Aid freeze: M23 is simply an excuse

Editor,There has been a public outcry over last week’s regrettable decision by the UK government to freeze the next tranche of aid to Rwanda, citing concerns that the latter was reportedly backing a rebellion in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).The allegations of M23 rebel backing are contained in a highly flawed report released by a group of UN “experts”, who solely based their findings on testimonies by Congolese government officials, synonymous military and intelligence sources as well as purported M23 defectors.It’s almost pretty obvious that the experts did not respect basic research methodology in their work and could certainly not have delivered a credible report.I mean, how on earth, could the experts claim that the Rwandan government trained M23 fighters from the Kanombe barracks, a facility that is little more than soldiers residential quarters, a hospital and a cemetery! That Steve Hege and his colleagues could not establish that Kanombe barracks cannot in any way be used as a training ground for any army, let alone for a rebel group, is testament the so-called experts were easily hoodwinked by propagandists and easily took rumours and speculation as fact, without subjecting any allegation to even the most basic verification!The UK and other development partners are not ignorant to this fact. The lack of professionalism on the part of Hege and co. is so glaring even the modest of analysts can easily notice.However, these allegations have come at a time when much of Europe is experiencing shrinking economic growth, with some countries faced with outright recession. Across Europe, the voters are anxious with some extremist exploiting public frustration and fear for the unknown to call for a significant reduction in aid to developing countries.Western governments are keen not to be seen at home as if they are not sensitive when it comes to giving money away while their people are feeling the impact of the economic downturn.That is the reason why the UK and other countries that have withheld aid to Rwanda are doing so, at least not what they have communicated officially – the alleged “foreign support” to the M23 rebels.Rose Muganwa,Kicukiro

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Aid freeze: M23 is simply an excuse