Congolese women protesting against Rwandan support to M23
In the early 90s, the US administration which was at the time under Bill Clinton hailed the like of Joweri Museveni of Uganda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia the African leaders of a new breed who were going to transform the continent.
The praise was probably founded on the basis of these leaders’ readiness to become the agents of the Americans in Africa. Looking back, one might rightly say that effectively regional policies that these leaders and others of the same kind like Paul Kagame of Rwanda have promoted and applied forcibly, have changed fundamentally many aspects of the concerned countries, and mostly in a negative way.
1. International terrorist has been exported in East Africa with its latest manifestation in the Wesgate Mall of Nairobi
2. 8 to 10 million of people including more than 1 million mainly women and girls that were raped, have all been killed during the period under the watch of the so called visionary African leaders
3. Natural resources mainly of the Democratic Republic of Congo and which amount to billions of $ have be looted and the country became the ground of tens of armed militias with imaginable and unthinkable consequences on local populations
4. Sudan has been split into 2 countries without lasting peace insight, and with in sight the fact that even Darfur could become separated from the central government in Khartoum in some future [this according to Pierre Pean].
For more than 3 decades the president of Uganda Joweri Museveni has been fooling everybody and everyone has been willingly or forcibly playing his game. The last of his tricks have been the negotiations of Kampala between M23 and the Congolese government, when we all today know well that he has been backing the group as did Paul Kagame.
From the time Museveni was in the bush where he massacred the Baganda people in the hundreds of thousands in the Luweru Triangle, and after gaining power and went after the Acholi community, until today, meaning 3 decades after, staging negotiations have been central to his regional plans.
The number of victims that fell because of his political manoeuvres will be never known. During almost all that period, he has used the negotiation tactics to eliminate obstacles in his ambitions for a Hima/Tutsi empire in the Great Lakes region.
After the recent military defeat of M23, there are pressing calls for talks between the FDLR [the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda] and the government of Paul Kagame. And the latest among the supporters of such talks is Joweri Museveni himself. He talked to his colleague in the crime after SADC/ICGLR meeting held in Pretoria on Monday 4th November.
““I just came from the SADC meeting, where the discussions on lasting peace in the Great Lakes Region were discussed. Unfortunately, it appears that most of the leaders believe that one of the major factors is the Rwandan rebels in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Clearly that issue will have to be addressed, one way or another. And the leaders believe that the issue may not be resolved without the Rwandan Government sitting at the negotiating table with its armed opposition. I, too, believe, maybe it is time for you to talk to your armed opposition”.
General Paul Kagame answered: “I will never talk to the genocidaires of the FDLR. Never, … , ever. I will not talk to criminals.”
Yoweri Museveni calmed him down: “Please take this as just an advice. And I understand you. No one wants talk to criminals. But, not all your armed opposition are the FDLR. Not all are criminals. There are people, within your armed opposition, that you may start considering talking to.”
People from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and other places of Africa in deficit of lasting peace are fed up of being brought together for talks by the same people/institutions that have been killing them.
To clarify this point, it is important to explain that if US and Britain had for example played their right role and not adopted a racist attitude towards the Africans that Museveni and Kagame have been killing all these years, we won’t have more than 8 million of victims whose mourning has not even started because their death is even nowhere publicly acknowledged.
People only need justice and peace to start with. Development will emerge naturally when these other premises will be present. Not the other way round.
Even for that justice people seek, they don’t want it to be dictated by the assassins of their people like in the case of ICC or TPIR.
We the victims will vigorously pursue that we have a significant African and independent people focused voice in its delivery. We cannot continue giving power to our assassins to provide us with fair justice when we know well they are the ones to be investigated and judged.
The master-minder might have another trick in his hat: the sacrifice of Paul Kagame for his own political survival. However, for how long? That would be the question that those who today manage to continue surviving will be able to tell sometime in the future.
Please don’t continue to be blind to the inhumanity being committed to Africans, especially if you are too African.
To get that justice we strongly seek, if you are in London, please join us this Saturday November 16th at Piccadilly Circus at 11.00 am.
