Rwanda generals to fight indictments born of arrogance

Two years ago, two top army generals in the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF), Charles Kayonga and Jack Nziza, filed a complaint against France and Belgium, in a Belgian court following indictments that were given out by the French judge Jean Brougiere. Just like the Rwandan Chief of Protocol, Rose Kabuye, the two generals were blacklisted by the same judge, on allegations that they were responsible for the downing of the plane of the former Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana. Jean Brouguire’s indictments were given weight by the ever-arrogant western attitude towards the continent. Anything to do with poor Africa can be handled in anyway, without any repercussions-the West sees it thus. This is the general attitude towards Africa. Accuse the poor Rwandan leaders and make them succumb to your demands. The two generals therefore, are actually battling with such arrogance dressed in the name of universal jurisdiction. The indictments were issued without even consulting them or the people of Rwanda to get facts-as it is procedural that any judicial claim is supposed to be supported by facts and not mere speculation. You would be surprised to discover how a learned lawyer could make such baseless claims, if you never knew that it is all arrogance. There is therefore no tangible evidence for the judge to issue the indictments. Nonetheless, countries in the west gave the indictments, weight enough to arrest the Rwandan leaders. No wonder Rose Kabuye was arrested on that basis. This is what the two Rwandan generals want to end – being denied freedom without any reason other than arrogance. What makes the West so arrogant? There are a number of issues responsible for such arrogance, all encompassed in one thing known as ‘economic development’. The poor have no right, no say and therefore are subjected to all sorts of abuse. You cannot resist anything when you are a humble person. The rich West wants to humble the poor! The poor countries of the sub-Saharan Africa depend mostly on Western aid for the survival of their people and regimes. We have been crying for soft loans and loan gaps, from the benevolent Western countries- we owe them a lot in cash. Such a situation has made us vulnerable to the whims of Western countries. It actually makes me remember the Kiswahili proverb “Munyonge hana haki”- the handicapped has no right. The indictments issued against Rwandan leaders were ‘sought’ with such an attitude in the background. Rwanda being one of the poor countries of Africa is seen by countries like Belgium and France as a non-issue. See how they prefer to define Rwanda as; “the embattled poor and tiny central African country.” A reference which indeed is derogatory in nature and demeaning in principle. Otherwise, we would not have Rwandan heroes who earned that heroism after stopping one of the most unspeakable crimes against humanity- genocide, accused of their heroic activities. They do not have any other accusations apart from the fact that they stopped the 1994 Tutsi Genocide that the so-called international community failed to stop with all the troops they had on the ground. They probably never wanted to end the genocide! Anything to do with the plane crash for instance, we should be ask the French soldiers who were not only with Habyarimana during the crash, but also rushed to pick the black box at the scene. It is on record and people attest to it that, some French soldiers and former members of the Presidential Guard, immediately rushed to the plane crash, supposedly to hide the black box. If anyone argues against this assertion, let him or her ask the French where they put the black box. Ironically, France the country whose regime by then, aided and abeted the genocide, today wants to supervise its aftermath by unjustly accusing some Rwandan generals. In real sense who should accuse who? Rwanda should be accusing France. It is in the same light that Western nations have fought to bring down tough regimes in Africa that do not dance according to their tune, but seek to live in a situation where mutual help and logic reigns. Rwanda is one of those countries that do not seek to remain a puppet of any country, a thing that attract such vile from these countries. The West would want us to take their aid and then listen to their instructions as a toddler does to a mother. It gets worse of course, when it comes to our former colonizers; Germany, Belgium and France a country that has had a very great impact in Rwanda as far as social, economic and political dynamics are concerned. “That Rwanda is no longer respecting such patronage, is a great insubordination that cannot go unpunished,” this is what they mean by forcing the indictments against Rwandan leaders and generals for that matter. It is an implicit explaination by giving weight such bogus indictments. Unfortunately, today our generals have to battle with an arrogance of such a background. Rwandan politicians inherited a society that was highly disintegrated due to bad politics- they are trying to put the threads together. Those efforts are today, compounded by the so-called application of the universal jurisdiction by the same people that plundered our nation to tatters. What next? Rwandans should continue to swim in the rough waters, as they pursue justice in this turbulent world of survival for the fittest- it is an economic war where the rich can gang up against an individual state. Rwanda is a developing country that will not stop to collaborate with other countries, whether in the West or elsewhere, to move further in her economic development. However, our desire to realize our economic development goals should not comprise our dignity as a people. Contact: mugitoni@yahoo.com