Observers of Rwanda’s politics are noticing dangerous patterns where an individual engages in criminality, claims political persecution, and then joins or forms a political organisation “to challenge” the government. The problem with this path is that the moment politics becomes the arena for criminals, those who have genuine political ambitions to contribute to the society will shun politics. In most societies, the best among them aspire for political leadership and are encouraged to do so because they can bring positive change. However, some foreigners want a different arrangement for Rwanda: they want to propagate the worst amongst us, convicted criminals and fugitives, to be the ones offering themselves to reconcile or to lead Rwandans even when the law is clear that a convicted felon cannot serve at any level of leadership. Criminal charges or a conviction - and the notoriety that comes with it, seem to have become the surest way for one to either join a political party or to form one. However, because criminals don’t trust each other, they are more likely to form a new party than join an existing one. This is the first sign that they don’t join politics for the right reasons: which would have been to serve the people. Obviously, no criminal - self-centred by definition - sees service to others as an important aspiration for their lives. It is their anti-social behaviors such as greed that drive them into criminality in the first place. The political fugitives of the RNC are a case in point. Rusesabagina has equally been on the run until the law caught up to him. Ingabire Victoire sought to conceal her criminality behind politics. Many more are likely to surface because they enjoy the context of foreign interference that encourages and supports their criminal behavior in the name of politics. Consequently, they join politics because they have an axe to grind, or see it as an easy pathway to self-aggrandizement. For one thing, like almost all criminals, they don’t accept that they did anything wrong – even when a mountain of evidence is looking them in the eye. The common joke here in town is that all criminals at the former 1930 Prison always said that they were innocent, even genocide perpetrators who every member of their community saw killing people in 1994. They say everyone is lying; they are innocent. They, too, have an axe to grind. Most criminals choose to join politics because they failed to challenge the evidence that was used to convict them. Having been exposed by the justice system, they look to “challenge” the political system that didn’t interfere to stop the judges from sentencing them. In the quest for this vengeance, they dedicate the rest of their lives to political manipulation and self-mythologization because they don’t think they will be able to stay away from criminality. Politics and unquestioning support from foreigners becomes a way of shielding themselves from the consequences of their certain recidivism. Moreover, having destroyed their own reputations through their criminal behaviour, they try to manipulate others into helping them dilute and eliminate responsibility. The same way the leaders of the Genocide in 1994 told people that “if we all kill they won’t hold anyone accountable.” It’s a cunning way to avoid the long arm of the law. If recidivism kicks in and they are held accountable for their felonies, they claim it is political persecution; it is the system being intolerant of dissent. Like a mafia organization that uses a night club or a casino as a front for laundering illicit funds, criminals-cum-politicians create political parties to try to cover up their criminal reputations and reinvent themselves. It is a diversion. A tool they use to fool people into joining them under the false belief that they have an agenda beyond petty vengeance and shielding themselves from the consequences of guaranteed future criminality. It is short-sighted, however. Rwanda is a country of laws. Even though some continue to push the line and to regularly flirt with criminality, they know the red line beyond which they are guaranteed to fall foul of the law. Finally, it is bizarre how these convicted criminals attract foreign support and sympathy in what has become a bizarre political charade. Often, it is the foreign elements that attract them with promises of funding and legitimacy to “challenge” the current government. If these busybodies were genuine in wanting to support politicians who would “challenge” the government in order to promote “competitive” politics, they would have plenty of law-abiding Rwandans to choose from. There are limits to the cover pseudo politics offers from criminal liability. The kind of “democracy” they want for Rwanda with criminals as political leaders is dangerous for any country and for Rwanda in particular. It will never be tolerated when it undermines efforts to build a society that runs on the rule of law.
