On September 19, the so-called United Democratic Forces–Inkingi (UDF–Inkingi) released yet another press release, this time alleging that on Tuesday, September 18, the RDF generals held a meeting in Gisenyi town (North Western Rwanda) under the chairmanship of the RDF Chief of General Staff, Gen. James Kabarere, and that the objective of the meeting was "to plan how to reinforce renegade Nkunda’s militia and capture the city of Goma.”

The press release was signed by Jean-Baptiste Mberabahizi.

What a shame to the UDF-Inkingi and poor Mberabahizi! I happen to be one of the Rwandese living in the Diaspora. On September 16, I left Germany, my country of residence, to attend an international conference. In the early morning of September 18, I met in the dining hall of the hotel where I was staying a gentleman who introduced himself as Pierre.

He had come from Canada. I also introduced myself as Brian from Germany. We took breakfast together, discussed international politics, and as we were about to leave the dining hall to prepare for the conference, I saw Gen. James Kabarebe in a discussion with four people across the table where we were seated.  I had last met him in 2004 in Kigali.

Although I had met him twice I did not expect him to remember me. I hesitantly left my table, greeted him and introduced myself. Fortunately, he recognized me, got excited, stood up and hugged me.

Pierre showed interest in Kabarebe and wanted to know who he was. "Where have I ever seen this person?” he asked. Since I did not want to disclose the general’s names and what he was without his consent, I told Pierre that he was one of the big modern farmers in Rwanda. 

On the following day, September 19, during lunch time, I again shared a table with Pierre who suddenly drew my attention to a printed copy of the above mentioned press release that he was reading. I had not seen it. I took about two minutes to go through it.

Pierre must have been anxiously waiting for my comments since I had told him that I was born in Rwanda and that my parents live in Gisenyi.

After reading the release he quickly asked for my comments on the allegations regarding the meeting of the RDF generals that was chaired by Gen. Kabarebe in Gisenyi. He also wanted to know whether this did not constitute interference in the internal affairs of the government in Kinshasa.

By and large he sounded somewhat keen and conversant with the politics of the Great Lakes Region.

Instead of dismissing the allegations without facts and evidence I preferred to enlighten him on what Mberabahizi and his likes are, their ideology, and objectives. I also put it to him that the same individuals had campaigned against the sending of peacekeepers to Darfur by the government of Rwanda, claiming that Rwandan troops are killers.

I further pointed out to him that the same people had also tried to block the appointment of Maj. Gen. Karenzi Karake, a Rwanda Defence Forces general, to the post of Joint Deputy Force Commander of the UN-AU Hybrid force to be deployed in the Darfur region of Sudan but to no avail.

After listening to me patiently Pierre said, "No wonder; I now understand”. I was not too sure as to whether I had fully convinced him. His statement was open to interpretation. I could not have given him a more convincing answer.

Luck was on my side on that day.  Kabarebe who was staying with us in the same five star hotel entered where we were seated, greeted us and sat around one of the tables across as he waited for his colleagues.

I gently approached him and disclosed what I had been discussing with Pierre in Kinyarwanda.

He laughed it off and immediately asked me to invite Pierre to his table. After shaking hands with him, Gen. Kabarebe introduced himself, after which Pierre asked him, "General, how can you chair a meeting of generals thousands and thousands of miles away in Gisenyi while you are at the same time here? You must be having very advanced technology,” he said jokingly.

Pierre, who had worked in Kigali as a consultant in 2006, had quickly recognized Kabarebe, so he said to me, "Brian this is unfair, you should have told me yesterday that he is Gen. James.”

He then turned to James Kabarebe and said to him, "I remember seeing you on the Rwandan Television addressing soldiers destined for Darfur.”

Pierre then paused for a while and then said to James again, "Can you imagine how I could have been naively fooled by this press release if I had not been with you in this hotel for the last two days?”

Straight away Pierre dismissed all the other allegations contained in the press release, saying that the fact that Kabarebe did not chair any meeting in Gisenyi on September 18 was reason enough for him to dismiss the whole story.

On this allegation Pierre said, "I used to say that Black South Africans have a legitimate cause during Apartheid South Africa but I never gave them any assistance or support.”

He went on: "Some people say that Palestinians have a legitimate cause and they stop there.”

I then told him that Mberabahizi is probably talking about moral support, to which he replied, "You have to be morally sane before you can give moral support to suffering people such as the innocent Congolese who are targeted by the ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia in the Eastern DR Congo.”

Dear Rwandans and non-Rwandans, can you imagine how these criminals continue to misinform the world through all sorts of fabrications?

These fugitives and in particular those that belong to the so called UDF–Inkingi can only earn their living by pleasing their godfathers with such fabrications and falsehoods aimed at tarnishing the good name and image of the Government of Rwanda and its disciplined and popular defence force.

We in the Diaspora have resolved to expose these criminals. We shall continue to expose their genocide ideology, their lack of integrity and credibility, their malicious intentions as well as their unprincipled and shifting alliances.

I appeal to all patriotic Rwandans and members of the international community to expose and isolate these fugitives instead of wasting time listening to them or reacting to their empty propaganda. Shame on Mberabahizi! Shame on the so-called UDF-Inkingi!  They think they can fool the whole world but they are instead fools of themselves.

The writer is a very patriotic Rwandan, and he lives in Frankfurt, Germany