Who wants Gen Nyamwasa dead?

Rwanda’s former Army Chief of Staff and Ambassador to India Lt. Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa survived an assassination plot on his life yesterday at his residence in Johannesburg but as the revered soldier recuperates in hospital, questions about this incident should be aimed in one direction – Kigali.

Some people will argue that South Africa is a very chaotic country with a high crime rate and that we should consider the possibility of this, having been a case of a robbery gone wrong. Well, to this notion, I say no. Believable as it may seem, such an argument can only hold water if you neglect the rhetoric in the form of accusations and allegations that have been coming out of Kigali.

Gen Nyamwasa it has to be said, is a big fish. He had his moment, spells when he was considered by the regime in Kigali, as a right hand man. He was at one point, Kagame’s blue eyed boy, and rightly so. A lawyer by profession, Gen Nyamwasa was successful at school as he was on the battlefield. Put bluntly, he is not just any other Rwandan soldier; he is an intelligent and learned Rwandan officer.

He gave his life, well, most of his adult life, serving and promoting the interests of a country he regarded as his own. His name even appears on a series of warrants that have been issued in relation to the collective activities of the people with whom he served. When there were wars that had to be fought, he fought them. Those he felt were useless, he flatly rejected. In his own words, he saw no reason of fighting useless wars. These were decisions that were largely based on his personal critique of the whole concept about wars for riches and wars with a cause. Strangely, his superiors resented him for choosing reason over lunacy leading to a combination of misunderstandings that eventually culminated in a massive fall out.

Fearing for his life, Gen Nyamwasa fled the country he had helped liberate to South Africa – the only country to offer him sanctuary. In South Africa, he was accused together with his comrade Col. Patrick Karegeya, Rwanda’s former intelligence chief, of terrorism. Kigali was even quick to accuse the two for being behind the grenade attacks that rocked Rwanda’s capital in April. Day after day, the state engineered missives and write ups in the government controlled newspaper The New Times alleging that the two had run away from corruption cases and accountability issues. Kagame himself went about telling whichever magazine or newspaper that was willing to listen, that the two were ‘flies who needed to be crashed’. First a demobilised soldier and then Jill Rutaremara, the army spokesman and later Job Jabiro went on record to trash Kayumba as a soldier responsible for his own downfall.

The accusations and attacks were relentless. It was clear what Kagame wanted. Get the two back to Rwanda, gag them as he has done to all the opposition and lock them up in some safe place where the only people to talk to would be fellow prisoners .

But when Gen Nyamwasa decided in May to put the record straight by writing a rejoinder in the same newspaper that Kagame had used to tarnish his (Nyamwasa) name, Kigali were caught pants down. The amount of detail and precision with which he delivered his well written piece in the Daily Monitor shook Kigali.

Kagame had fallen out with Kayumba yes, but there seemed to be something new in the general’s well written rejoinder that shook him to bits. The revelation that the Bombardier Global Express BD-700 jets – with a new price tag of $50-million each, acquired by Rwanda in 2003 and 2008 respectively were actually Kagame’s. Put into context, the revelation of such an out of touch spending by the head of state whose sound-bites had always been hummed around accountability and good governance made Kagame look like the thief in chief, especially given the fact that such luxury came at the expense of 60% Rwandese whom the UN says live in poverty.

The government of course tried to cover this up but the well kept secret had been leaked and Kayumba was seen by Kagame as the man who could sink the ship. So, what does the government do?

It will have to be proven for anyone to conclusively and without a shadow of a doubt place yesterday’s attempt on Gen Nyamwasa’s life on Kagame. What we can agree to however is the fact that if anyone wants Kayumba Nyamwasa dead, it is less likely the Johannesburg burglar but the smart politician from Kigali.

What Next?

Gen Nyamwasa is the lucky one. His story helps raise the spectre of the infamous list of people to be eliminated as leaked on the web by my friend Keith Harmon Snow. Just goes to show that no one, and I say no one, is safe. You obviously can not be sure unless you are absolutely clear. It is weird out there but we have to live in hope.

As Kagame becomes increasingly tense, Kigali’s list of enemies will continue to grow bigger and bigger. Anyone can be on this list. Anyone of us will or could be massacred at any point. The question is, do we give up in fear of assassinations to a rampant dictator whose job is to kill all his perceived enemies both real and imaginary? Or do we stand up to the challenge and say, well, you can kill us all but the spirit and hunger for freedom shall live on forever?

Remember my friends, at the end of every chess game, the King and Pawns get to sleep in the same bag.

Good luck to you all. As to the man in hospital, I wish you a quick recovery.

…over to 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…

Linda Whetstone on Paul Kagame

Economic reforms taken by President Kagame rightfully have attracted positive attention from the media and an array of outside supporters. These economic policies—unlike those of most other African governments—are the best way to enable Rwanda’s people to lift themselves from poverty.

Yet his supporters seem far too willing to overlook or forgive his views on free speech and the freedom of the press. From first-hand experience, I know that President Kagame goes far further than “Europe’s laws against Holocaust denial,” practicing a policy of zero tolerance toward any journalist who criticizes him. If Gordon Brown emulated this policy, few journalists would remain in the U.K. right now.

Mr. Kagame’s record on political freedom also looks increasingly weak at the moment. Who of us would feel our democratic system to be in good working order if our political leader was facing no opposition in an upcoming election after being in power for seven years, because he had momentarily imprisoned the only potential opposition, in order to stop them from registering their party in the approaching elections?

President Kagame works very hard at his PR, but surely freedom is not divisible. Those of us who believe in its creative power should give credit where credit is due, but also express constructive criticism or condemnation where freedom is seriously threatened or indeed extinguished.

Linda Whetstone

Chairman

International Policy Network

Hartfield, Sussex, U.K.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575210010010720290.html