Behind the Presidential Curtains: President Kagame Told Citizens of Rwanda to Tolerate and Remain Silent

One of the founding objectives of the RPF was to abolish all refugees and causes of unrest.

(WASHINGTON DC) - The Rwandan authoritarian regime run by President Kagame has forced the citizens of Rwanda into tolerating and remaining silent about any harassment instigated by either Kagame himself or his security operatives. The population has been reduced to strict “big-brother-like” security surveillance where it is reported that one out of six members of society is reporting on others. A few individuals, who dared to say anything contrary to the government has been either incarcerated, savagely murdered or fled the country in fear for their lives.

The government has passed a bill that allows the secret security operatives to aggressively monitor people’s telephones. The internet is heavily censured where websites and controversial blogs are restricted and hacked on a daily basis. Individuals who dare question the government activities get slaughtered like lambs. Individuals are harshly taxed on their limited income. Civil servants, government employees and business owners of all sizes are forced to give away a big chunk of their monthly earnings to the government. Kagame has forced the whole country to pay tax for his ruling RPF, Armed forces tax and Security tax.

These harsh taxes have been helped by the cutting of western donor aid due to Kagame’s continued destabilisation of the Congo.

President Kagame is determined to rule the country with an iron-fist disregarding anybody’s view as long as he stays in power. He talks about his buildings and a clean Kigali city but many Rwandans do not benefit from a clean city at all, maintaining hygiene is a human nature which should not be part of a manifesto for a president.

President Kagame has been attacking at the western leaders and activists just because he was afraid of his poor human rights record. It’s so amazing that Mr President Kagame has never had a chance to learn from his former boss His excellence Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda.

When the National Resistance Army liberated Uganda in 1986 the first thing Museveni did was to give necessary support to the orphans and widows of his fallen comrades. It is in this manner that I got a chance to access formal education. “God bless you President Museveni.”

It was not only me but many more orphans received free educations, implemented by Museveni in Uganda.

The next thing Museveni did was to allow King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi to return from exile where he had been incarcerated for many years by preceding regimes. This was an important move fulfilling his promise. Museveni guaranteed to the Baganda that he would repatriate their king and he did it.

Museveni further promised the Rwandan refugees that fought alongside him that he would help them return to their motherland, and he did. President Museveni implemented the pension system to support the orphans of fallen comrades as well as widows; this all has become a challenge to President Kagame who has proven to be a very dangerous man to the entire region.

Kagame has failed to repatriate the beloved King Kigeli v Ndahinurwa of Rwanda, who was exiled from his kingdom by the colonial masters while he tried to fight for his people’s independence.

HRH Kigeli has since maintained good contact with his people, and has supported refugees around the globe. He has in the past helped refugees including then young Kagame and his family when he was still a boy on the streets of Kampala.

One of the founding objectives of the RPF the present Rwandan ruling party was to abolish all refugees and causes of unrest that dominate our society even today. Although many of the 1960’s Tutsi refugees managed to repatriate after the RPF victory, our beloved king was never given a chance of return.

President Kagame destroyed all the main plans and has instead become a self centred dictator with no morals. He has destroyed the idea of having political parties contrarily to Uganda where Gen Mugisha Muntu the former Army Commander presently leads the opposition party FDC arguing his point against the NRM the ruling party.

Freedom of speech has become paramount in Uganda where media and other organs can speak freely for those who cannot speak for themselves. When the RNC (Rwanda National Congress) was born couple of years ago no one thought that it would have such an impact on the current government, but it’s evident that Kagame’s plans have slightly changed and his powers have since been shaken. This has led to more people being jailed and many more have fled the country. The western world that had been Kagame’s patron for a long time has since lost confidence in him.

During the last few weeks Kagame has been seen getting closer to the citizens of Rwanda by intensifying his community visits. This could be seen as a positive gesture but on the other hand he has been heard lobbying for a third term while on these visits. It has been noticed that Kagame has in the last few weeks hinted on planning to amend the constitution and have no presidential term limits to levy way for him to rule indefinitely.

This leaves some of us wonder how this ruthless dictator will be stopped from his endless ruthless deeds. Are any of the opposition groups ready to step into a role of transitional government with a solid plan in place to avoid any further bloodshed that seems to cyclically occur when a leader in Rwanda begins to slide into the dustbin of history? If there is such a group they must be forthright with their plan for Rwanda and aggressive in presenting it to Rwandan citizens around the world. Many of the residents of Rwanda have known no other leader other than President Kagame and with the clear history of violence following leadership change these groups must have such a peaceful plan in place that is realistic and non-violent to the people of Rwanda.

Jennifer Fierberg is a social worker in the US working on peace and justice issues in Africa with an emphasis on the crisis in Rwanda and throughout the central region of Africa. Her articles have been published on many humanitarian sites that are also focused on changing the world through social, political and personal action.

Jennifer has extensive background working with victims of trauma and domestic violence, justice matters as well as individual and family therapy. Passionate and focused on bringing the many humanitarian issues that plague the African Continent to the awareness of the developed world in order to incite change. She is a correspondent, Assistant Editor, and Volunteer Coordinator for NGO News Africa through the volunteer project of the UN. Jennifer was also the media co-coordinator and senior funding executive for The Africa Global Village. You can write to Jennifer at jfierberg@ymail.com. Jennifer comes to www.Salem-News.com with a great deal of experience and passion for working to stop human right violation in Africa.