who said sensible reasoning had anything to do with ones nationality? With Mr. Fairbanks in the mix, may be it does.

Later my little monsters…

Kutesa says General Nyamwasa fled through Kenya

Daily Monitor

Reports emerging from Uganda claim the Rwandan government has thrown the net to catch Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa wider after a reliable source said the renegade former military chief, initially reported to be hiding in Kampala, had escaped to South Africa.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa was however noncommital about the whereabouts of the general.

“He left through Malaba (Uganda’s eastern border post with Kenya) at 14:00 hours (2p.m.) on February 27 [Saturday]. That is what I know,” Mr Kutesa told Daily Monitor on Monday, without stating the general’s destination.

He, however, did not divulge the source of his information nor did he provide details on whereabouts of the wanted general during the hours since he fled Kigali on Friday and his reported exit through Malaba, nearly a day later.

No official of the South African High Commission in Kampala was available to comment on reports that the general might have fled to that country
Ms Louise Mushikiwabo, the Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister, in a reply to our e-mail enquiries, indicated that Uganda had kept them in the dark about the latest development regarding the runaway officer.

“The government of Uganda has not yet given us a feedback, but we’re in touch,” she wrote, “We are seeking extradition, whatever country he is in.”

Gen. Nyamwasa is one of the highest ranked Rwandan military officers and a key player in the Rwanda Patriotic Army/Front guerilla movement that brought President Paul Kagame to power in 1994, although it is reported that he has since fallen out with Gen. Kagame over varying political ambitions.

Before his escape, authorities in Kigali had been investigating the general on a range of suspected misdeeds that officials there are reluctant to disclose.

“Prior to his defection, Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa was questioned by Rwandan investigative authorities on serious criminal charges,” Kigali said in a statement on Friday.

The statement issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a copy of which Daily Monitor has obtained, confirmed the fugitive officer was being sheltered in Kampala, something Ugandan officials denied.

Unconfirmed media reports linked the wanted military chief to the opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, launched on August 14, 2009 to try to wrest power from President Kagame in elections due in August.

It emerged yesterday that Gen. Nyamwasa, who up until Friday was the country’s High Commissioner to India, would be prosecuted if efforts to have him extradited to Kigali succeed.

“Charges would depend on the outcome of the prosecutorial process,” Minister Mushikiwabo, also Rwanda government’s spokesperson, said in yesterday’s email.

She also said the general had already been stripped of his diplomatic status, which would otherwise have offered him cover of immunity from prosecution, following his defection four days ago.

In Kampala, a press conference called by the government to calm the gathering diplomatic storm over Gen. Nyamwasa was yesterday abruptly cancelled and Minister Kutesa said he will now hold one today.

Mr Richard Kabonero, Uganda’s Ambassador to Kigali, and his Rwandan counterpart, Mr Frank Mugambye, were due to give a briefing on tomorrow’s meeting in Kampala to members of the Joint Permanent Commission, a security clearing house for the two countries to resolve thorny issues.

CPJ: 2009 the bloodiest year for African journalists since 2000

New York, December 17, 2009—2009 has been the bloodiest year for media professionals killed in the line of duty worldwide since 1992, and has seen the highest death toll for journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa in this decade, according to an annual analysis of media fatalities worldwide released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In a week marking the anniversaries of the unsolved murders of journalists Norbert Zongo of Burkina Faso and Gambian Deyda Hydara, the report denotes that none of the perpetrators of the 2009 journalist murder cases have been brought to justice.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 12 journalists have been murdered in direct relation to their work this year, just one less loss of life than the heavy toll recorded in 1999, which was largely caused by Sierra Leone’s civil war. This time, Somalia’s ongoing conflict claimed the most victims, but other journalists were murdered while investigating local corruption in Nigeria and Kenya or covering the political crisis in Madagascar. CPJ is investigating the cases of two other journalists in Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo to determine whether their deaths were related to journalism.

In Somalia, nine local journalists were murdered or killed in combat situations. Throughout 2009, violent Islamist extremists waged a terror campaign against the Somali press, threatening and murdering journalists and seizing news outlets. “The nine deaths in Somalia are a tremendous loss for the tiny band of journalists who risk their lives every day just by stepping out into the street,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney, who helps oversee CPJ advocacy in the region. “Their courageous reporting exposes them not just to crossfire and random violence but to targeted killing by insurgents who want to control the message.”

Worldwide, at least 68 journalists were killed for their work in 2009, the highest yearly tally ever documented by CPJ. This figure was largely due to an election-relatedslaughter of more than 30 media workers in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, the deadliest event for the press in CPJ history. The worldwide tally surpasses the previous record of 67 deaths, recorded in 2007 when violence in Iraq was pervasive and media fatalities there were common. CPJ is still investigating 20 other journalist deaths worldwide in 2009 to determine whether they were work-related.

“This has been a year of unprecedented devastation for the world’s media, but the violence also confirms long-term trends,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Most of the victims were local reporters covering news in their own communities. The perpetrators assumed, based on precedent, that they would never be punished. Whether the killings are in Iraq or the Philippines, in Russia or Mexico, changing this assumption is the key to reducing the death toll.”

The enormity of the Philippine massacre is unparalleled. Twenty-nine journalists and two support workers were among the 57 people brutally murdered in a November ambush motivated by political clan rivalries. The deadliest prior event for the press came in Iraq in October 2006, when 11 employees of Al-Shaabiya television were killed in an attack on the station’s Baghdad studios, CPJ research shows.

The Maguindanao killings, while extreme, reflect the deep-seated climate of impunity in the Philippines, where long-term law enforcement and political failures have led to high numbers of journalist murders and low rates of convictions over two decades. For two years running, CPJ has identified the Philippines as one of the world’s worst nations in combating violence against the press.

Four journalists were killed in Pakistan during the year, among them Musa Khankhel, a local television reporter known for his critical coverage. Abducted while covering a peace march in a militant-controlled area near the town of Matta, Khankel was tortured and then shot repeatedly.

As in past years, murder was the leading cause of work-related deaths in 2009. At least 50 journalists were targeted and slain in retaliation for their work, representing about three-quarters of the deaths in 2009. Eleven journalists were killed in crossfire while in combat situations, while seven died while covering dangerous assignments such as police raids or street protests.

Many of the deadliest nations for the press in 2009 have long-term records of violence against journalists and high rates of impunity in those attacks.

Three journalists were murdered in Russia, which has had a high media fatality rate over two decades. The 2009 victims included Abdulmalik Akhmedilov, a Dagestani editor who sharply criticized government officials for suppressing religious and political dissent. He was found shot, contract-style, in his car. In September, CPJ issued a report,Anatomy of Injustice, examining the high number of unsolved journalist murders in Russia, prompting government pledges to re-examine several cases.

Two journalists were slain in both Mexico and Sri Lanka. In Durango state, Mexico, assailants abducted crime reporter Eliseo Barrón Hernández from his home as his wife and two young daughters watched. His body, a gunshot wound to the head, was found the next day in an irrigation ditch. Barrón had just broken a story about police corruption.

Here are other trends and details that emerged in CPJ’s analysis:

Ø      The 2009 toll is up more than 60 percent from the 42 deaths recorded in 2008.

Ø      All but two of the 2009 victims were local journalists. While local reporters have long been more vulnerable to deadly violence than their foreign counterparts, the divide has never been wider in CPJ’s annual assessment.

Ø      Print journalists constituted 56 percent of the toll, indicating that print media continue to play a front-line role in reporting the news in dangerous situations. Although CPJ research has found a notable decline in the number of print journalists in jail, it has charted no comparable drop in fatalities among print reporters, editors, and photographers.

Ø      In addition to the murders in Maguindanao, CPJ recorded three other work-related deaths in the Philippines in 2009. In all, 32 journalists and two support workers were killed in the country during the year.

Ø      Two journalists died of neglect or mistreatment while imprisoned on work-related charges. Novruzali Mamedov died in an Azerbaijani prison after being denied adequate medical care, while Iranian blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi died in Evin Prison under circumstances that were never fully explained.

Ø      At least two journalists were reported missing during the year, one in Mexico and the other in Yemen.

Ø      Nine freelance journalists were among the 2009 victims. The proportion of freelancers was consistent with past years.

Ø      Other places with media fatalities were: Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, andVenezuela.

CPJ began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992. CPJ staff members apply strict criteria for each entry; researchers independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment.

If the motives in a killing are unclear, but it is possible that a journalist died in relation to his or her work, CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continues to investigate. CPJ’s list does not include journalists who died from illness or were killed in accidents—such as car or plane crashes—unless the crash was caused by hostile action. Other press organizations using different criteria cite higher numbers of deaths than CPJ.

CPJ’s database of journalists killed for their work in 2009 includes capsule reports on each victim and a statistical analysis. CPJ also maintains a database of all journalists killed since 1992. A final list of journalists killed in 2009 will be released in early January.

CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org.

The genocide saga that is Kabuga

So, it turns out Felicien Kabuga, he that is said to have masterminded the Rwandan genocide has a very special wife. Josephine Mukazitoni is special indeed. She has stood by his fugitive man for years and has now won an appeal that will see her husbands assets “de frozen” – if all goes to plan.

That Kabuga has eluded justice for all these years even with such a hefty amount of money (US$ 5 million) on his head does not surprise a soul. As a rich businessman with direct and indirect contacts with the pre-genocide regime in Rwanda, he made money and it is his own money and his connections that have kept him out of prison for this long – sadly, it might as well keep him out for life.

When you have both someone so rich that they can buy their own freedom, and someone very willing to provide it at the right price, then as a prosecutor, as experience has shown, it is better to find another route.

There is every likelihood Mukazitoni will win her case against the Kenyan government because while Kenya as a UN member has the obligation to help trace Kabuga, it does not have the right to freeze his assets. And this is surely what her well paid lawyers will be trying to point out.

And this is not even the big question. The question is, how has Kabuga, a simple man born in unknown Muniga-Mukarange, Byumba, managed to stay out of the dock for all these years even when he has been romoured to be living in Kenya – a few miles from where he is wanted for genocide?

Call it what you want but there seems to be a big correlation between being rich and eluding justice. Remember Radovan Karadzic, he lived among Serbs as a general, a traitor and also a traditional healer. Sometimes when things fall apart, it is difficult to know who is who and as long as they know what they are doing, we may never know for sure.

Power sharing, the new Rolls Royce of democracy

So, Abdullah Abdullah has quit the run off and there is every indication his supporters will now have to put up with a power sharing arrangement where their man gets to rule alongside “the thief”. Power sharing is, a new political phenomena and one, that surely seems to be scoring high on popularity than democracy itself – in most countries.

Nowadays, the trick seems to be, get to rig viciously and if your opponent challenges the result, stick to your argument of having had a slightly free and fair election and the result will be a power sharing deal – which, in most cases, favours the incumbent.

First was Kenya, then Zimbabwe and now Afghanistan.  It all, but goes to prove that democracy as is understood by Western democracies can never work in banana republics. First, for it to work, young democracies must realise the importance of functional institutions which by the way MUST be independent and manned by competent people. Having electoral commissioners appointed by ruling go governments, as we have come to realise, only exacerbates the situation. It makes them directly or indirectly answerable to the person who appointed them thus affecting their impartiality.

Abdullah Abdullah’s case is even more interesting. While he is very right to walk out on the run off and might have actually preferred forgetting the whole process, the International Community sees him as the only beckon of hope if Afghanistanis to have a slightly credible government, one that the US and allies want to use to defeat the Taleban.

Already, there is indication that the International Community is willing to convince him to sign a deal with President Karzai because they see this as the only way forward in an increasingly unpopular war.

Whatever happens in Kabul in the next few months will go to show that elections are not really the fulcrum of democracy in most countries. Another Zimbabwe some will say and may be they are right. Like one of my friends put it to me the other day when i asked for his opinion, “election, election, election stupid. Looks like election is becoming a dirty word in democracy”.

But is it an excuse good enough?