President Paul Kagame at a past function. He says former members of the
ruling party might have had different agendas from those of Rwanda
Patriotic Front (RPF)-Inkotanyi. Photo/FILE|AFP
By Edmund Kagire The EastAfrican
Rwandan President Paul Kagame
has questioned the loyalty of former members of the ruling party saying
that they might have had different agendas from those of Rwanda
Patriotic Front (RPF)-Inkotanyi.
While addressing the Press on
Tuesday ahead of the country’s 20th Liberation celebrations on July 4,
President Kagame, who also doubles as the RPF chairman, said that the
party has evolved over the last two and a half decades, with some people
dropping off along the way.
He downplayed fears that the RPF
has been weakened by the fall out with some of the senior cadres and
top officials including those who have gone on to form opposition
parties abroad, pointing out that as is the case in other parts of the
world, people disagree on many fronts but life has to continue.
“The state of affairs in RPF is
that of dynamism. I would be surprised, and I wouldn’t like it if the
RPF of 20 years ago is the same RPF of today. I think there would be a
problem. That would mean RPF is not evolving or developing or undergoing
any transformation,” Kagame said.
He said it was normal for some senior cadres to retire from the ranks of the party while others fell out for different reasons.
Several former members of the
RPF and its military wing RPA who include Lt Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa, the
former army chief of staff Dr Theogene Rudasingwa, the former secretary
general of RPF Gerald Gahima, the former Prosecutor General and the late
Patrick Karegeya are examples of those who fell out with the party.
The exile-based officials joined
forces to form the Rwanda National Congress, one of the formidable
opposition group the current government faces. Several senior RPF cadres
who occupied big positions in government have since been ‘put on the
bench’ without any explanations.
However, Kagame says that these should not be seen as fault lines within the political party but part of the evolvement.
“As far as I know though, the
RPF is as strong enough, focussing on what is good for this country and
what is good for itself, as it has ever been. But there are different
circumstances and challenges that RPF operates in and it is a dynamic
situation. It is never stagnant and probably it should never be.”
He said that by analysing the
challenges which the party has overcome over the years, challenges even
bigger than departed members, the RPF cannot be found ‘wanting’ in
anyway when it comes to dealing with issues, whether political, economic
or social.
Questions loyalty
President Kagame said that what
should be questioned is whether those who left for whatever reasons were
loyal to the party or whether they were even real cadres.
He said that among those who
left, none of them went for doing good or for any heroic acts during the
liberation struggle but most of those who fled, had personal cases
related to their actions which they had to answer for.
“I challenge you to tell me just
one individual among those who left and what they were doing right and
that it was the cause of their demise. I will tell you some of their
cases if you don’t know but I would like to tell you that what those
people say out there is different for the reality behind leaving the
party,” Kagame said.
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