Kigali fighting back as dissidents gain upper hand with the arrest of Karake in the UK

Rwandan President Paul Kagame. PHOTO | FILE 

By EDMUND KAGIRE

In Summary

• It’s a dilemma political observers say Rwanda would have wished to avoid, as some senior opposition members could become key witnesses against the government.
• The president named Dr David Himbara, his former principal private secretary, who has now turned into a vocal government critic; Rene C Mugenzi, a Rwandan exile in the UK, and Norbert Marara as some of the people who have been pushing Western governments to take action against Rwanda.

The arrest of the head of Rwanda’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Lt-Gen Karenzi Karake in the United Kingdom this past week has reignited the political fight between exiled Rwandan dissidents and the government, with Kigali accusing the former of working to embarrass the state.

President Paul Kagame on Thursday criticised the UK and Spain for the arrest and blamed Rwandan exiles and opposition members for piling pressure on the UK government to detain Lt-Gen Karake.

President Kagame said that the exiles, mainly former government officials and military officers who fled the country after “committing crimes,” are the ones lobbying and engaging in activities to embarrass Rwanda.

“We have Rwandans who are out there, who exiled themselves under all sorts of claims but all of them having cases here. Not a single one that does not have a case to answer here,” he said.

The president named Dr David Himbara, his former principal private secretary, who has now turned into a vocal government critic; Rene C Mugenzi, a Rwandan exile in the UK, and Norbert Marara as some of the people who have been pushing Western governments to take action against Rwanda.

He also named businessman Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa as the “financier” of the activities of the dissidents who have been lobbying against Rwanda. Mr Rujugiro also served as President Kagame’s economic advisor before they fell out in 2009.

“If you check their records, they used to be in the army and have committed a series of crimes. One of them used to work for me [Take Dr Himbara]… the only thing he can pride in is having ever worked for me — that is the only thing, nothing else,” President Kagame said of his former advisor.

He observed that Dr Himbara ran away twice. He said however that when he is out there, he is considered an important member of the opposition.

Dr Himbara, who has since turned into a vocal critic of President Kagame and his government, recently appeared before the US Congress where he delivered a scathing indictment of the government.

Exiled in Canada, in his congressional appearance Dr Himbara gave a detailed briefing on the political situation in Rwanda, accusing the government of closing political space and curtailing freedoms of association and speech.

President Kagame accused Dr Himbara and others who fell out with the system of being used by Western countries and other interest groups to change the history of Rwanda, by advancing a new version of what is known of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, as part of the “Untold Story” campaign.

He said those who want to rewrite Rwanda’s history are making a mistake by associating with “criminals” whose views they consider “democratic” and believe them to be clean men in danger of being killed by the Rwandan government.

The government has on many occasions been accused by rights groups of pursuing those who oppose it abroad and threatening their lives, but President Kagame said that no one wants to kill them, they just usethe claim to get protection from Western countries.

Dr Himbara, on the other hand, said that President Kagame sounded like he was at war with everyone when he mentioned the exiled dissidents.

“President Paul Kagame’s appetite for fighting knows no bounds. In this speech, he is at war with the British, Spanish, Americans, French, Germans, and ‘Rwandan criminals/thugs,” he said.