The suspension of BBC Kinyarwanda broadcast this week was an inevitable outcome. In fact, going by RURA’s communiqué released Friday, it might not be the end of the game. Some argue that the Kinyarwanda service had nothing to do with the controversial documentary, but that is just trying to simplify matters. For those who understand Kinyarwanda and are well versed in the politics of the country, and have been following BBC Kinyarwanda, they were not surprised by the position taken. Many opponents of the measures against the BBC fail to grasp the true reasons behind the sanctions and give lame arguments that it was an attack against freedom of the press. What kind of freedom opens old wounds, spit on memories of the over a million dead? What media freedoms gives an operator the moral authority to give a platform to Genocide deniers and convicted genocidaires to reverse historical truth in favour of Machiavellian ideologies that seem to have found a home in Bush House? Would BBC give a platform to Nazi sympathizers to rewrite the history of the Holocaust in the name of free speech? Not in our lifetime. In 2009 BBC had been suspended for similar offenses, which, at the time, had compelled its Africa director to rush to Kigali to mend fences by signing an understanding to abide by acceptable journalistic standards. What made it backtrack? Many who question Rwanda’s decision should revisit that issue, maybe they will be enlightened
