Propaganda: RPF Faces Political Disaster

Published on 26th March 2011

Kagame with RPF troops                       Photo courtesy
When news flittered through that Paul Kagame’s government has set out a propaganda campaign against its critics at a leadership retreat, no one thought this would a priority for any prudent regime. Oh! It was. 

First the government media, both print and broadcast entered the game, blackmailing virtually every critic of Kagame’s rule.National Security Services run papers like The New Times even laboured to create a list of journalists working with individuals opposing the regime in Kigali. This unprofessional conduct, however, did not yield any intended results.Let alone being authored by intelligence personnel under the guise of journalists, the content neither had substance nor detail.

It’s understandable that in a situation when everyone is struggling to stay afloat and survive in Rwanda, some individuals are prepared to take desperate measures regardless of whether they would be selling their souls or sacrificing their entire career. When it comes to the media, there is no doubt that every practitioner in Rwanda has been affected in one way or the other. Some have been affected positively such as individual journalists who have become what they are today due to government scholarships.Others have entered a marriage of inconvenience with the NSS, which runs the briefcase boys-an undercover team that distributes thousands of dollars out of the ‘black budget’ to limping media houses in a successful campaign of altering their editorial lines. The rest are succumbing just to keep their jobs in the absurd solace of ‘patriotism.’

Something intriguing, however, is the way Rwanda’s elite have joined the bandwagon. They don’t care about how much trust from the masses they are throwing to the dogs, forgetting that at the end-every dog has its day. For instance, Nshuti Manassesh penned down an opinion recently about the exiled members of Rwanda National Congress.To be honest, it beats everyone’s understanding whether these were arguments of someone in the calibre of a professor. Manasseh goes ahead to create a link between FDRL and FDU-Inkingi and the Rwanda National Congress based on opinion and assumption. There is a mention that Paul Rusesabagina told a Student Union at the University of Central Florida in Orlando that he was in touch with Gen. Kayumba, Col. Karegeya, Gahima and Dr Rudasingwa. How would that be demonic?

If the opposition is working out a blueprint to bring down what Mannaseh calls a democratically elected government in Rwanda, then the discretion lies in the hands of the masses. Why would anyone worry about the downfall of a popular government if there are no signs of deep cracks already?  If FDU-Inkingi merges with RNC in Europe and Gahima and Dr Rudasingwa are there to witness the merger, it is utterly inappropriate to ignore the fact that that’s strategic progress. At least they are not coercing other parties like the RPF did with its merger, finally creating dummies of presidential candidates.

The leadership in Kigali is aware that it has no leadership principles. It is built on a murky foundation, where the country’s elite and strategic thinkers have become crusaders of petty intrigues and dishonesty in a battle for survival.This is the reason why RPF, especially Kagame, should worry. A breed of puppets only distorts a chain of command. That is why people like Mannaseh can speak on behalf of the Rwanda Defense Forces by linking Gen. Nyamwasa and Col. Karegeya to the FDLR based on its former commander Lt. Col Abraham Sam Bisengimana’s allegations.

For Bisengimana to come out and allege that a meeting was held in Pretoria, South Africa on January, 30, 2011 and Kayumba and Karegyeya were designated as intermediaries between the FDLR and the international community is not a surprise at all. He went ahead to give ‘details’ that while the meeting set up a structure in South Africa to co-ordinate the opposition’s propaganda, it was overshadowed by doubts by the ex-FAR command about the two soldiers’ reliability. Foremost, Bisengimana was running away from the FDLR base and needed food on the table like the Kigali government did with Gen. Paul Rwarakabije.Second, he needed an assurance of safety.

It is common practise that soldiers from the jungles of DR Congo have previously been assembled in Mutobo demobilisation camp and tutored on how to give false testimonies against the government’s opposition members either within or outside the country. This is not something to remind Mannaseh. Then came into question the UN Security Council Group of Experts' report, which Nshuti quoted as evidence to Kayumba and Karegyeya’s links with the FDLRas well as that of the Economic Community of Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL). It would be a waste of time to even refer to the CEPGL report because the machinery behind it was exposed in a syndicate of conflict of interest.

Kagame pressurised Liberata Mulamula, the First Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region to issue arrest warrants to Kayumba and Karegeya or risk her husband being kicked out of Rwanda, where he is employed by Kagame.As for the UN report, Kagame himself would now be in the docks at the Netherlands based International Criminal Court facing war crimes charges and crimes against humanity if UN reports linking him to the shooting down of former Rwanda President Juvenal Habyarimana’s Falcon 50 jet were to be given value.  

In Nshuti’s case, it is imperative that even when an individual is struggling to remain on the buttered side of bread, a fair judgment is by all means impossible so it’s better to withhold that opinion. It is true that it may be very difficult to pass a favourable verdict under duress but an objective conclusion is fair.

In February 2007, as Minister for Public Service and Labor, Nshuti himself ordered the ministry’s Secretary General Charlotte Mukankusi to offer a tender to RUMA, a local consultancy and auditing firm headed by Peter Rutaremara, a friend and former schoolmate. It was all in the self interest of earning kickbacks. The whole process was however flawed; the tendering procedures flouted, the innocent Secretary sacked and Nshuti covered himself. Later, he was followed up and demoted.

How can such an unscrupulous individual preach about character when his popularity dropped miserably as a result of corruption and abuse of office? People like Nshuti are just a disgrace to Rwanda and the entire fraternity of scholars.  It is prudent to hold such characters’ opinions and judgements in contempt.  

By Robert Mukombozi.

The author  is a Masters student of Journalism and Mass Communication student at Griffith University, Australia. He can be reached at [email protected]


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