Reporter Edwin Musoni of the Kigali-based daily New Times gives today lengthy excerpts of the acrimonious and rambling press briefing President Paul Kagame held yesterday at Village Urugwiro, in the Rwandan capital.
(Edwin Musoni’s report, titled “Rwanda is not to blame for DRC’s woes – Kagame,” can be found on this Page Address:
http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15029&a=55011
Kagame’s cranky and threatening rant came about the same time as President Kagame addressing journalists in Kigali yesterday at Village Urugwiro.
construably contemptuous statements of his Foreign Minister Louise Mishikiwabo, who was concluding 2-day diplomatic and security meetings in Kinshasa, were triggering rancorous snarks in the media and the streets in the Congolese capital.
According to Musoni, “President Paul Kagame yesterday expressed
frustration over continued allegations that Rwanda is aiding rebel groups in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).”
In Kinshasa, in the meantime, what was (mis)construed as contemptuous was Mishikiwabo’s denial of any Rwandan involvement in the M23 insurgency in the Kivus, and her adamant insistence that the only single paramount security threat in eastern Congo is the FDLR.
But what really set off the wrath of the Kinois media and public was Mishikiwabo’s attempt at “educating” them about the actual regional role of Rwanda:
“The [Congolese public] opinion should educated and must understand that Rwanda has for a long time been working for the pacification of the [African] Great Lakes region.”
Given the tepid response of the Congolese government to Mishikiwabo’s tall tale, the opinion in the streets is that Rwanda is hollering far and wide that it is the fearsome regional imperial power proffering diktats to the hopelessly kowtowing Congolese state.
And the sampling reporter Edwin Musoni gives of Kagame’s arrogant ”pronunciamentoes” in his press conference reinforces that perception.
Below is a limited sample I extracted from Edwin Musoni’s more comprehensive sampling.
It’s Kagame unplugged, raw, and unleashed upon the international community and the DRC:
“They claim they like Congo, but they don’t like the Congolese, if they liked Congolese we wouldn’t have these problems of raping and killing every day.”
“[The UN behaves] as if the problem of Congo has been caused by Rwanda or should be Rwanda’s responsibility.”
“Our main focus is to continue to work with the DRC and have good relations with the Congolese people so that we solve our problem that remains there–which is FDLR and the genocidaires”.
On Laurent Nkunda:
“In 2009 when we had issues in DRC, but under the false presentation of the problem, we remained engaged. In fact we tried to be helpful….we have a situation of Laurent Nkunda which we are still stuck with, we have had to bear every responsibility for him and the
situation that created him hoping that it would help in dealing with the eastern Congo problems, but also hoping that it would result into a solution for our problem–the FDLR which is based there.”
“It was like we were even buying cooperation of the Congolese and the international community so that our problem can be dealt with.”
Says Musoni:
“[Kagame] said MONUSCO knew exactly where the FDLR military commander, Sylvestre Mudacumura’s headquarters was in (in DRC), but ‘ignores all that and instead asks us about Ntaganda.’”
On Congolese Rwandophones:
“Rwanda is not responsible for Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese who happen to be in DRC, live there and happen to be called the citizens of DRC.”
“Rwanda has no responsibility for this, somebody else has responsibility for this. How they became Congolese citizens, I cannot explain; it’s none of my business, I don’t know about it.”
But writes Musoni:
“Revealing some of the previously unreported crimes, President Kagame cited an incident where 50 former CNDP soldiers who were to be integrated in the Congolese army, were transferred from the eastern to north-western DRC and ‘killed because of their identity.’ He said the incident has never been reported because of a ‘conspiracy of silence.’”
Edwin Musoni adds that Kagame gave this piece of his mind as his last warning to the international community and the DRC: Leave me alone or else:
“Kagame said that if the same baseless allegations against Rwanda continue, Kigali will be forced to ‘draw a line and say, If you don’t want us to take part in solving the problem and just blackmail us, we don’t respond to blackmails; we will just say, Forget about us.’”
Wow!
A word to the wise is enough!
