RIA Novosti
7 April 2010
A government formed by opposition in the ex-Soviet Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan said it has taken full power in the country after a day of unrest in which over 40 people were killed, the opposition-nominated premier said on Wednesday.
"(Prime Minister Daniyar) Usenov has signed a resignation letter. Power is fully in the control of the opposition," Rosa Otunbayeva said.
"The whereabouts of (President Kurmanbek) Bakiyev are unknown."
07 April, 2010
U.S. – Nigeria Binational Commission.
United States Department of State Office of the Spokesman
6 April 2010
Press Release
On April 6, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Nigerian Secretary to the Government of the Federation Yayale Ahmed inaugurated the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission, a strategic dialogue designed to expand mutual cooperation across a broad range of shared interests. The Commission is a collaborative forum to build partnerships for tangible and measurable progress on issues critical to our shared future.
The United States establishes such commissions with valued and strategic partners. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, its largest contributor of peacekeepers, its largest producer of oil and a significant trading partner for the United States.
Secretaries Clinton and Ahmed are forming four working groups to address specific bilateral issues: Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity; Energy and Investment; Food Security and Agriculture; and, Niger Delta and Regional Security Cooperation. They plan to launch the Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity working group first, in light of preparations and reforms necessary to ensure Nigeria’s 2011 elections are free, fair, and transparent.
6 April 2010
Press Release
On April 6, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Nigerian Secretary to the Government of the Federation Yayale Ahmed inaugurated the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission, a strategic dialogue designed to expand mutual cooperation across a broad range of shared interests. The Commission is a collaborative forum to build partnerships for tangible and measurable progress on issues critical to our shared future.
The United States establishes such commissions with valued and strategic partners. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, its largest contributor of peacekeepers, its largest producer of oil and a significant trading partner for the United States.
Secretaries Clinton and Ahmed are forming four working groups to address specific bilateral issues: Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity; Energy and Investment; Food Security and Agriculture; and, Niger Delta and Regional Security Cooperation. They plan to launch the Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity working group first, in light of preparations and reforms necessary to ensure Nigeria’s 2011 elections are free, fair, and transparent.
Nigeria gets female oil minister.
AFP
6 April 2010
Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday installed his new cabinet assigning the powerful oil ministry for the first time to a female, Diezani Allison-Madueke.
Allison-Madueke, from the southern oil-rich Niger Delta, was formerly in charge of the mines and steel ministry in the old cabinet dissolved on March 17.
A top banker from Goldman Sachs in London, Olusegun Aganga, is the new minister of finance.
Jonathan gave the foreign affairs portfolio to Odein Ajumogobia, the erstwhile junior oil minister.
Godsday Orubebe, the former junior minister for the Niger Delta, now becomes the substantive head of the ministry.
Jonathan dissolved the cabinet last month as he moved to assert his authority after taking power from ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, who only recently returned to Nigeria after three months in Saudi Arabia for treatment for a heart condition.
6 April 2010
Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday installed his new cabinet assigning the powerful oil ministry for the first time to a female, Diezani Allison-Madueke.
Allison-Madueke, from the southern oil-rich Niger Delta, was formerly in charge of the mines and steel ministry in the old cabinet dissolved on March 17.
A top banker from Goldman Sachs in London, Olusegun Aganga, is the new minister of finance.
Jonathan gave the foreign affairs portfolio to Odein Ajumogobia, the erstwhile junior oil minister.
Godsday Orubebe, the former junior minister for the Niger Delta, now becomes the substantive head of the ministry.
Jonathan dissolved the cabinet last month as he moved to assert his authority after taking power from ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, who only recently returned to Nigeria after three months in Saudi Arabia for treatment for a heart condition.
06 April, 2010
Nigeria: Jonathan Fires Barkindo, NNPC GMD.
Vanguard
6 April 2010
By Daniel Idonor
Barely few hours after he swore in his new cabinet, the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Tuesday fired the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ima Niboro, the Acting President has approved the appointment of a former Group Executive Director of the NNPC, Alhaji Shehu Ladan as the new (GMD)
"The Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has appointed Alhaji Shehu Ladan as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC".
"He replaces Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo".
According to the statement, "Ladan retired from NNPC April 6th, 2009, as Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment. He was also former Deputy Managing Director of Nigeria LNG, Executive Director of NETCo as well as NPDC, both subsidiaries of NNPC".
It said further that "Ladan is expected to execute the administration's vision of transforming the NNPC into a global brand and player".
Dr. Jonathan thanked Barkindo for his stewardship and wished him well in his future endeavours.
6 April 2010
By Daniel Idonor
Barely few hours after he swore in his new cabinet, the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Tuesday fired the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ima Niboro, the Acting President has approved the appointment of a former Group Executive Director of the NNPC, Alhaji Shehu Ladan as the new (GMD)
"The Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has appointed Alhaji Shehu Ladan as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC".
"He replaces Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo".
According to the statement, "Ladan retired from NNPC April 6th, 2009, as Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment. He was also former Deputy Managing Director of Nigeria LNG, Executive Director of NETCo as well as NPDC, both subsidiaries of NNPC".
It said further that "Ladan is expected to execute the administration's vision of transforming the NNPC into a global brand and player".
Dr. Jonathan thanked Barkindo for his stewardship and wished him well in his future endeavours.
French 'Military to stay where needed' in Africa.
SAPA/AFP
6 April 2010
France will maintain a military presence in African states that wish it to do so, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said following a decision by Senegal to take back control of military bases.
"Concerning the military presence, France will be present where African states wish it to be," he said on Sunday night on public television after holding talks with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.
As Senegal marked 50 years of independence on Sunday, Wade announced the country was asserting its sovereignty by taking back French military bases, a symbolic move to be cemented after talks with its former colonial occupier.
"Senegal has asserted its sovereignty over the bases, in accordance with the various positions expressed by (French) President Nicolas Sarkozy..." said Hortefeux.
He said that during his talks with Wade, the Senegalese president agreed that discussions could begin on the future of the bases.
Despite the decision, the act of taking back the bases does not indicate anti-French sentiment and Hortefeux said "naturally the French (military) and civilians, and all Europeans, will be welcome in Senegal."
"This meeting was an occasion to recall the historical links, both amicable and affectionate, which unite Senegal and France. My presence today at the anniversary of independence bears concrete testimony to this."
The historic step announced by Wade has no marked effect in the short term, but is very symbolic for a country branded by 350 years of French presence.
The first French colony south of the Sahara, Senegal hosts one of three permanent French military bases in Africa with 1 200 men based in Dakar.
6 April 2010
France will maintain a military presence in African states that wish it to do so, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said following a decision by Senegal to take back control of military bases.
"Concerning the military presence, France will be present where African states wish it to be," he said on Sunday night on public television after holding talks with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.
As Senegal marked 50 years of independence on Sunday, Wade announced the country was asserting its sovereignty by taking back French military bases, a symbolic move to be cemented after talks with its former colonial occupier.
"Senegal has asserted its sovereignty over the bases, in accordance with the various positions expressed by (French) President Nicolas Sarkozy..." said Hortefeux.
He said that during his talks with Wade, the Senegalese president agreed that discussions could begin on the future of the bases.
Despite the decision, the act of taking back the bases does not indicate anti-French sentiment and Hortefeux said "naturally the French (military) and civilians, and all Europeans, will be welcome in Senegal."
"This meeting was an occasion to recall the historical links, both amicable and affectionate, which unite Senegal and France. My presence today at the anniversary of independence bears concrete testimony to this."
The historic step announced by Wade has no marked effect in the short term, but is very symbolic for a country branded by 350 years of French presence.
The first French colony south of the Sahara, Senegal hosts one of three permanent French military bases in Africa with 1 200 men based in Dakar.
Pres. Kagame Lashes Out at Opposition Party With ad Hominem Attacks.
Rwandan News Agency
6 April 2010
The tone of verbal attacks against his critics shifted to new levels as President Paul Kagame used unusual comments on Monday – at one point saying the opposition has “funny backgrounds” and no history for themselves, RNA reports. Last week, a cabinet minister went as far as describing Ms. Ingabire Victoire as representing “darkness” for Rwanda.
The President graded Mr. Bernard Ntaganda of the registered PS-Imberakuri party and Ms. Ingabire Victoire of yet-to-be registered FDU-Inkingi in the same category – and accused the international community of being “insulting”, for viewing Rwanda at the level of these two politicians.
“I consider this insulting for some people to look at politics in Rwanda
or a Rwandan in the context of people like Ingabire or Ntaganda,” he told reporters Monday, before adding in a mixture of English and Kinyarwanda that he thinks these politicians are “…people with no history, no ideas and neither even basic culture of a normal human up-bringing.”
He lashed out: “The world wants to look at us like this. These are the people who represent the other views…the opposition. These fellows have no views at all…they are just a creation of some sort by people who have contempt for us.”
Indicative of a changing mood clearly marked with irritation, Mr. Kagame continued: “What do they represent really? If we had a referendum [asking] all Rwandans - even in their confused history and all sorts of problems, I don’t think they know what these people stand for at all…I don’t think so.”
Referring to Ms. Ingabire, the President dismissed allegations that his government is deliberately blocking her from leaving the country. He also claimed that due to her association with Genocide convict and ex-assistant Joseph Ntawangundi, it clearly shows the kind of politics she espouses. “It could even be difficult for her to disassociate from this problem,” he added.
The President claimed these politicians have no moral authority to comment on any issue in the country – instead saying the existing parties are the ones better placed to criticize government as they have lived through the country’s “hardships”.
Mr. Kagame said that he encourages the known parties to take up the position of the “so-called opposition because these one have no place”, also arguing that the mainstream small parties, some allied with the RPF, have now “matured [and] developed through these hardships we have shared together”.
However, on naming some of the nine parties in Parliament, the President caused laughter when he mentioned only PSD and PL - but asked the Interior Minister Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana, “which one else...the one you represent”.
For the troubled yet-to-be registered Green Party of Rwanda of Mr. Frank Habineza, President Kagame accused it of being managed from outside Rwanda. He claimed all those writing to him campaigning on behalf of the group are foreigners – so he concluded and claimed the Green Party has no membership or leadership inside the country.
The President rejected claims that Green Party in-fighting is caused by his RPF party. He said for the group to be allowed to operate in the country, it has to be a
Rwandan-based party with all the requirements for registration.
Information emerged from an uncorroborated media report in back in February claiming a senior advisor to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was providing financing and guidance to the Green Party. The man in question is allegedly Dr. John Nagenda, but he has officially distanced himself from the party.
President Kagame did not make specific reference to these allegations, but was instead speaking about the numerous letters of support his office has received from
Green movements and parties in Europe and North America. They have petitioned him to use his office to allow the Rwandan Greens to operate freely.
On media reports that some senior army officers are under house arrest or on surveillance for planning a coup against government or intending to flee the country, President Kagame said that is not how a government does business.
Unconfirmed reports claim Land Forces Chief Gen. Charles Kayonga is under house arrest over plans to topple his boss. The President claimed the information is baseless rumours.
“Why surveillance when they can jail you with handcuffs…,” he said. “Government has no problem with openly jailing anybody.”
He repeated his call made at a March press conference for the Rwandan population to go about their business without fear of any security concerns.
6 April 2010
The tone of verbal attacks against his critics shifted to new levels as President Paul Kagame used unusual comments on Monday – at one point saying the opposition has “funny backgrounds” and no history for themselves, RNA reports. Last week, a cabinet minister went as far as describing Ms. Ingabire Victoire as representing “darkness” for Rwanda.
The President graded Mr. Bernard Ntaganda of the registered PS-Imberakuri party and Ms. Ingabire Victoire of yet-to-be registered FDU-Inkingi in the same category – and accused the international community of being “insulting”, for viewing Rwanda at the level of these two politicians.
“I consider this insulting for some people to look at politics in Rwanda
or a Rwandan in the context of people like Ingabire or Ntaganda,” he told reporters Monday, before adding in a mixture of English and Kinyarwanda that he thinks these politicians are “…people with no history, no ideas and neither even basic culture of a normal human up-bringing.”
He lashed out: “The world wants to look at us like this. These are the people who represent the other views…the opposition. These fellows have no views at all…they are just a creation of some sort by people who have contempt for us.”
Indicative of a changing mood clearly marked with irritation, Mr. Kagame continued: “What do they represent really? If we had a referendum [asking] all Rwandans - even in their confused history and all sorts of problems, I don’t think they know what these people stand for at all…I don’t think so.”
Referring to Ms. Ingabire, the President dismissed allegations that his government is deliberately blocking her from leaving the country. He also claimed that due to her association with Genocide convict and ex-assistant Joseph Ntawangundi, it clearly shows the kind of politics she espouses. “It could even be difficult for her to disassociate from this problem,” he added.
The President claimed these politicians have no moral authority to comment on any issue in the country – instead saying the existing parties are the ones better placed to criticize government as they have lived through the country’s “hardships”.
Mr. Kagame said that he encourages the known parties to take up the position of the “so-called opposition because these one have no place”, also arguing that the mainstream small parties, some allied with the RPF, have now “matured [and] developed through these hardships we have shared together”.
However, on naming some of the nine parties in Parliament, the President caused laughter when he mentioned only PSD and PL - but asked the Interior Minister Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana, “which one else...the one you represent”.
For the troubled yet-to-be registered Green Party of Rwanda of Mr. Frank Habineza, President Kagame accused it of being managed from outside Rwanda. He claimed all those writing to him campaigning on behalf of the group are foreigners – so he concluded and claimed the Green Party has no membership or leadership inside the country.
The President rejected claims that Green Party in-fighting is caused by his RPF party. He said for the group to be allowed to operate in the country, it has to be a
Rwandan-based party with all the requirements for registration.
Information emerged from an uncorroborated media report in back in February claiming a senior advisor to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was providing financing and guidance to the Green Party. The man in question is allegedly Dr. John Nagenda, but he has officially distanced himself from the party.
President Kagame did not make specific reference to these allegations, but was instead speaking about the numerous letters of support his office has received from
Green movements and parties in Europe and North America. They have petitioned him to use his office to allow the Rwandan Greens to operate freely.
On media reports that some senior army officers are under house arrest or on surveillance for planning a coup against government or intending to flee the country, President Kagame said that is not how a government does business.
Unconfirmed reports claim Land Forces Chief Gen. Charles Kayonga is under house arrest over plans to topple his boss. The President claimed the information is baseless rumours.
“Why surveillance when they can jail you with handcuffs…,” he said. “Government has no problem with openly jailing anybody.”
He repeated his call made at a March press conference for the Rwandan population to go about their business without fear of any security concerns.
Workers at Guinea RUSAL refinery continue to block production.
Mineweb
6 April 2010
Workers at RUSAL's (0486.HK: Quote) Friguia alumina refinery in Guinea blocked production for the sixth day in a row on Tuesday after initial negotiation efforts failed and the government threatened to send in security forces.
The plant, the largest industrial project in the fractious West African nation, has a capacity to produce around 640,000 tonnes of alumina per year, which the Russian firm then ships around the world to be refined further into aluminum.
"The entrance to the plant is still blocked by heavy machines. Production is still shut," said a RUSAL official on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
Guinea sent two government ministers late on Monday to negotiate with members of the union, who are seeking a 50 percent pay hike to compensate for rising fuel prices, and Prime Minister Jean Marie Dore said he would call in security forces if the blockade did not end soon.
"It is imperative that those occupying the refinery leave without delay before I call on security forces to go in carefully and to liberate workers and ensure the security of the plant's equipment," he said late Monday on state television.
The RUSAL official said on Tuesday the workers' union had sent delegates to the capital Conakry to resume talks.
The Friguia refinery employs about 1,080 people.
(Reporting by Saliou Samb; writing by Richard Valdmanis)
6 April 2010
Workers at RUSAL's (0486.HK: Quote) Friguia alumina refinery in Guinea blocked production for the sixth day in a row on Tuesday after initial negotiation efforts failed and the government threatened to send in security forces.
The plant, the largest industrial project in the fractious West African nation, has a capacity to produce around 640,000 tonnes of alumina per year, which the Russian firm then ships around the world to be refined further into aluminum.
"The entrance to the plant is still blocked by heavy machines. Production is still shut," said a RUSAL official on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
Guinea sent two government ministers late on Monday to negotiate with members of the union, who are seeking a 50 percent pay hike to compensate for rising fuel prices, and Prime Minister Jean Marie Dore said he would call in security forces if the blockade did not end soon.
"It is imperative that those occupying the refinery leave without delay before I call on security forces to go in carefully and to liberate workers and ensure the security of the plant's equipment," he said late Monday on state television.
The RUSAL official said on Tuesday the workers' union had sent delegates to the capital Conakry to resume talks.
The Friguia refinery employs about 1,080 people.
(Reporting by Saliou Samb; writing by Richard Valdmanis)
Secretary Clinton and Nigerian Secretary Ahmed to Inaugurate the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission on April 6.
United States Department of State - Office of the Spokesperson
6 April 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nigerian Secretary to the Government of the Federation Yayale Ahmed will inaugurate the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission on Tuesday, April 6 at 3:00 p.m., in the Treaty Room at the Department of State.
The U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission is a strategic dialogue designed to expand mutual cooperation across a broad range of shared interests. The Commission is a collaborative forum to build partnerships for tangible and measurable progress on issues critical to our shared future. We have agreed that the Commission will operate working groups on Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity; Energy and Investment; Food Security and Agriculture; and, Niger Delta and Regional Security Cooperation. These working groups will meet in either Washington or Abuja over the coming months.
The event will be open to credentialed members of the press.
Pre-set time for cameras: 2:00 p.m. at the 23rd Street Entrance.
Final access times for journalists and still cameras: 2:30 p.m. at the 23rd Street Entrance.
6 April 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nigerian Secretary to the Government of the Federation Yayale Ahmed will inaugurate the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission on Tuesday, April 6 at 3:00 p.m., in the Treaty Room at the Department of State.
The U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission is a strategic dialogue designed to expand mutual cooperation across a broad range of shared interests. The Commission is a collaborative forum to build partnerships for tangible and measurable progress on issues critical to our shared future. We have agreed that the Commission will operate working groups on Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity; Energy and Investment; Food Security and Agriculture; and, Niger Delta and Regional Security Cooperation. These working groups will meet in either Washington or Abuja over the coming months.
The event will be open to credentialed members of the press.
Pre-set time for cameras: 2:00 p.m. at the 23rd Street Entrance.
Final access times for journalists and still cameras: 2:30 p.m. at the 23rd Street Entrance.
For April 6, 1994.
04 April, 2010
Rwandan Twa (pygmies) fading into oblivion from exclusion and persecution.
AFP
4 April 2010
Rwanda's rapidly dwindling Twa pygmies, considered the original inhabitants of this central African nation, now live on the fringes, facing squalor, discrimination and general exclusion.
A small community eking out a frugal living on the flank of an impossibly steep hill in Bwiza in the centre of the country embodies the problems they face in Rwanda.
Bwiza's residents came to look for a field, having lost the land their families owned decades back.
They are plagued by alcoholism, lose up to two children for every one born, and have little or no access to health care.
"A lot of children die. I used to have nine, now I have three," said Jowas Gasinzigwa, leaning on a crude walking stick.
There are 46 families and just 50 children in the hamlet, 15 of whom attend school. All this in a country where most women produce five or six children.
"I now have three and I used to have six," said Celestin Uwimana, 38. "Many die of malaria because they don't go to hospital when they have it. Others get meningitis."
The nearest health centre is a two-hour walk away. The Twa live in leaf huts and respiratory diseases are a major scourge due to leaky roofs and damp.
Zephirin Kalimba, the head of an organisation that helps Twa communities through development projects, says they make up between 33,000 and 35,000 of Rwanda's 10 million people.
Whereas the overall population of Rwanda is on the rise, the number of pygmies is declining, a development likely linked to their displacement from their original forest lands and the end of their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Though Twa used to own land, more than 40 percent of Twa households in Rwanda are today landless. They were forced out of forests which were turned into natural parks. It was only after eviction from their ancestral land that they turned to farming in fits and starts.
In Bwiza, the men, in gumboots or plastic sandals, sit in the shade complaining. It is the women who hoe a nearby field belonging to a Twa widow who inherited it from her late non-Twa husband, babies strapped to their backs in the blazing sun.
Both groups occasionally burst into laughter, start dancing and make up a song as they go along: about how "the minister said the Twa need iron sheets for the roofs of their houses" and how "Rwanda has many doctors, but none near Twa villages".
Kalimba said the community should be afforded the same benefits given to handicapped people or women in Rwanda. Instead, the Twa are excluded from government poverty alleviation measures, he claimed.
The pygmies even had to change the name of their organisation, the Community of Indigenous Rwandans, as the government claimed their identification along ethnic lines contributed to the 1994 genocide.
The first recorded reference to pygmies appears to be in a letter written in 2276 BC by the boy pharaoh Pepi II. More recently the French-American explorer Paul du Chaillu wrote at length about his encounter with pygmies in the rainforests of Gabon in 1867.
Present day Twa are forced to eke out a living from casual labour and pottery.
When the Twa, who are also found in neighbouring Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, can get work it, is usually on their neighbours' land and the pay is a pittance.
They complain of persecution both at work and in school.
"If we go to look for labour where someone is building a house, they'll only take us if there are no non-Twa workers," Uwimana said.
"When we earn some money cultivating a communal field ... and we try to put it into the bank, we go to the bank counter and they say, 'Ha, you're a Twa' and refuse to open an account," he added.
In despair, some of them have turned to drink.
Asked if the same holds true in schools, 14-year-old Justin Nzabandora said the main Twa children so often drop out of school is because "they get tired of having other children point to them saying 'look it's a Twa'."
4 April 2010
Rwanda's rapidly dwindling Twa pygmies, considered the original inhabitants of this central African nation, now live on the fringes, facing squalor, discrimination and general exclusion.
A small community eking out a frugal living on the flank of an impossibly steep hill in Bwiza in the centre of the country embodies the problems they face in Rwanda.
Bwiza's residents came to look for a field, having lost the land their families owned decades back.
They are plagued by alcoholism, lose up to two children for every one born, and have little or no access to health care.
"A lot of children die. I used to have nine, now I have three," said Jowas Gasinzigwa, leaning on a crude walking stick.
There are 46 families and just 50 children in the hamlet, 15 of whom attend school. All this in a country where most women produce five or six children.
"I now have three and I used to have six," said Celestin Uwimana, 38. "Many die of malaria because they don't go to hospital when they have it. Others get meningitis."
The nearest health centre is a two-hour walk away. The Twa live in leaf huts and respiratory diseases are a major scourge due to leaky roofs and damp.
Zephirin Kalimba, the head of an organisation that helps Twa communities through development projects, says they make up between 33,000 and 35,000 of Rwanda's 10 million people.
Whereas the overall population of Rwanda is on the rise, the number of pygmies is declining, a development likely linked to their displacement from their original forest lands and the end of their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Though Twa used to own land, more than 40 percent of Twa households in Rwanda are today landless. They were forced out of forests which were turned into natural parks. It was only after eviction from their ancestral land that they turned to farming in fits and starts.
In Bwiza, the men, in gumboots or plastic sandals, sit in the shade complaining. It is the women who hoe a nearby field belonging to a Twa widow who inherited it from her late non-Twa husband, babies strapped to their backs in the blazing sun.
Both groups occasionally burst into laughter, start dancing and make up a song as they go along: about how "the minister said the Twa need iron sheets for the roofs of their houses" and how "Rwanda has many doctors, but none near Twa villages".
Kalimba said the community should be afforded the same benefits given to handicapped people or women in Rwanda. Instead, the Twa are excluded from government poverty alleviation measures, he claimed.
The pygmies even had to change the name of their organisation, the Community of Indigenous Rwandans, as the government claimed their identification along ethnic lines contributed to the 1994 genocide.
The first recorded reference to pygmies appears to be in a letter written in 2276 BC by the boy pharaoh Pepi II. More recently the French-American explorer Paul du Chaillu wrote at length about his encounter with pygmies in the rainforests of Gabon in 1867.
Present day Twa are forced to eke out a living from casual labour and pottery.
When the Twa, who are also found in neighbouring Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, can get work it, is usually on their neighbours' land and the pay is a pittance.
They complain of persecution both at work and in school.
"If we go to look for labour where someone is building a house, they'll only take us if there are no non-Twa workers," Uwimana said.
"When we earn some money cultivating a communal field ... and we try to put it into the bank, we go to the bank counter and they say, 'Ha, you're a Twa' and refuse to open an account," he added.
In despair, some of them have turned to drink.
Asked if the same holds true in schools, 14-year-old Justin Nzabandora said the main Twa children so often drop out of school is because "they get tired of having other children point to them saying 'look it's a Twa'."
New Energy War in West Africa? Tension Builds in the Gulf of Guinea.
OilPrice.com
4 April 2010
by Philip H. de Leon
The strategic framework and the correlation of forces in the Gulf of Guinea — one of the most significant and growing energy resource regions of the world — is changing rapidly. A new era in security arrangements for the region is beginning.
The region is moving from an area of low technology defense and security systems, and minimal command and control at national levels, to one of growing sophistication, higher mobility, and the potential for military confrontation.
The five-year, $250-million Equatorial Guinea maritime security program - essentially the build-up of an integrated naval and air capability - announced on February 24, 2010, signalled the start of a re-defined strategic architecture in West Africa . It has brought a coherent military-security framework into life, highlighting issues which are vital to the welfare of the regional states in a way in which some earlier boundary disputes were not.
Given the strategic maxim that military planning must be based to a large degree on the capabilities, rather than the stated intent, of neighboring or competing states, the move by Equatorial Guinea serves as a focus for response and activities by regional strategic planners. Capabilities take years to develop; intent can change in moments. This means that Equatorial Guinea ’s neighbours must address changing realities.
Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan ’s Chief of Army Staff, is fond of saying that it takes 30 years to develop an army up to corps level, whereas political realities can change a nation’s intent overnight. This means that defense planners must develop capabilities over the long term to be ready for any rapidly-emerging eventuality. In the Gulf of Guinea context, the Equatorial Guinea Government of Pres. Brig.-Gen. (rtd.) Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has, in fact, been quietly shaping its defense capabilities over the past few years, particularly as its offshore energy assets come on stream and produce revenue surpluses. This has given Equatorial Guinea profoundly more wealth than, say, two decades ago. As well, the offshore Equatorial Guinea oil and gas producing areas are often contestable — or at least close enough to cause friction — with neighbors (Gabon, Nigeria, Cameroon).
Equatorial Guinea, too, has often had a fractious relationship with its major neighbor, Nigeria, even though Malabo has depended on Abuja for subsidies and even military training and security coverage.
Equatorial Guinea’s contract with the MPRI subsidiary of the US defense corporation, L3, made public in late February 2010 (but actually shaping up well before that), highlights the reality that Equatorial Guinea intends to be a major player in Gulf of Guinea security; that it has the capacity to influence sea lane security to and from Nigeria and Cameroon; and that it will not be a passive participant in the region. A number of incidents have occurred in recent years to indicate that Equatorial Guinea forces - components of the Guardia Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (GNGE) - will take aggressive action with regard to what they feel might be penetrations or violations of Equatorial Guinea ’s sovereign space or economic zone.
Part of this activist stance is based on the reality that there is - or has been - no cohesive and professional command and control structure in place in Equatorial Guinea , other than personal links between arbitrarily-ranked colleagues of Pres. Obiang, all of who are ethnic Fang, as is the President. The ranking of the Minister of Defense, Antonio Mba Nguema, and the Vice-Minister of Defense, Anthonio Ndong, as a lieutenant-generals, for example, is arbitrary when the total manpower strength of the GNGE is only in the neighborhood of 3,500, including a significant number of foreign nationals in key slots (such as aircrew and maintenance). The rank of lieutenant-general implies command of a corps-sized unit, or an Army, with numbers in the region of 20,000 or more.
The substance of the latest agreement with MPRI/L3, however, is significant, especially as MPRI - which is undertaking the latest Equatorial Guinea military expansion - had been called in, at the insistence of the then US Administration of Pres. Bill Clinton, in 2000 to “democratize” and “professionalize” the Nigerian Army, even while it was working on a contract initiated with Equatorial Guinea in 1998 to help train the Equatorial Guinea military. The MPRI training package with the Nigerian Army did not go well, especially as the Nigerian Army had just emerged from successfully fighting a range of wars and peacekeeping operations in Africa with few resources and yet remarkable success.
[Lt.-Gen. Victor Leo Malu, the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, questioned MPRI’s plan to reduce the size of the Nigerian military from 100,000 to 50,000, and MPRI’s need to have access to sensitive military information. GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs has first-hand knowledge that the then-Nigerian Government of Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo was warned at the time, by external advisors, that MPRI had questionable capabilities and motives, as well as ill-suited background, for training the Nigerian Army, and the Nigerian Government was warned as well of MPRI’s legally questionable rôle in providing actual combat operational command to Croatian forces engaged in ethnic cleansing in the Krajina area of what is now Croatia, during the Yugoslav break-up in the 1990s. Nonetheless, Pres. Obasanjo, unwilling to alienate the Clinton Administration, dismissed Gen. Malu rather than resist the MPRI demands.]
Now, however, MPRI is engaged in helping a state which has, arguably, potential concerns with Nigeria , making it difficult for MPRI to re-engage in Nigeria , even if the Nigerian Army was so inclined.
But the new MPRI/L3 initiative with Equatorial Guinea is - as its title suggests - maritime-oriented. Even though the MRPI contract with Equatorial Guinea was announced in March 2010, the company was recruiting for former US military personnel in December 2009 to meet the contract. It sought personnel in security, search and rescue, detainee processing, information technology, logistics/maintenance, and administration, with hirings to begin in “the early months of 2010”. Experience in maritime security, with a background of employment in the US Navy or Coast Guard was desired, along with some trainer skills.
L3’s announcement on February 24, 2010, was that MPRI had been awarded a $58-million firm-fixed-price task order with the Government of Equatorial Guinea to establish a Maritime Security Enhancement Program (MSEP). This task order was the first part of a multi-year contract, with a potential value of approximately $250-million. The MSEP was designed to provide nationwide coastal surveillance coverage for Equatorial Guinea.
Jim Jackson, general manager for MPRI’s International Group, noted: “This important contract award represents a strategic opportunity to contribute not only to the vital maritime security of Equatorial Guinea , but also provides a thoughtful approach toward establishing long-term stability for the entire region.”
The MSEP contract envisions completion of a surveillance site network and operations centers in Equatorial Guinea within three years. This would be followed up by two years of sustainment and maintenance support for an estimated contract total of five years.
In fact, the emphasis of the contract - given the hiring pattern - implies a greater emphasis on physical security, rather than merely the integrated surveillance system, although that is clearly part of the program. GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs sources in Malabo said that new Equatorial Guinea program would include AIS (automatic identification system), radar, and command and control. The program could expand to include L3’s Raytheon/Beech King Air-based aerial surveillance systems, as well as light patrol vessels. MPRI was also to train oil workers in anti-piracy tactics as part of the contract.
Significantly, the new Government of Nigeria under Acting Pres. Goodluck Jonathan is known to have begun looking at an integrated national surveillance and response system, linked through a command and control function with all the Armed Services, the Intelligence Community (IC), Police and Customs. The concept had been proposed a year earlier, but the Government of Pres. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was even then becoming paralyzed politically for a number of reasons.
Equatorial Guinea , Nigeria , Gabon , and São Tomé and Príncipé all recognize that they have common security threats, quite apart from any potential friction between them, and with other neighbors such as Cameroon (with which Nigeria recently concluded a difficult dispute over the sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula ).
Freedom Onuoha, a research fellow at the African Centre for Strategic Research and Studies at the National Defence College in Abuja, writing in African Security Review, Vol. 17, No. 3, published by the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies in 2008, cited a “recent study commissioned by Royal Dutch/Shell” as saying that between 100-million and 250-million barrels of oil was stolen each year by bunkerers or vandals, putting the cost, at an average US$60 a barrel, at around US$15-billion a year. This was, he said, in addition to other costs to the Nigerian State due to oil pipeline sabotage, and other related activities. As well, the Nigerian Government Inter-agency Maritime Security Task Force on Acts of Illegality in Nigerian Waters (IAMSTAF) was told on December 5, 2008, by President of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), Mrs Margaret Orakwusi, that the rising spate of piracy, sea robberies, poaching, bunkering, and other illegal operations in Nigeria's territorial waters and seas (with the exception of illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region) have cost the country more than N25-billion in less than four years. Mrs Orakwusi told the task force that the country’s fishing industry had witnessed at least 293 documented sea robberies and pirate attacks between 2003 and 2008, which she said had culminated in loss of lives and destruction of vessels and trawlers.
Significantly, and without any increase in budget, the Nigerian Navy literally “bootstrapped” its way back into a reasonable operational capability over recent years, rebuilding ships which had been thought to have been beyond salvage. As a result, and without fanfare, the Nigerian Navy has re-emerged as a factor in the Gulf of Guinea region.
Nigeria , however, faces a far greater challenge than Equatorial Guinea . Its coastline and offshore facilities are in a far more complex situation than those of Equatorial Guinea , and the volume of facilities, pipelines, and traffic are far greater. Moreover, Nigeria continues to address a militant, armed opposition force - MEND: the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta - which has fractured into a number of groups in the oil- and gas-producing Niger Delta region. Acting Pres. Jonathan, as a former Governor of Bayelsa state, one of the major energy-producing Niger Delta states, is highly aware that the legacy of his brief Administration (until the April 2010 Presidential elections) must be to address and bring under control the Niger Delta crisis.
Whereas the Equatorial Guinea forces have been growing, commensurate with the financial surpluses generated by energy exports, the Nigerian Defence Forces have faced growing constraints. Former Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo, although once a military head-of-state in Nigeria and a former Army general, had, as an elected President, fully embraced the US Clinton Administration’s view that the Nigerian military should be suppressed and kept on a reduced budget. Even so, the Nigerian Armed Forces, as with the Navy’s example, were able to adapt to the situation.
The new security paradigm, however, implies that the Nigerian Government will now be forced to act rapidly if it is to contain its own security concerns and also retain its dominance of the Gulf of Guinea . The Nigerian National Security Advisor during the Obasanjo Administration, Lt.-Gen. (rtd.) Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (who is now back in that role with the Jonathan Administration) successfully draft the framework for a Gulf of Guinea Commission to begin developing offshore security modalities from the immediate Gulf of Guinea region down to Angola and South Africa.
Abuja may now need to revive that, while it also deals with its own approach to development a strategic asset protection program to safeguard pipelines, installations, sea routes, and so on. This will be significantly larger in scale and in conceptual thinking than the Equatorial Guinea approach.
But, as noted above, Equatorial Guinea has expanded its military capabilities considerably in recent years, relying heavily on foreign contractors and mercenary military personnel. During the past decade, the Guardia Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (GNGE)’s Naval Division has obtained two lightly-armed (Typhoon G mounting of an Oerlikon 20mm cannon with electro-optical guidance) 24.8m (LOA) Shaldag Mk.II fast patrol vessels (acquired 2005) from Israel Shipyards Ltd.; the Air Wing has obtained at least two new Enstrom 480B Guardian turbine helicopters which are used on maritime duties (delivered 2007); the Air Wing has also acquired a steady supply (now totaling six) of Ukraine-surplus Mil Mi-24V Hind helicopter gunships (deliveries in 2001, 2004, and 2007), and at least one Mil Mi-172 utility helicopter; the Air Wing has also obtained four Su-25 strike aircraft variants (two Su-39s, Su-25TM second generation variants, transferred from Ukraine and possibly carrying Kopyo (Russian: Spear) radar for air-engagement combat, along with RVV-AE/R-77 air-to-air missiles, and Kh-31 and Kh-35 anti-shipping missiles), along with two Su-25UB trainers. The Air Wing also obtained one Antonov An-32 twin-turboprop VIP transport, which was lost, with all hands, in April 2008; it has two Czech Aero L-39 advanced jet trainer/strike aircraft, and possibly one An-26 transport aircraft. The Presidential flight has one Agusta A109 VIP helicopter, a Dassault Falcon 50 and/or a Falcon 900, a Yak-40 executive jet, and the one Mi-172 helicopter, and an Embraer ERJ145EP executive jet. Virtually all of these rely on foreign aircrew and maintenance personnel, and mostly operate from Malabo airfield, where the bulk of the Air Wing operates.
One helicopter, at least, is based at the airfield at Bata, the northernmost of the two major towns on the mainland coast.
Much of the Equatorial Guinea hydrocarbon wealth has been derived from fields around Bioko Island , the seat of Government and the capital, Malabo . However, the mainland region — until recently fairly neglected apart from its timber resources — borders at the Atlantic on areas claimed by Cameroon and Gabon. A dispute between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea over an island off the mouth of the Ntem River in Cameroon remains unresolved. A dispute with Gabon over sovereignty over the Gabon-occupied Mbane area and its associated islands is under United Nations mediation. The potential for disputes over rights to the coastal waters remains high, and could lead to confrontation in the oil and gas producing Corisco Bay area.
Equatorial Guinea faces a significant geographic challenge to its limited, albeit growing, maritime and air forces. It is a challenge which can only be met through the application of tight coordination and high technology. As well, it will require significant support from Equatorial Guinea ’s very limited policy planning and diplomatic resources. Indeed, the lack of forward-looking planning and diplomatic resources makes the likelihood of clashes over disputed areas and assets more likely, particularly if accidental or provocative cross-border movements by neighbors stimulate reaction by Equatorial Guinea forces.
[Significantly, Bioko, the main island territory of Equatorial Guinea , and Río Muni , the mainland territory, were never historically a single country. Spain, which was the colonial power controlling both territories, brought the two areas under a single administration, as two provinces, in 1956. The United Nations asked Spain , in 1963, to grant independence to the provinces, and this was done in 1968. At the time, Spain did not wish to give separate independence to each of the two provinces, because Madrid was in the throes of attempting to push Britain into handing Gibraltar over to Spanish control. To have allowed self-determination in Bioko and Río Muni separately was perceived to have opened the door to Britain allowing the Gibraltans to entertain a separate vote on whether to opt for Spain or opt for sovereign independence. The Fang population, which now controls Equatorial Guinea , is from Río Muni, and has gradually subordinated and reduced the Bioko population, comprised mostly of Bubi ethnicity. Some Fang migration to Bioko began in 1924, when a labor shortage caused the Catholic Church to indent workers from the mainland for cocoa production. The Fang migrants proved unsuitable, but a significant Fang population remained on Bioko .]
Nigeria, by contrast, has a more concentrated area of concern around the Niger Delta, but still has a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to monitor — as does Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon— with regard to illegal fisheries. But the Nigerian situation has greater challenges because of the complexity of the onshore energy assets, including pipelines, coupled with an historical pattern of ethnic and political differences, both within the Niger Delta region and with regard to the Delta states’ relationship with the Nigerian Federation.
Nigeria , unlike Equatorial Guinea, has developed a defense and security framework over five decades of independence and a century of modern military structures as a component of the British military system. The current dynamic, however, has been characterized by rising capabilities and ambitions by the Equatorial Guinea forces, and severely constrained capabilities in the Nigerian Armed Forces due to budgetary constraints and Continent-wide military responsibilities in peacekeeping.
Nigeria has, in the past decade, begun a process of using technology in its civil sector - particularly telecommunications - to leapfrog moribund and paralyzed structures. Nigeria’s revived approach to integrated, national-level real-time security intelligence coupled to command and control would, if it is adopted, help re-assert Abuja’s strategic leadership in the region. Despite its population size — at around 150-million - Nigeria has, like most sub-Saharan African states, devoted relatively little of its GDP to defense.
The following comparative statistics [derived from World Bank and GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs archives] — while not entirely like-for-like — are significant in helping shape a balanced view of the region:
Cameroon: Population est. (2008) 18.9-million; GDP (2008) $23.4-billion; Defense expenditure (2001) $211.1-million.
Equatorial Guinea: Population est. (2008) 660,000; GDP (2008) $18.53-billion; Defense expenditure (2004) est. $126.2-million.
Gabon: Population est. (2008) 1.45-million; GDP (2008) $14.43-billion. Defense expenditure (1996) $91-million.
Nigeria: Population est. (2008) 151.32-million; GDP (2008) $212.08-billion; Defense expenditure (2007) $979.3-million.
São Tomé and Príncipé: Population est. (2008) 160,000; GDP (2008) $170-million; Defense expenditure (2004) est. $126.2-million.
These are static snapshots, and do not reflect the dynamics of the region, the respective economic potential versus overhead responsibilities of each society, or the relative inertia of each government, but they do indicate latent capability to some extent. What is emerging, because of the evolving discovery and exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits in the region, is a more strategically mobile and competitive framework. Many of the old boundary issues, as well as the prospect for the movement of societies as a result of wealth opportunities (not evenly distributed), mean that stability can no longer be guaranteed.
A more competitive regional environment, in which very tangible economic resources such as hydrocarbon deposits are at stake, coupled with growing wealth, will demand the kind of increasing reliance on technological solutions to security challenges which are now beginning to emerge.
Analysis from GIS sources in Malabo and elsewhere in the region.
4 April 2010
by Philip H. de Leon
The strategic framework and the correlation of forces in the Gulf of Guinea — one of the most significant and growing energy resource regions of the world — is changing rapidly. A new era in security arrangements for the region is beginning.
The region is moving from an area of low technology defense and security systems, and minimal command and control at national levels, to one of growing sophistication, higher mobility, and the potential for military confrontation.
The five-year, $250-million Equatorial Guinea maritime security program - essentially the build-up of an integrated naval and air capability - announced on February 24, 2010, signalled the start of a re-defined strategic architecture in West Africa . It has brought a coherent military-security framework into life, highlighting issues which are vital to the welfare of the regional states in a way in which some earlier boundary disputes were not.
Given the strategic maxim that military planning must be based to a large degree on the capabilities, rather than the stated intent, of neighboring or competing states, the move by Equatorial Guinea serves as a focus for response and activities by regional strategic planners. Capabilities take years to develop; intent can change in moments. This means that Equatorial Guinea ’s neighbours must address changing realities.
Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan ’s Chief of Army Staff, is fond of saying that it takes 30 years to develop an army up to corps level, whereas political realities can change a nation’s intent overnight. This means that defense planners must develop capabilities over the long term to be ready for any rapidly-emerging eventuality. In the Gulf of Guinea context, the Equatorial Guinea Government of Pres. Brig.-Gen. (rtd.) Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has, in fact, been quietly shaping its defense capabilities over the past few years, particularly as its offshore energy assets come on stream and produce revenue surpluses. This has given Equatorial Guinea profoundly more wealth than, say, two decades ago. As well, the offshore Equatorial Guinea oil and gas producing areas are often contestable — or at least close enough to cause friction — with neighbors (Gabon, Nigeria, Cameroon).
Equatorial Guinea, too, has often had a fractious relationship with its major neighbor, Nigeria, even though Malabo has depended on Abuja for subsidies and even military training and security coverage.
Equatorial Guinea’s contract with the MPRI subsidiary of the US defense corporation, L3, made public in late February 2010 (but actually shaping up well before that), highlights the reality that Equatorial Guinea intends to be a major player in Gulf of Guinea security; that it has the capacity to influence sea lane security to and from Nigeria and Cameroon; and that it will not be a passive participant in the region. A number of incidents have occurred in recent years to indicate that Equatorial Guinea forces - components of the Guardia Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (GNGE) - will take aggressive action with regard to what they feel might be penetrations or violations of Equatorial Guinea ’s sovereign space or economic zone.
Part of this activist stance is based on the reality that there is - or has been - no cohesive and professional command and control structure in place in Equatorial Guinea , other than personal links between arbitrarily-ranked colleagues of Pres. Obiang, all of who are ethnic Fang, as is the President. The ranking of the Minister of Defense, Antonio Mba Nguema, and the Vice-Minister of Defense, Anthonio Ndong, as a lieutenant-generals, for example, is arbitrary when the total manpower strength of the GNGE is only in the neighborhood of 3,500, including a significant number of foreign nationals in key slots (such as aircrew and maintenance). The rank of lieutenant-general implies command of a corps-sized unit, or an Army, with numbers in the region of 20,000 or more.
The substance of the latest agreement with MPRI/L3, however, is significant, especially as MPRI - which is undertaking the latest Equatorial Guinea military expansion - had been called in, at the insistence of the then US Administration of Pres. Bill Clinton, in 2000 to “democratize” and “professionalize” the Nigerian Army, even while it was working on a contract initiated with Equatorial Guinea in 1998 to help train the Equatorial Guinea military. The MPRI training package with the Nigerian Army did not go well, especially as the Nigerian Army had just emerged from successfully fighting a range of wars and peacekeeping operations in Africa with few resources and yet remarkable success.
[Lt.-Gen. Victor Leo Malu, the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, questioned MPRI’s plan to reduce the size of the Nigerian military from 100,000 to 50,000, and MPRI’s need to have access to sensitive military information. GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs has first-hand knowledge that the then-Nigerian Government of Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo was warned at the time, by external advisors, that MPRI had questionable capabilities and motives, as well as ill-suited background, for training the Nigerian Army, and the Nigerian Government was warned as well of MPRI’s legally questionable rôle in providing actual combat operational command to Croatian forces engaged in ethnic cleansing in the Krajina area of what is now Croatia, during the Yugoslav break-up in the 1990s. Nonetheless, Pres. Obasanjo, unwilling to alienate the Clinton Administration, dismissed Gen. Malu rather than resist the MPRI demands.]
Now, however, MPRI is engaged in helping a state which has, arguably, potential concerns with Nigeria , making it difficult for MPRI to re-engage in Nigeria , even if the Nigerian Army was so inclined.
But the new MPRI/L3 initiative with Equatorial Guinea is - as its title suggests - maritime-oriented. Even though the MRPI contract with Equatorial Guinea was announced in March 2010, the company was recruiting for former US military personnel in December 2009 to meet the contract. It sought personnel in security, search and rescue, detainee processing, information technology, logistics/maintenance, and administration, with hirings to begin in “the early months of 2010”. Experience in maritime security, with a background of employment in the US Navy or Coast Guard was desired, along with some trainer skills.
L3’s announcement on February 24, 2010, was that MPRI had been awarded a $58-million firm-fixed-price task order with the Government of Equatorial Guinea to establish a Maritime Security Enhancement Program (MSEP). This task order was the first part of a multi-year contract, with a potential value of approximately $250-million. The MSEP was designed to provide nationwide coastal surveillance coverage for Equatorial Guinea.
Jim Jackson, general manager for MPRI’s International Group, noted: “This important contract award represents a strategic opportunity to contribute not only to the vital maritime security of Equatorial Guinea , but also provides a thoughtful approach toward establishing long-term stability for the entire region.”
The MSEP contract envisions completion of a surveillance site network and operations centers in Equatorial Guinea within three years. This would be followed up by two years of sustainment and maintenance support for an estimated contract total of five years.
In fact, the emphasis of the contract - given the hiring pattern - implies a greater emphasis on physical security, rather than merely the integrated surveillance system, although that is clearly part of the program. GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs sources in Malabo said that new Equatorial Guinea program would include AIS (automatic identification system), radar, and command and control. The program could expand to include L3’s Raytheon/Beech King Air-based aerial surveillance systems, as well as light patrol vessels. MPRI was also to train oil workers in anti-piracy tactics as part of the contract.
Significantly, the new Government of Nigeria under Acting Pres. Goodluck Jonathan is known to have begun looking at an integrated national surveillance and response system, linked through a command and control function with all the Armed Services, the Intelligence Community (IC), Police and Customs. The concept had been proposed a year earlier, but the Government of Pres. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was even then becoming paralyzed politically for a number of reasons.
Equatorial Guinea , Nigeria , Gabon , and São Tomé and Príncipé all recognize that they have common security threats, quite apart from any potential friction between them, and with other neighbors such as Cameroon (with which Nigeria recently concluded a difficult dispute over the sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula ).
Freedom Onuoha, a research fellow at the African Centre for Strategic Research and Studies at the National Defence College in Abuja, writing in African Security Review, Vol. 17, No. 3, published by the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies in 2008, cited a “recent study commissioned by Royal Dutch/Shell” as saying that between 100-million and 250-million barrels of oil was stolen each year by bunkerers or vandals, putting the cost, at an average US$60 a barrel, at around US$15-billion a year. This was, he said, in addition to other costs to the Nigerian State due to oil pipeline sabotage, and other related activities. As well, the Nigerian Government Inter-agency Maritime Security Task Force on Acts of Illegality in Nigerian Waters (IAMSTAF) was told on December 5, 2008, by President of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), Mrs Margaret Orakwusi, that the rising spate of piracy, sea robberies, poaching, bunkering, and other illegal operations in Nigeria's territorial waters and seas (with the exception of illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region) have cost the country more than N25-billion in less than four years. Mrs Orakwusi told the task force that the country’s fishing industry had witnessed at least 293 documented sea robberies and pirate attacks between 2003 and 2008, which she said had culminated in loss of lives and destruction of vessels and trawlers.
Significantly, and without any increase in budget, the Nigerian Navy literally “bootstrapped” its way back into a reasonable operational capability over recent years, rebuilding ships which had been thought to have been beyond salvage. As a result, and without fanfare, the Nigerian Navy has re-emerged as a factor in the Gulf of Guinea region.
Nigeria , however, faces a far greater challenge than Equatorial Guinea . Its coastline and offshore facilities are in a far more complex situation than those of Equatorial Guinea , and the volume of facilities, pipelines, and traffic are far greater. Moreover, Nigeria continues to address a militant, armed opposition force - MEND: the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta - which has fractured into a number of groups in the oil- and gas-producing Niger Delta region. Acting Pres. Jonathan, as a former Governor of Bayelsa state, one of the major energy-producing Niger Delta states, is highly aware that the legacy of his brief Administration (until the April 2010 Presidential elections) must be to address and bring under control the Niger Delta crisis.
Whereas the Equatorial Guinea forces have been growing, commensurate with the financial surpluses generated by energy exports, the Nigerian Defence Forces have faced growing constraints. Former Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo, although once a military head-of-state in Nigeria and a former Army general, had, as an elected President, fully embraced the US Clinton Administration’s view that the Nigerian military should be suppressed and kept on a reduced budget. Even so, the Nigerian Armed Forces, as with the Navy’s example, were able to adapt to the situation.
The new security paradigm, however, implies that the Nigerian Government will now be forced to act rapidly if it is to contain its own security concerns and also retain its dominance of the Gulf of Guinea . The Nigerian National Security Advisor during the Obasanjo Administration, Lt.-Gen. (rtd.) Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (who is now back in that role with the Jonathan Administration) successfully draft the framework for a Gulf of Guinea Commission to begin developing offshore security modalities from the immediate Gulf of Guinea region down to Angola and South Africa.
Abuja may now need to revive that, while it also deals with its own approach to development a strategic asset protection program to safeguard pipelines, installations, sea routes, and so on. This will be significantly larger in scale and in conceptual thinking than the Equatorial Guinea approach.
But, as noted above, Equatorial Guinea has expanded its military capabilities considerably in recent years, relying heavily on foreign contractors and mercenary military personnel. During the past decade, the Guardia Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (GNGE)’s Naval Division has obtained two lightly-armed (Typhoon G mounting of an Oerlikon 20mm cannon with electro-optical guidance) 24.8m (LOA) Shaldag Mk.II fast patrol vessels (acquired 2005) from Israel Shipyards Ltd.; the Air Wing has obtained at least two new Enstrom 480B Guardian turbine helicopters which are used on maritime duties (delivered 2007); the Air Wing has also acquired a steady supply (now totaling six) of Ukraine-surplus Mil Mi-24V Hind helicopter gunships (deliveries in 2001, 2004, and 2007), and at least one Mil Mi-172 utility helicopter; the Air Wing has also obtained four Su-25 strike aircraft variants (two Su-39s, Su-25TM second generation variants, transferred from Ukraine and possibly carrying Kopyo (Russian: Spear) radar for air-engagement combat, along with RVV-AE/R-77 air-to-air missiles, and Kh-31 and Kh-35 anti-shipping missiles), along with two Su-25UB trainers. The Air Wing also obtained one Antonov An-32 twin-turboprop VIP transport, which was lost, with all hands, in April 2008; it has two Czech Aero L-39 advanced jet trainer/strike aircraft, and possibly one An-26 transport aircraft. The Presidential flight has one Agusta A109 VIP helicopter, a Dassault Falcon 50 and/or a Falcon 900, a Yak-40 executive jet, and the one Mi-172 helicopter, and an Embraer ERJ145EP executive jet. Virtually all of these rely on foreign aircrew and maintenance personnel, and mostly operate from Malabo airfield, where the bulk of the Air Wing operates.
One helicopter, at least, is based at the airfield at Bata, the northernmost of the two major towns on the mainland coast.
Much of the Equatorial Guinea hydrocarbon wealth has been derived from fields around Bioko Island , the seat of Government and the capital, Malabo . However, the mainland region — until recently fairly neglected apart from its timber resources — borders at the Atlantic on areas claimed by Cameroon and Gabon. A dispute between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea over an island off the mouth of the Ntem River in Cameroon remains unresolved. A dispute with Gabon over sovereignty over the Gabon-occupied Mbane area and its associated islands is under United Nations mediation. The potential for disputes over rights to the coastal waters remains high, and could lead to confrontation in the oil and gas producing Corisco Bay area.
Equatorial Guinea faces a significant geographic challenge to its limited, albeit growing, maritime and air forces. It is a challenge which can only be met through the application of tight coordination and high technology. As well, it will require significant support from Equatorial Guinea ’s very limited policy planning and diplomatic resources. Indeed, the lack of forward-looking planning and diplomatic resources makes the likelihood of clashes over disputed areas and assets more likely, particularly if accidental or provocative cross-border movements by neighbors stimulate reaction by Equatorial Guinea forces.
[Significantly, Bioko, the main island territory of Equatorial Guinea , and Río Muni , the mainland territory, were never historically a single country. Spain, which was the colonial power controlling both territories, brought the two areas under a single administration, as two provinces, in 1956. The United Nations asked Spain , in 1963, to grant independence to the provinces, and this was done in 1968. At the time, Spain did not wish to give separate independence to each of the two provinces, because Madrid was in the throes of attempting to push Britain into handing Gibraltar over to Spanish control. To have allowed self-determination in Bioko and Río Muni separately was perceived to have opened the door to Britain allowing the Gibraltans to entertain a separate vote on whether to opt for Spain or opt for sovereign independence. The Fang population, which now controls Equatorial Guinea , is from Río Muni, and has gradually subordinated and reduced the Bioko population, comprised mostly of Bubi ethnicity. Some Fang migration to Bioko began in 1924, when a labor shortage caused the Catholic Church to indent workers from the mainland for cocoa production. The Fang migrants proved unsuitable, but a significant Fang population remained on Bioko .]
Nigeria, by contrast, has a more concentrated area of concern around the Niger Delta, but still has a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to monitor — as does Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon— with regard to illegal fisheries. But the Nigerian situation has greater challenges because of the complexity of the onshore energy assets, including pipelines, coupled with an historical pattern of ethnic and political differences, both within the Niger Delta region and with regard to the Delta states’ relationship with the Nigerian Federation.
Nigeria , unlike Equatorial Guinea, has developed a defense and security framework over five decades of independence and a century of modern military structures as a component of the British military system. The current dynamic, however, has been characterized by rising capabilities and ambitions by the Equatorial Guinea forces, and severely constrained capabilities in the Nigerian Armed Forces due to budgetary constraints and Continent-wide military responsibilities in peacekeeping.
Nigeria has, in the past decade, begun a process of using technology in its civil sector - particularly telecommunications - to leapfrog moribund and paralyzed structures. Nigeria’s revived approach to integrated, national-level real-time security intelligence coupled to command and control would, if it is adopted, help re-assert Abuja’s strategic leadership in the region. Despite its population size — at around 150-million - Nigeria has, like most sub-Saharan African states, devoted relatively little of its GDP to defense.
The following comparative statistics [derived from World Bank and GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs archives] — while not entirely like-for-like — are significant in helping shape a balanced view of the region:
Cameroon: Population est. (2008) 18.9-million; GDP (2008) $23.4-billion; Defense expenditure (2001) $211.1-million.
Equatorial Guinea: Population est. (2008) 660,000; GDP (2008) $18.53-billion; Defense expenditure (2004) est. $126.2-million.
Gabon: Population est. (2008) 1.45-million; GDP (2008) $14.43-billion. Defense expenditure (1996) $91-million.
Nigeria: Population est. (2008) 151.32-million; GDP (2008) $212.08-billion; Defense expenditure (2007) $979.3-million.
São Tomé and Príncipé: Population est. (2008) 160,000; GDP (2008) $170-million; Defense expenditure (2004) est. $126.2-million.
These are static snapshots, and do not reflect the dynamics of the region, the respective economic potential versus overhead responsibilities of each society, or the relative inertia of each government, but they do indicate latent capability to some extent. What is emerging, because of the evolving discovery and exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits in the region, is a more strategically mobile and competitive framework. Many of the old boundary issues, as well as the prospect for the movement of societies as a result of wealth opportunities (not evenly distributed), mean that stability can no longer be guaranteed.
A more competitive regional environment, in which very tangible economic resources such as hydrocarbon deposits are at stake, coupled with growing wealth, will demand the kind of increasing reliance on technological solutions to security challenges which are now beginning to emerge.
Analysis from GIS sources in Malabo and elsewhere in the region.
Senegal 'takes back French bases.'
4 April 2010
By David Bamford
BBC News
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade says his country is taking back control of all military bases held by the former colonial power France.
He made the announcement in a televised address as Senegal marked 50 years of independence.
France and Senegal had reached agreement in February on the future of the bases.
Earlier, Senegal had inaugurated its controversial Monument of African Renaissance.
In his address, Mr Wade solemnly declared that Senegal was formally assuming sovereignty over military bases that since decolonisation in 1960 have continued to house French army and air force personnel.
The announcement appeared designed to boost national pride in a country that sees itself as shaking off the last vestiges of colonialism.
In fact, France and Senegal reached an amicable agreement last February under which most of the 1,200 French military personnel based in Senegal would leave this year.
For some years, France has been steadily reducing its presence in Africa, both militarily and economically.
By David Bamford
BBC News
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade says his country is taking back control of all military bases held by the former colonial power France.
He made the announcement in a televised address as Senegal marked 50 years of independence.
France and Senegal had reached agreement in February on the future of the bases.
Earlier, Senegal had inaugurated its controversial Monument of African Renaissance.
In his address, Mr Wade solemnly declared that Senegal was formally assuming sovereignty over military bases that since decolonisation in 1960 have continued to house French army and air force personnel.
The announcement appeared designed to boost national pride in a country that sees itself as shaking off the last vestiges of colonialism.
In fact, France and Senegal reached an amicable agreement last February under which most of the 1,200 French military personnel based in Senegal would leave this year.
For some years, France has been steadily reducing its presence in Africa, both militarily and economically.
Nigeria: Govt, U.S. to Sign Historic Agreement Wednesday.
This Day
Tokunbo Adedoja
4 April 2010
In the first major bi-national agreement with an African country in a long time, the United States will on Wednesday sign a historic comprehensive commission pact with Nigeria in New York. Under the bi-national commission agreement, the two countries would be cooperating in four areas.
The areas, according to the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Professor Adebowale Adefuye, are trade and energy; Niger Delta; electoral reform; and peace and security.
The agreement is expected to be followed by the visit of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to the United States for the nuclear security summit which holds between April 11 and 14. Diplomatic sources in Washington told THISDAY that the Acting President had already accepted President Barack Obama's invitation to the summit.
Speaking to THISDAY in New York, Ambassador Adefuye said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Yayale, would sign on behalf of Nigeria as leader of the delegation consisting of top government officials while the United States Secretary of State, Senator Hilary Clinton, would sign for her country.
The signing ceremony is coming barely a week after the US put aside the emergency aviation security measures she announced on January 3, this year, which classified Nigeria as a "country of interest", following the botched attempt to bomb an American airliner by a Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Diplomatic sources also told THISDAY last night that the development would further strengthen relations between the two nations.
The Nigerian-US relations have continued to deepen and the two countries have been cooperating on many important foreign policy goals, including regional peacekeeping and tackling corruption.
While an estimated one million Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans are believed to live, study, and work in the United States, over 25,000 Americans live and work in Nigeria.
The exclusion of Nigeria from the list of countries visited by Obama during his first official visit to Africa last year, however, brought to the front burner, the fears that Nigeria might gradually be losing its prime status in American foreign policy focus to neighbouring countries on the West African coast.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Nigeria last August in her first official trip to Africa, during which time she held talks with top Nigerian government officials and expressed US position on several issues especially the anti-corruption war, which she said had lost steam.
Tokunbo Adedoja
4 April 2010
In the first major bi-national agreement with an African country in a long time, the United States will on Wednesday sign a historic comprehensive commission pact with Nigeria in New York. Under the bi-national commission agreement, the two countries would be cooperating in four areas.
The areas, according to the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Professor Adebowale Adefuye, are trade and energy; Niger Delta; electoral reform; and peace and security.
The agreement is expected to be followed by the visit of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to the United States for the nuclear security summit which holds between April 11 and 14. Diplomatic sources in Washington told THISDAY that the Acting President had already accepted President Barack Obama's invitation to the summit.
Speaking to THISDAY in New York, Ambassador Adefuye said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Yayale, would sign on behalf of Nigeria as leader of the delegation consisting of top government officials while the United States Secretary of State, Senator Hilary Clinton, would sign for her country.
The signing ceremony is coming barely a week after the US put aside the emergency aviation security measures she announced on January 3, this year, which classified Nigeria as a "country of interest", following the botched attempt to bomb an American airliner by a Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Diplomatic sources also told THISDAY last night that the development would further strengthen relations between the two nations.
The Nigerian-US relations have continued to deepen and the two countries have been cooperating on many important foreign policy goals, including regional peacekeeping and tackling corruption.
While an estimated one million Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans are believed to live, study, and work in the United States, over 25,000 Americans live and work in Nigeria.
The exclusion of Nigeria from the list of countries visited by Obama during his first official visit to Africa last year, however, brought to the front burner, the fears that Nigeria might gradually be losing its prime status in American foreign policy focus to neighbouring countries on the West African coast.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Nigeria last August in her first official trip to Africa, during which time she held talks with top Nigerian government officials and expressed US position on several issues especially the anti-corruption war, which she said had lost steam.
03 April, 2010
Guinea arrests allies of former junta chief.
SAPA/AFP
3 April 2010
Soldiers close to Guinea's former junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara have been arrested following a mutiny in their army barracks, a military source said Saturday.
Dadis Camara's nephew Lieutenant Marcel Guilavogui, former deputy commander in the presidential guard, was among those arrested Thursday along with three other officers and an unknown number of sub-officers.
"They were placed under arrest for inciting rebellion in the barracks of student soldiers in Kaleya near Forecariah," 110 kilometres south of the capital Conakry, the source said on condition of anonymity.
3 April 2010
Soldiers close to Guinea's former junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara have been arrested following a mutiny in their army barracks, a military source said Saturday.
Dadis Camara's nephew Lieutenant Marcel Guilavogui, former deputy commander in the presidential guard, was among those arrested Thursday along with three other officers and an unknown number of sub-officers.
"They were placed under arrest for inciting rebellion in the barracks of student soldiers in Kaleya near Forecariah," 110 kilometres south of the capital Conakry, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Nkunda case finally set for Rwanda military court hearing.
Reuters/WNJ
3 April 2010
By Kezio-Musoke David
KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's Supreme Court has ruled that only the country's military court can hear a plea seeking the release of Congolese warlord Laurent Nkunda, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Aime Bokanga, counsel for the former leader of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), told Reuters he was relieved that his client had finally secured a court hearing but disappointed the court had not ruled his detention illegal.
Mr. Nkunda has been under house arrest since January 22, 2009 after entering Rwanda from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where his CNDP rebel force had repeatedly routed the Congolese forces with the help of the Rwandan army.
Mr. Nkunda has not been charged in Rwandan courts, nor has the central African nation yielded to Congolese calls to transfer him to his native Congo, which accuses him of war crimes.
Bokanga said the court argued that General James Kabarebe, Rwanda's Chief of Defence Staff, was responsible for Mr. Nkunda's detention and therefore only a military court would determine his fate.
"The most important thing for us now is to prove to court that Laurent Nkunda is illegally being detained," he said.
"Now the Supreme Court has made a decision for the military court to hear this case. We have been told that the file will be transferred to the military court next week. At least there is some satisfaction that finally the case will be heard."
Despite the ruling, Bokanga expressed disappointment that the Supreme Court did not rule on the legality of Mr. Nkunda's detention.
"It is also quite disappointing because the case is dragging. Rwandan law gives the Supreme Court judge the ability to make a ruling without referring this case to another court. The supreme court could have taken cognisance of this case."
Bokanga said he would advise his client to seek legal redress in an international court if they run out of options.
Rwandan Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama claimed the case has taken such a long time because international law and the laws of two countries had to be taken into account.
"The supreme court has now identified a court that is competent," he told Reuters.
"He is a general accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. You don't just take that person and hand over to authorities on the Congo border ... let's give the judiciary a chance to finish it."
3 April 2010
By Kezio-Musoke David
KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's Supreme Court has ruled that only the country's military court can hear a plea seeking the release of Congolese warlord Laurent Nkunda, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Aime Bokanga, counsel for the former leader of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), told Reuters he was relieved that his client had finally secured a court hearing but disappointed the court had not ruled his detention illegal.
Mr. Nkunda has been under house arrest since January 22, 2009 after entering Rwanda from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where his CNDP rebel force had repeatedly routed the Congolese forces with the help of the Rwandan army.
Mr. Nkunda has not been charged in Rwandan courts, nor has the central African nation yielded to Congolese calls to transfer him to his native Congo, which accuses him of war crimes.
Bokanga said the court argued that General James Kabarebe, Rwanda's Chief of Defence Staff, was responsible for Mr. Nkunda's detention and therefore only a military court would determine his fate.
"The most important thing for us now is to prove to court that Laurent Nkunda is illegally being detained," he said.
"Now the Supreme Court has made a decision for the military court to hear this case. We have been told that the file will be transferred to the military court next week. At least there is some satisfaction that finally the case will be heard."
Despite the ruling, Bokanga expressed disappointment that the Supreme Court did not rule on the legality of Mr. Nkunda's detention.
"It is also quite disappointing because the case is dragging. Rwandan law gives the Supreme Court judge the ability to make a ruling without referring this case to another court. The supreme court could have taken cognisance of this case."
Bokanga said he would advise his client to seek legal redress in an international court if they run out of options.
Rwandan Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama claimed the case has taken such a long time because international law and the laws of two countries had to be taken into account.
"The supreme court has now identified a court that is competent," he told Reuters.
"He is a general accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. You don't just take that person and hand over to authorities on the Congo border ... let's give the judiciary a chance to finish it."
Sudan Presidential Vote to be 'free and as fair as possible' Says US Special Envoy Gration.
SAPA/AFP/WNJ
3 April 2010
US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said Saturday he was confident the country's first general elections since 1986 would be as "free and fair as possible" and would start on time as scheduled on April 11.
Mr. Gration was speaking to reporters in Khartoum after meeting with various members of the electoral commission, which earlier Saturday dismissed calls by opposition candidates for a delay in the April 11-13 general elections. Mr. Gration's announcement came as some opposition parties are planning to boycott the elections amidst allegations of corruption and intimidation by the ruling party. Two candidates have already withdrawn from the race.
However, Mr. Gration seemed to directly contradict these claims. He stated, "They (the electoral commission members) have given me confidence that the elections will start on time and they would be as free and as fair as possible."
3 April 2010
US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said Saturday he was confident the country's first general elections since 1986 would be as "free and fair as possible" and would start on time as scheduled on April 11.
Mr. Gration was speaking to reporters in Khartoum after meeting with various members of the electoral commission, which earlier Saturday dismissed calls by opposition candidates for a delay in the April 11-13 general elections. Mr. Gration's announcement came as some opposition parties are planning to boycott the elections amidst allegations of corruption and intimidation by the ruling party. Two candidates have already withdrawn from the race.
However, Mr. Gration seemed to directly contradict these claims. He stated, "They (the electoral commission members) have given me confidence that the elections will start on time and they would be as free and as fair as possible."
02 April, 2010
Des archives contre Kagamé.
L'Express
1 April 2010
par Vincent Hugeux
L'universitaire André Guichaoua s'apprête à dévoiler sur son site Internet des documents accablants sur la responsabilité de l'actuel chef de l'Etat du Rwanda dans le génocide.
Auteur d'un ouvrage de référence - Rwanda. De la guerre au génocide (La Découverte) - l'universitaire André Guichaoua s'apprête à dévoiler sur son site (http://www.Rwandadelaguerreaugenocide.fr) des documents accablants pour l'actuel chef de l'Etat, Paul Kagamé, et son entourage. Y sont évoqués l'assassinat, le 6 avril 1994, du président Juvénal Habyarimana, ainsi que les liquidations ultérieures d'officiers de l'Armée patriotique rwandaise, l'ex-rébellion tutsie, coupables d'en "savoir trop". Ces éléments ont été transmis à Marc Trévidic, juge d'instruction au pôle antiterroriste du tribunal de grande instance de Paris, chargé de l'enquête sur l'attentat fatal à Habyarimana et à l'équipage français de son Falcon 50. Connu pour sa pugnacité, le magistrat est soumis à d'intenses pressions inspirées par l'Elysée, où l'on tient à préserver la normalisation amorcée avec Kigali. Confidence d'un initié : "Jean-Claude Marin, procureur de Paris, guette le premier faux pas de Marc Trévidic pour enterrer le dossier."
1 April 2010
par Vincent Hugeux
L'universitaire André Guichaoua s'apprête à dévoiler sur son site Internet des documents accablants sur la responsabilité de l'actuel chef de l'Etat du Rwanda dans le génocide.
Auteur d'un ouvrage de référence - Rwanda. De la guerre au génocide (La Découverte) - l'universitaire André Guichaoua s'apprête à dévoiler sur son site (http://www.Rwandadelaguerreaugenocide.fr) des documents accablants pour l'actuel chef de l'Etat, Paul Kagamé, et son entourage. Y sont évoqués l'assassinat, le 6 avril 1994, du président Juvénal Habyarimana, ainsi que les liquidations ultérieures d'officiers de l'Armée patriotique rwandaise, l'ex-rébellion tutsie, coupables d'en "savoir trop". Ces éléments ont été transmis à Marc Trévidic, juge d'instruction au pôle antiterroriste du tribunal de grande instance de Paris, chargé de l'enquête sur l'attentat fatal à Habyarimana et à l'équipage français de son Falcon 50. Connu pour sa pugnacité, le magistrat est soumis à d'intenses pressions inspirées par l'Elysée, où l'on tient à préserver la normalisation amorcée avec Kigali. Confidence d'un initié : "Jean-Claude Marin, procureur de Paris, guette le premier faux pas de Marc Trévidic pour enterrer le dossier."
Puntland president meets with Ethiopian FM.
Garowe Online
2 April 2010
The president of Somalia's Puntland State government Dr. Abdirahman Mohammed Farole has held meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The meeting which was held in Hotel Sharaton, where Puntland delegation is staying, was focused on relation between the two governments and the general security situation in Somalia.
According to press release from the Puntland Presidency, The meeting ended in good note with both parties reaffirming support.
In their in Addis Ababa, Puntland delegation led by President ‘Farole’ held consultative meetings with various senior Ethiopian officials and a brief discussion with Somali government officials, who are currently in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s transition federal President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed also met with Ethiopian FM Seyoum Mesfin.
“I have discussed with Ethiopian leaders on how they can help Somalia retain law and order,” he briefly told reporters.
On his part, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs minister Seyoum Mesfin said Addis Ababa is ready to help in anyway the fragile UN-backed government defeat the opposition groups.
“We are ready to assist the TFG in its war against the armed opposition,” he said.
Ethiopia, which in 2006 deployed its troops into Somalia to crush Islamic Courts Union that then headed by Sharif, is now a strong supporter of fragile government in Mogadishu.
2 April 2010
The president of Somalia's Puntland State government Dr. Abdirahman Mohammed Farole has held meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The meeting which was held in Hotel Sharaton, where Puntland delegation is staying, was focused on relation between the two governments and the general security situation in Somalia.
According to press release from the Puntland Presidency, The meeting ended in good note with both parties reaffirming support.
In their in Addis Ababa, Puntland delegation led by President ‘Farole’ held consultative meetings with various senior Ethiopian officials and a brief discussion with Somali government officials, who are currently in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s transition federal President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed also met with Ethiopian FM Seyoum Mesfin.
“I have discussed with Ethiopian leaders on how they can help Somalia retain law and order,” he briefly told reporters.
On his part, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs minister Seyoum Mesfin said Addis Ababa is ready to help in anyway the fragile UN-backed government defeat the opposition groups.
“We are ready to assist the TFG in its war against the armed opposition,” he said.
Ethiopia, which in 2006 deployed its troops into Somalia to crush Islamic Courts Union that then headed by Sharif, is now a strong supporter of fragile government in Mogadishu.
RPF totalitarian regime revealed.
On January 16, 2010, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, a political opposition leader and Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi, returned to Rwanda after 16 years of exile in order to register her political party and participate in forthcoming presidential elections scheduled for August 2010.
The decision to return home, it should be recalled, was made after thorough analysis of the political context, challenges, and issues at stake, as well as different scenarios of political action and the risks associated with each action. It appeared for the UDF-Inkingi that accepting the challenge of utilizing a peaceful struggle for democracy was the best way to support UDF policies and build a hospitable country for all Rwandans.
This perspective was not only addressed to the people of Rwanda but also to its current leaders. We expected they would show good will, open up political space; allow open debate on different political programmes so that the Rwandan people can make an informed democratic choice during the elections. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) regime gradually erected impassable obstacles, thus demonstrating, within less than two months, its totalitarian nature. Several examples clearly support this:
1. Refusal to grant passports to exiled members of UDF-Inkingi
Upon announcing their intention to return to Rwanda, a dozen prospective party members designated to lead the political struggle inside the country applied for passports. Their requests remaine unanswered until now except for two passports, including one for the UDF-Inkingi’s chairperson. This is incomprehensible since the Government of Rwanda allows operations by the UNHCR and other African countries that are hosting Rwandan refugees to repatriate them by force to Rwanda.
2. Remote reports aimed at falsely accusing the politicalopposition
On November 23, 2009, a UN report was published on the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Without providing any evidence, i.e. the content of conversations, the report accused some leaders of the UDF-Inkingi of collaboration with this armed opposition group. The Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi was accused of meeting some leaders of the FDLR in Spain in 2006. The report fails to mention that government officials and several survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda also attended the same meeting, which was devoted to promoting peace in Rwanda and was facilitated by the Foundation Solivar.
The timing of the publication and of the said report with the announcement coinciding of the decision of UDF-Inkingi to participate in the Rwandan presidential elections of August 2010 is very suspect because of: the lightness of evidence against the political organization, the immediate use of this report by the Rwandan government to prevent the Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi to exercise her political rights, quickly made people suspect the interference of the RPF regime in the creation of this report. It should also be recalled that allegations in the UN report were categorically rejected by all the countries of the African Great Lakes region, including Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.
3. Media lynching by the public and private media under the yoke of the regime in power
On January 16, 2010, the day of her return to Rwanda, the Chairperson of FDU-Inkingi visited the genocide memorial in Gisozi. Answering a question from a journalist, she reminded the Rwandan people that unity and reconciliation will only be fully achieved when all those who are guilty of taking part in the genocide against the Tutsis and those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Hutus are brought to justice. The day after her statement, the pro-government daily newspaper "The New Times" launched a campaign of hatred and dehumanization against Mrs. Ingabire, who was falsely accused of genocide denial. This campaign of media lynching was echoed by other newspapers and state media, including state radio and national television. The highest authorities of the state, including ministers and heads of political parties allied with the RPF, took part in this lynching and called for punishment against the Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi. This intimidation campaign reached its climax when the President of the Republic himself ordered the judicial system to prosecute Ms. Ingabire.
4. Physical assaults, another form of intimidation
When Mrs. Ingabire and her assistant went to the Administrative Office of Kinyinya sector following a phone call by the Executive Secretary of the sector asking her to collect administrative documents, they were brutally attacked inside the office of public administration by a juvenile mob likely prepared for the attack. The assailant mob snatched Mrs. Ingabire’s handbag which contained her identity papers and personal belongings. No investigation has been conducted to find and punish the culprits.
5. Police and judicial investigations, another strategy to criminalize opposition
Following orders given by the President of the Republic, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Rwandan police almost instantly summoned UDF-Inkingi’s Chairperson to inform her about the charges against her. They include a security breach of state, divisionism, genocide ideology, minimalization of the genocide of the Tutsi, collaboration with the FDLR, and the icing on the cake, the disturbance of public security by grenade attacks and collaboration in a plan to overthrow the RPF government. It must be recalled that another opposition politician, Mr. Deogratias Mushayidi as well as senior Rwandan military officers, dissidents with the regime, are also accused of the same offenses.
These accusations were followed by police summons and interviews which have become repetitive in order to break the morale of Mrs. Ingabire. Some of these interviews have lasted up to 10 hours straight.
6. Prohibition to hold the constituent congress of the party
By virtue of the fact that Mrs. Victory Ingabire Umuhoza has not been convicted by any court, she is automatically entitled to a presumption of innocence. But it was a big surprise when the Mayor of Nyarugenge, after using all kinds of tricks in previous requests, refused to grant her permission to hold a public meeting on the pretext that Mrs. Ingabire was under police investigation. This prohibition is also justified, according to the Mayor, by the fact that the administration did not know the message the UDF-Inkingi’s chairperson might deliver to the public, thereby confirming that only those who speak the same language as the RPF have the right to political space in Rwanda. This position was repeated and confirmed by the Minister in charge of the political parties and local government, all of which is in blatant violation of all applicable laws.
7. Action of formenting coups and divisions within the opposition parties
The three opposition parties, namely the PS-Imberakuri (the only opposition party approved to date), the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and UDF-Inkingi, two organizations that are still trying to register, have created a Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda to mutually reinforce each other by sharing some political and diplomatic actions. The Council therefore become a headache for the regime and they decided to step up a notch to block its path. While non-legal barriers were erected before the political opposition in order to prevent them from holding their meeting, it is disconcerting to see how docile dissidents obtained easily the necessary permits to hold their extraordinary congress to oust the legal and legitimate Chairperson of PS-Imberakuri, Mr. Bernard Ntaganda. Mr. Bernard Ntaganda has also been prevented on several occasions to install the statutory offices of his party in the provinces.
8. Obstacles to the freedom to travel within Rwanda and abroad
After more than 16 years of exile, Mrs. Ingabire sought to explore her country. But all her movements were monitored with a magnifying glass to prevent contact with the population, which was beginning to show some enthusiasm to her encouragement to let go of living in fear and she lavished on them the idea of a peaceful change of government. On March 23, 2010, while Mrs. Ingabire was not subject to judicial review forcing her to remain in Rwanda, she was prevented from boarding a plane at Kanombe International Airport. She was travelling to visit her family in Europe.
Conclusion
The obstacles that the regime mounts against its political opponents, obstacles that the UDF-Inkingi’s entry on the Rwandan political scene has openly exposed, reveal the nature of a power that seeks to interpret the law and procedures at will, which has enormous difficulties tolerating open debate, is experiencing serious difficulties in accepting political opposition and is considering the use of force as the only argument that counts in the management of power. All of these actions are the hallmarks of a totalitarian power that must be seriously monitored as they may derail the political process under way for presidential elections in August 2010.
This exposure of the RPF's totalitarian nature occured surprisingly quickly and shows once again that it is high time the regime understand that democracy is inevitable and it will come about sooner or later. With much more noticeable people’s determination nothing will stop it.
Done in Kigali, March 31, 2010,
The United Democratic Forces-Inkingi
The decision to return home, it should be recalled, was made after thorough analysis of the political context, challenges, and issues at stake, as well as different scenarios of political action and the risks associated with each action. It appeared for the UDF-Inkingi that accepting the challenge of utilizing a peaceful struggle for democracy was the best way to support UDF policies and build a hospitable country for all Rwandans.
This perspective was not only addressed to the people of Rwanda but also to its current leaders. We expected they would show good will, open up political space; allow open debate on different political programmes so that the Rwandan people can make an informed democratic choice during the elections. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) regime gradually erected impassable obstacles, thus demonstrating, within less than two months, its totalitarian nature. Several examples clearly support this:
1. Refusal to grant passports to exiled members of UDF-Inkingi
Upon announcing their intention to return to Rwanda, a dozen prospective party members designated to lead the political struggle inside the country applied for passports. Their requests remaine unanswered until now except for two passports, including one for the UDF-Inkingi’s chairperson. This is incomprehensible since the Government of Rwanda allows operations by the UNHCR and other African countries that are hosting Rwandan refugees to repatriate them by force to Rwanda.
2. Remote reports aimed at falsely accusing the politicalopposition
On November 23, 2009, a UN report was published on the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Without providing any evidence, i.e. the content of conversations, the report accused some leaders of the UDF-Inkingi of collaboration with this armed opposition group. The Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi was accused of meeting some leaders of the FDLR in Spain in 2006. The report fails to mention that government officials and several survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda also attended the same meeting, which was devoted to promoting peace in Rwanda and was facilitated by the Foundation Solivar.
The timing of the publication and of the said report with the announcement coinciding of the decision of UDF-Inkingi to participate in the Rwandan presidential elections of August 2010 is very suspect because of: the lightness of evidence against the political organization, the immediate use of this report by the Rwandan government to prevent the Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi to exercise her political rights, quickly made people suspect the interference of the RPF regime in the creation of this report. It should also be recalled that allegations in the UN report were categorically rejected by all the countries of the African Great Lakes region, including Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.
3. Media lynching by the public and private media under the yoke of the regime in power
On January 16, 2010, the day of her return to Rwanda, the Chairperson of FDU-Inkingi visited the genocide memorial in Gisozi. Answering a question from a journalist, she reminded the Rwandan people that unity and reconciliation will only be fully achieved when all those who are guilty of taking part in the genocide against the Tutsis and those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Hutus are brought to justice. The day after her statement, the pro-government daily newspaper "The New Times" launched a campaign of hatred and dehumanization against Mrs. Ingabire, who was falsely accused of genocide denial. This campaign of media lynching was echoed by other newspapers and state media, including state radio and national television. The highest authorities of the state, including ministers and heads of political parties allied with the RPF, took part in this lynching and called for punishment against the Chairperson of UDF-Inkingi. This intimidation campaign reached its climax when the President of the Republic himself ordered the judicial system to prosecute Ms. Ingabire.
4. Physical assaults, another form of intimidation
When Mrs. Ingabire and her assistant went to the Administrative Office of Kinyinya sector following a phone call by the Executive Secretary of the sector asking her to collect administrative documents, they were brutally attacked inside the office of public administration by a juvenile mob likely prepared for the attack. The assailant mob snatched Mrs. Ingabire’s handbag which contained her identity papers and personal belongings. No investigation has been conducted to find and punish the culprits.
5. Police and judicial investigations, another strategy to criminalize opposition
Following orders given by the President of the Republic, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Rwandan police almost instantly summoned UDF-Inkingi’s Chairperson to inform her about the charges against her. They include a security breach of state, divisionism, genocide ideology, minimalization of the genocide of the Tutsi, collaboration with the FDLR, and the icing on the cake, the disturbance of public security by grenade attacks and collaboration in a plan to overthrow the RPF government. It must be recalled that another opposition politician, Mr. Deogratias Mushayidi as well as senior Rwandan military officers, dissidents with the regime, are also accused of the same offenses.
These accusations were followed by police summons and interviews which have become repetitive in order to break the morale of Mrs. Ingabire. Some of these interviews have lasted up to 10 hours straight.
6. Prohibition to hold the constituent congress of the party
By virtue of the fact that Mrs. Victory Ingabire Umuhoza has not been convicted by any court, she is automatically entitled to a presumption of innocence. But it was a big surprise when the Mayor of Nyarugenge, after using all kinds of tricks in previous requests, refused to grant her permission to hold a public meeting on the pretext that Mrs. Ingabire was under police investigation. This prohibition is also justified, according to the Mayor, by the fact that the administration did not know the message the UDF-Inkingi’s chairperson might deliver to the public, thereby confirming that only those who speak the same language as the RPF have the right to political space in Rwanda. This position was repeated and confirmed by the Minister in charge of the political parties and local government, all of which is in blatant violation of all applicable laws.
7. Action of formenting coups and divisions within the opposition parties
The three opposition parties, namely the PS-Imberakuri (the only opposition party approved to date), the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and UDF-Inkingi, two organizations that are still trying to register, have created a Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda to mutually reinforce each other by sharing some political and diplomatic actions. The Council therefore become a headache for the regime and they decided to step up a notch to block its path. While non-legal barriers were erected before the political opposition in order to prevent them from holding their meeting, it is disconcerting to see how docile dissidents obtained easily the necessary permits to hold their extraordinary congress to oust the legal and legitimate Chairperson of PS-Imberakuri, Mr. Bernard Ntaganda. Mr. Bernard Ntaganda has also been prevented on several occasions to install the statutory offices of his party in the provinces.
8. Obstacles to the freedom to travel within Rwanda and abroad
After more than 16 years of exile, Mrs. Ingabire sought to explore her country. But all her movements were monitored with a magnifying glass to prevent contact with the population, which was beginning to show some enthusiasm to her encouragement to let go of living in fear and she lavished on them the idea of a peaceful change of government. On March 23, 2010, while Mrs. Ingabire was not subject to judicial review forcing her to remain in Rwanda, she was prevented from boarding a plane at Kanombe International Airport. She was travelling to visit her family in Europe.
Conclusion
The obstacles that the regime mounts against its political opponents, obstacles that the UDF-Inkingi’s entry on the Rwandan political scene has openly exposed, reveal the nature of a power that seeks to interpret the law and procedures at will, which has enormous difficulties tolerating open debate, is experiencing serious difficulties in accepting political opposition and is considering the use of force as the only argument that counts in the management of power. All of these actions are the hallmarks of a totalitarian power that must be seriously monitored as they may derail the political process under way for presidential elections in August 2010.
This exposure of the RPF's totalitarian nature occured surprisingly quickly and shows once again that it is high time the regime understand that democracy is inevitable and it will come about sooner or later. With much more noticeable people’s determination nothing will stop it.
Done in Kigali, March 31, 2010,
The United Democratic Forces-Inkingi
IFJ Condemns Ethiopian Jamming of Voice of America.
IFJ
Press Release
2 April 2010
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on Ethiopia to lift all restrictions on Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts after the government summarily jammed the network’s broadcasts in Amharic, amid accusations of peddling “destabilising propaganda”.
“We condemn jamming of broadcasts,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “It is unprofessional, intolerant and flies in the face of promises that the Ethiopian Government is committed to press freedom.”
According to news reports the interference with VOA broadcasts was ordered by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on 18 March. He said VOA’s Amharic programmes were not objective and hostile to his government. He is reported to have controversially compared the service to Rwanda's former Radio Mille Collines (RTLM).
The IFJ says if the Government has complaints it must respect basic standards of professionalism by detailing its objections and giving VOA an opportunity to respond before taking any action.
The IFJ says the decision is the latest in a series of hostile measures taken by Ethiopian authorities in the lead up to general elections May. Last month, the National Electoral Board adopted controversial guidelines for journalists during the election period. Media observers say these rules are repressive, unconstitutional and anathema to press freedom.
The IFJ condemnation adds to concerns that the Prime Minister is back-tracking on pledges made to leaders of the IFJ and the Federation of African Journalists during a mission to Addis Ababa earlier this year when Meles Zenawi undertook to fight censorship and interference and to work for change in media.
“The government’s legitimate concerns can receive fair hearing through dialogue,” added White. “But when a government brazenly imposes censorship it undermines profoundly efforts to build respect for ethical and professional standards in journalism in the country at large.”
Press Release
2 April 2010
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on Ethiopia to lift all restrictions on Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts after the government summarily jammed the network’s broadcasts in Amharic, amid accusations of peddling “destabilising propaganda”.
“We condemn jamming of broadcasts,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “It is unprofessional, intolerant and flies in the face of promises that the Ethiopian Government is committed to press freedom.”
According to news reports the interference with VOA broadcasts was ordered by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on 18 March. He said VOA’s Amharic programmes were not objective and hostile to his government. He is reported to have controversially compared the service to Rwanda's former Radio Mille Collines (RTLM).
The IFJ says if the Government has complaints it must respect basic standards of professionalism by detailing its objections and giving VOA an opportunity to respond before taking any action.
The IFJ says the decision is the latest in a series of hostile measures taken by Ethiopian authorities in the lead up to general elections May. Last month, the National Electoral Board adopted controversial guidelines for journalists during the election period. Media observers say these rules are repressive, unconstitutional and anathema to press freedom.
The IFJ condemnation adds to concerns that the Prime Minister is back-tracking on pledges made to leaders of the IFJ and the Federation of African Journalists during a mission to Addis Ababa earlier this year when Meles Zenawi undertook to fight censorship and interference and to work for change in media.
“The government’s legitimate concerns can receive fair hearing through dialogue,” added White. “But when a government brazenly imposes censorship it undermines profoundly efforts to build respect for ethical and professional standards in journalism in the country at large.”
Rwandans Demonstrate Against Pres. Kagame.
256 News/Radio Netherlands
2 April 2010
Angry Rwandans have held a demonstration against President Paul Kagame, demanding an end to his dictatorial tendencies. A few dozen protested yesterday afternoon on the plaza in front of the Parliament in the Netherlands. Reports say they they cried out for "liberty" and "democracy".
"As it is raining ... most of them are gone," said Rwandan, Lin Muyizere, one of the protesters. He said there were easily seventy people or perhaps even eighty. “Now we are only a small forty…”
"The purpose of our demonstration is to demand that the Rwandan government stops prosecuting the democratic opposition in Rwanda. Let the President of the UDF Victoire Ingabire, who is confronted daily by the Rwandan police, be free. Give Victoire the opportunity and freedom to work," said Muyizere.
But since the Netherlands has good relations with the government of President Paul Kagame, the Dutch government does not seem to move on the issue. The Ingabire case does not seem a not a real concern to the Dutch.
"I do not think the Netherlands should become involved in politics within Rwanda," said Dutch MP Ewout Irrgang (Socialist Party) who visited Rwanda in early January. Irrang had other administrative priorities on Wednesday that prevented him from attending the demonstrations. "Yet the Dutch government could approach the government of Kagame and tell him he should hold proper elections."
Muyizere said authorities in the Netherlands stated they cannot take any direct action against the Rwandan government.
“That on a diplomatic level, they try to follow closely the case in Rwanda. We cannot continue alone. We want to work with the other countries of the European Union,” Muyizere said.
In Rwanda, Ingabire is accused of having offended the post-genocide constitution which prohibits actions that could incite a conflict. She has been accosted on the street, interrogated several times without charge, and is prohibited from leaving Rwanda. She seeks to challenge President Kagame for office in elections later this year. According to several human rights organizations, the law has been used to suppress the opposition.
After a long period in exile in the Netherlands, Victoire Ingabire returned home in January with the goal to participate in the presidential elections in August.
2 April 2010
Angry Rwandans have held a demonstration against President Paul Kagame, demanding an end to his dictatorial tendencies. A few dozen protested yesterday afternoon on the plaza in front of the Parliament in the Netherlands. Reports say they they cried out for "liberty" and "democracy".
"As it is raining ... most of them are gone," said Rwandan, Lin Muyizere, one of the protesters. He said there were easily seventy people or perhaps even eighty. “Now we are only a small forty…”
"The purpose of our demonstration is to demand that the Rwandan government stops prosecuting the democratic opposition in Rwanda. Let the President of the UDF Victoire Ingabire, who is confronted daily by the Rwandan police, be free. Give Victoire the opportunity and freedom to work," said Muyizere.
But since the Netherlands has good relations with the government of President Paul Kagame, the Dutch government does not seem to move on the issue. The Ingabire case does not seem a not a real concern to the Dutch.
"I do not think the Netherlands should become involved in politics within Rwanda," said Dutch MP Ewout Irrgang (Socialist Party) who visited Rwanda in early January. Irrang had other administrative priorities on Wednesday that prevented him from attending the demonstrations. "Yet the Dutch government could approach the government of Kagame and tell him he should hold proper elections."
Muyizere said authorities in the Netherlands stated they cannot take any direct action against the Rwandan government.
“That on a diplomatic level, they try to follow closely the case in Rwanda. We cannot continue alone. We want to work with the other countries of the European Union,” Muyizere said.
In Rwanda, Ingabire is accused of having offended the post-genocide constitution which prohibits actions that could incite a conflict. She has been accosted on the street, interrogated several times without charge, and is prohibited from leaving Rwanda. She seeks to challenge President Kagame for office in elections later this year. According to several human rights organizations, the law has been used to suppress the opposition.
After a long period in exile in the Netherlands, Victoire Ingabire returned home in January with the goal to participate in the presidential elections in August.
Mulitple Countries to Train Somali Army.
Daily Monitor
2 April 2010
By David Mafabi
The French government, in a bid to restore calm in Somalia will set up a military mission to train security forces in Uganda.
According to Rear Admiral Christopher Prazuck, the French defence forces spokesperson, Uganda will train about 2,000 Somali soldiers as one of the long-term solutions to stabilise Somalia and bring an end to piracy in the India Ocean.
While addressing visiting journalists on March 28 at his office, Mr Prazuck revealed that Uganda’s military mission will be conducted in partnership with African Union, United Nations, USA and Uganda which is a major troop contributor to African Union Mission Peace Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
“EU will contribute to the training of 2,000 Somali soldiers on human rights, international humanitarian law,” he said.
He revealed that the next intake of Somali soldiers will begin this month and last for six months.
Mr Prazuck revealed that EU is determined to help stablise Somalia by providing support to vital and priority areas such as security development, assistance to the population and capacity building support “because this is the only way to end piracy and insecurity”.
The army spokesman Lt. Col. Felix Kulaigye said: “EU will open up its military mission here to train about 2,000 Somali security forces to help build
institutional capacity of Somalia and to strengthen the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to take over the proper management of their country,” said Lt Col Kulaigye.
He said Uganda under AMISON has already trained about 1,200 Somali soldiers to help pacify the area and set it on the journey to stability.
2 April 2010
By David Mafabi
The French government, in a bid to restore calm in Somalia will set up a military mission to train security forces in Uganda.
According to Rear Admiral Christopher Prazuck, the French defence forces spokesperson, Uganda will train about 2,000 Somali soldiers as one of the long-term solutions to stabilise Somalia and bring an end to piracy in the India Ocean.
While addressing visiting journalists on March 28 at his office, Mr Prazuck revealed that Uganda’s military mission will be conducted in partnership with African Union, United Nations, USA and Uganda which is a major troop contributor to African Union Mission Peace Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
“EU will contribute to the training of 2,000 Somali soldiers on human rights, international humanitarian law,” he said.
He revealed that the next intake of Somali soldiers will begin this month and last for six months.
Mr Prazuck revealed that EU is determined to help stablise Somalia by providing support to vital and priority areas such as security development, assistance to the population and capacity building support “because this is the only way to end piracy and insecurity”.
The army spokesman Lt. Col. Felix Kulaigye said: “EU will open up its military mission here to train about 2,000 Somali security forces to help build
institutional capacity of Somalia and to strengthen the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to take over the proper management of their country,” said Lt Col Kulaigye.
He said Uganda under AMISON has already trained about 1,200 Somali soldiers to help pacify the area and set it on the journey to stability.
01 April, 2010
Bissau soldiers briefly hold PM, free coup suspect.
Reuters
1 April 2010
By Alberto Dabo
Soldiers briefly detained Guinea Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, freed a suspected coup leader and said they had ousted the army chief of staff on Thursday in what one diplomat said appeared to be a coup attempt against Gomes.
Former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto, suspected of leading a 2008 coup attempt in the tiny West African state, had returned from exile in December and immediately sought shelter on U.N. premises in the capital Bissau.
Na Tchuto still holds sway with parts of the armed forces and his return increased tension in a fragile state that is a hub of drugs trafficking to Europe. The United Nations agreed in January to hand over him over to Gomes's government but the transfer did not take place.
"(Gomes) was detained this morning. Bubo Na Tchuto has voluntarily left the U.N. compound. The events are related," a Western diplomat in Bissau told Reuters by telephone.
"It looks like a coup d'etat against the prime minister and the chief of staff."
Soldiers apparently loyal to Na Tchuto said they had replaced the chief of staff, Admiral Jose Zamora Induta, with his deputy, General Antonio Njai.
Gomes's press attache Mamadou Diao subsequently confirmed Gomes had been released and a Reuters witness saw his vehicle heading towards the office of President Malam Bacai Sanha.
The Reuters witness said Na Tchuto had driven off with soldiers to an undisclosed location. The capital Bissau was calm, with some banks and shops shutting and little traffic in the streets.
Na Tchuto took refuge in the U.N. offices in December after returning from exile in nearby Gambia in a canoe, disguised as a fisherman.
He was wanted in connection with a failed 2008 coup attempt against then-president Joao Bernardo Vieira. Vieira was killed by renegade soldiers in March 2009 and replaced by an elected government.
(Reporting by Alberto Dabo and David Lewis; writing by Mark John; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
1 April 2010
By Alberto Dabo
Soldiers briefly detained Guinea Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, freed a suspected coup leader and said they had ousted the army chief of staff on Thursday in what one diplomat said appeared to be a coup attempt against Gomes.
Former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto, suspected of leading a 2008 coup attempt in the tiny West African state, had returned from exile in December and immediately sought shelter on U.N. premises in the capital Bissau.
Na Tchuto still holds sway with parts of the armed forces and his return increased tension in a fragile state that is a hub of drugs trafficking to Europe. The United Nations agreed in January to hand over him over to Gomes's government but the transfer did not take place.
"(Gomes) was detained this morning. Bubo Na Tchuto has voluntarily left the U.N. compound. The events are related," a Western diplomat in Bissau told Reuters by telephone.
"It looks like a coup d'etat against the prime minister and the chief of staff."
Soldiers apparently loyal to Na Tchuto said they had replaced the chief of staff, Admiral Jose Zamora Induta, with his deputy, General Antonio Njai.
Gomes's press attache Mamadou Diao subsequently confirmed Gomes had been released and a Reuters witness saw his vehicle heading towards the office of President Malam Bacai Sanha.
The Reuters witness said Na Tchuto had driven off with soldiers to an undisclosed location. The capital Bissau was calm, with some banks and shops shutting and little traffic in the streets.
Na Tchuto took refuge in the U.N. offices in December after returning from exile in nearby Gambia in a canoe, disguised as a fisherman.
He was wanted in connection with a failed 2008 coup attempt against then-president Joao Bernardo Vieira. Vieira was killed by renegade soldiers in March 2009 and replaced by an elected government.
(Reporting by Alberto Dabo and David Lewis; writing by Mark John; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Rwanda Opposition Leader Says Government Silencing Dissent.
VOA
31 March 2010
The leader of Rwanda’s opposition United Democratic Forces (UDF) says President Paul Kagame’s government is determined to prevent her from participating in the scheduled August general elections.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza said the government is using the country’s 1994 genocide to “blackmail” and silence any dissenting views.
“They refused that I go outside the country. I went three times to the police office and there (was) nothing new regarding the questions they asked me. It is the same question that I collaborated with the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and (that) there were some testimonies from some members of the FDLR that said that I was in Kinshasa with them in March. But I was not in Kinshasa in March I was there in February,” she said.
Ingabire Umuhoza was recently prevented from travelling abroad after police said she was under investigation because of comments she made about the 1994 genocide.
Shortly after returning to Rwanda, Ingabire Umuhoza called for the prosecution of those responsible for the death of Hutus during the genocide.
But a group of genocide survivors called on the government to prosecute the opposition leader, saying her pronouncement belittled the genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed.
Ingabire Umuhoza said despite the lack of evidence, officials are preventing her from organizing her first official meeting which will pave the way for her party to be registered and fully recognized by the government.
“When my lawyer asked them that because (their) testimonies were not right and that now Ingabire was free to go where she wants and free to organize meeting of her political party. They said no not yet. We are looking for other evidence against her. But that was the day after the minister of justice said there (was) no evidence against me,” Ingabire Umuhoza said.
But supporters of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) dismissed the accusations as without merit. They said President Kagame’s party can confidently run on its record of ensuring adequate security and rebuilding the economy against an opposition that they said has nothing to offer Rwandans.
But Ingabire Umuhoza said the government is sharply opposed to dissenting views.
“The government of Paul Kagame does not accept or tolerate any other opinion. If you are not aligned with the policy of Paul Kagame… you will end up in jail. And I think it is about time that we stop this regime of Paul Kagame,” Ingabire Umuhoza said.
31 March 2010
The leader of Rwanda’s opposition United Democratic Forces (UDF) says President Paul Kagame’s government is determined to prevent her from participating in the scheduled August general elections.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza said the government is using the country’s 1994 genocide to “blackmail” and silence any dissenting views.
“They refused that I go outside the country. I went three times to the police office and there (was) nothing new regarding the questions they asked me. It is the same question that I collaborated with the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and (that) there were some testimonies from some members of the FDLR that said that I was in Kinshasa with them in March. But I was not in Kinshasa in March I was there in February,” she said.
Ingabire Umuhoza was recently prevented from travelling abroad after police said she was under investigation because of comments she made about the 1994 genocide.
Shortly after returning to Rwanda, Ingabire Umuhoza called for the prosecution of those responsible for the death of Hutus during the genocide.
But a group of genocide survivors called on the government to prosecute the opposition leader, saying her pronouncement belittled the genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed.
Ingabire Umuhoza said despite the lack of evidence, officials are preventing her from organizing her first official meeting which will pave the way for her party to be registered and fully recognized by the government.
“When my lawyer asked them that because (their) testimonies were not right and that now Ingabire was free to go where she wants and free to organize meeting of her political party. They said no not yet. We are looking for other evidence against her. But that was the day after the minister of justice said there (was) no evidence against me,” Ingabire Umuhoza said.
But supporters of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) dismissed the accusations as without merit. They said President Kagame’s party can confidently run on its record of ensuring adequate security and rebuilding the economy against an opposition that they said has nothing to offer Rwandans.
But Ingabire Umuhoza said the government is sharply opposed to dissenting views.
“The government of Paul Kagame does not accept or tolerate any other opinion. If you are not aligned with the policy of Paul Kagame… you will end up in jail. And I think it is about time that we stop this regime of Paul Kagame,” Ingabire Umuhoza said.
EU to train Somali troops.
Reuters
1 April 2010
European Union governments said on Wednesday they had given a go-ahead for a military mission to start on April 7 to train Somali forces battling an Islamist insurgency.
The mission will be led by Spain and involve around 100 troops plus several dozens of additional staff.
Germany said it would contribute 20 soldiers for the mission, which will take place mainly in Uganda, where some Somali forces are already being trained. France has also committed troops and Britain is expected to participate.
The goal of the mission is to strengthen the Western-backed transitional government in Somalia.
But some EU member states have expressed concern that training its troops and providing them with guns could cause more problems than it solves without long-term commitments in place to pay them and give them institutional support.
Somalia has had no central government since 1991. Foreign governments have stepped up efforts to stabilise the country in the past three or four years, since it became a major source of piracy, with dozens of ships and crew taken hostage for ransom.
Better-trained soldiers
An African Union force is on the ground protecting the government's key institutions, but Somalia needs a larger contingent of its own capable, reliable troops.
The EU mission is expected to train around 2 000 Somali troops and complement other missions, bringing the total of better-trained Somali soldiers to around 6 000.
The EU said in a statement its mission would be conducted in co-ordination with Somalia's transitional government, the African Union, the United Nations and the United States.
1 April 2010
European Union governments said on Wednesday they had given a go-ahead for a military mission to start on April 7 to train Somali forces battling an Islamist insurgency.
The mission will be led by Spain and involve around 100 troops plus several dozens of additional staff.
Germany said it would contribute 20 soldiers for the mission, which will take place mainly in Uganda, where some Somali forces are already being trained. France has also committed troops and Britain is expected to participate.
The goal of the mission is to strengthen the Western-backed transitional government in Somalia.
But some EU member states have expressed concern that training its troops and providing them with guns could cause more problems than it solves without long-term commitments in place to pay them and give them institutional support.
Somalia has had no central government since 1991. Foreign governments have stepped up efforts to stabilise the country in the past three or four years, since it became a major source of piracy, with dozens of ships and crew taken hostage for ransom.
Better-trained soldiers
An African Union force is on the ground protecting the government's key institutions, but Somalia needs a larger contingent of its own capable, reliable troops.
The EU mission is expected to train around 2 000 Somali troops and complement other missions, bringing the total of better-trained Somali soldiers to around 6 000.
The EU said in a statement its mission would be conducted in co-ordination with Somalia's transitional government, the African Union, the United Nations and the United States.
Another Coup May be Unfolding in Guinea-Bissau.
BBC News
1 April 2010
A group of army officers in Guinea-Bissau is reported to have detained the chief of staff and the prime minister.
After several hours, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior was freed after hundreds of people gathered in front of his office, calling for his release.
The whereabouts of President Malam Bacai Sanha are unknown but a BBC correspondent says his office is quiet.
The situation is extremely unclear and telephone lines are not working. The country has had several previous coups.
Guinea-Bissau has also become a major centre for trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
National radio interrupted its programmes to play military music, which correspondent say is code for a coup.
Heavily armed troops attempted to gain access to the UN headquarters, where a former head of the navy had fled.
Former President Nino Viera was killed in March 2009 by a group of soldiers just hours after the army chief of staff was blown up by a bomb.
President Sanha won elections held three months later.
1 April 2010
A group of army officers in Guinea-Bissau is reported to have detained the chief of staff and the prime minister.
After several hours, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior was freed after hundreds of people gathered in front of his office, calling for his release.
The whereabouts of President Malam Bacai Sanha are unknown but a BBC correspondent says his office is quiet.
The situation is extremely unclear and telephone lines are not working. The country has had several previous coups.
Guinea-Bissau has also become a major centre for trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
National radio interrupted its programmes to play military music, which correspondent say is code for a coup.
Heavily armed troops attempted to gain access to the UN headquarters, where a former head of the navy had fled.
Former President Nino Viera was killed in March 2009 by a group of soldiers just hours after the army chief of staff was blown up by a bomb.
President Sanha won elections held three months later.
Ingabire accuses Gov’t of using her aide to spy on her.
256 News
1 April 2010
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the President of the United Democratic
Forces opposition party in Rwanda, accuses the ruling RPF party of President Paul Kagame of planting spies with her.
Ingabire has told 256 News that her former deputy, Joseph Ntawangundi, who was
sentenced this month to 17 years in jail by a Gacaca court, is being used to learn all the secrets of the UDF party and what people the party leader is collaborating with in Rwanda and abroad.
Ntawangundi was found guilty for his role in the killing of eight Tutsis at the Agro-Veterinary school of Gitwe (of which he was the principal in 1994), located in Rwanda's Eastern province.
At the opening of his re-trial on March 17, the defendant claimed that he had never been the school's principal and that he was in Sweden during the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi.
However, he finally admitted that he had been running the school for three months when the genocide of the Tutsi started.
Ntawangundi explained that there was nothing he could do to protect the victims as he was new to the school and Gitwe, hardly knowing anybody.
In a twist of events, Ingabire has disclosed to 256 News, that well-placed sources close to the Gacaca Executive Secretariat have informed her that Ntawangundi was
told to plead guilty and, in the future, the government would help him
get out of prison. In return, he would assist the government to reveal all the secrets of UDF party.
According to Ingabire, before the ruling, Ntawagundi had a whole day’s meeting with some government officials, among them Gacaca Executive Secretary Dometilla Mukatanganzwa.
The meeting reportedly took place at Gitwe Prison in the office of the head of prison.
256 News has also recieved reports on how the Kigali government has instructed former FDLR rebels who surrendered last year to falsely pin Ingabire and say she is collaborating with the FDLR forces based in the DR Congo jungles.
Ingabire and Ntawangundi both returned from exile in January to register their political party created in exile.
Earlier this week, one of her aides told 256 News they intercepted information that state security agencies are fabricating evidence against Ingabire, who is currently forbidden to leave Rwanda.
1 April 2010
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the President of the United Democratic
Forces opposition party in Rwanda, accuses the ruling RPF party of President Paul Kagame of planting spies with her.
Ingabire has told 256 News that her former deputy, Joseph Ntawangundi, who was
sentenced this month to 17 years in jail by a Gacaca court, is being used to learn all the secrets of the UDF party and what people the party leader is collaborating with in Rwanda and abroad.
Ntawangundi was found guilty for his role in the killing of eight Tutsis at the Agro-Veterinary school of Gitwe (of which he was the principal in 1994), located in Rwanda's Eastern province.
At the opening of his re-trial on March 17, the defendant claimed that he had never been the school's principal and that he was in Sweden during the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi.
However, he finally admitted that he had been running the school for three months when the genocide of the Tutsi started.
Ntawangundi explained that there was nothing he could do to protect the victims as he was new to the school and Gitwe, hardly knowing anybody.
In a twist of events, Ingabire has disclosed to 256 News, that well-placed sources close to the Gacaca Executive Secretariat have informed her that Ntawangundi was
told to plead guilty and, in the future, the government would help him
get out of prison. In return, he would assist the government to reveal all the secrets of UDF party.
According to Ingabire, before the ruling, Ntawagundi had a whole day’s meeting with some government officials, among them Gacaca Executive Secretary Dometilla Mukatanganzwa.
The meeting reportedly took place at Gitwe Prison in the office of the head of prison.
256 News has also recieved reports on how the Kigali government has instructed former FDLR rebels who surrendered last year to falsely pin Ingabire and say she is collaborating with the FDLR forces based in the DR Congo jungles.
Ingabire and Ntawangundi both returned from exile in January to register their political party created in exile.
Earlier this week, one of her aides told 256 News they intercepted information that state security agencies are fabricating evidence against Ingabire, who is currently forbidden to leave Rwanda.
NRM Buganda plan revealed.
The Observer
31 March 2010
By EDRIS KIGGUNDU & HUSSEIN BOGERE
The ruling party is mulling over winning back the hearts, minds and possibly votes of Baganda ahead of the 2011 elections, following a fallout that threatens a hitherto major vote base.
Ofwono Opondo, the NRM deputy spokesperson, told The Observer that NRM plans to take the battle to Mengo by ignoring the “unprincipled leaders” there and concentrating on the people that matter; the elected leaders and the peasants who vote.
Ofwono’s reference to unprincipled leaders is understood to mean the Mengo leadership led by the Katikkiro, Eng. J.B. Walusimbi, and his ministers.
“Museveni said he was tired of talking to unprincipled people; so, he opted for the elected people of Buganda like MPs, Local Council chairpersons. By touring Buganda, he is [telling] the voters that the misinformation is between NRM and some unprincipled leaders in Mengo,” Ofwono said.
Indeed Museveni has been touring the Buganda countryside in recent weeks, to draw attention to government programmes and how they can help fight household poverty. During his tours, the President has taken off time to explain why he closed CBS radio and the conditions under which it can be reopened.
Ofwono said that Mengo’s demands are isolating it from the rest of the country and NRM plans to exploit that to the fullest as well.
“Its [Mengo’s] actions since September [2009] show how extremist Mengo can be. It gives us our second strategy; to show people that this has been the character of Mengo. They think they [Mengo] are smarter; but, they are always outsmarted. Unless their character changes, we shall see politics of conflict,” he cautioned.
Ofwono added that some of Buganda’s demands are “excessive, untenable and unsustainable.”
Buganda has over the years demanded a federal system of government and a return of all its ancestral properties. Mengo and the Central Government have recently clashed over the Land Amendment Act, the Regional Tier Bill and the closure of CBS, among others.
DEMANDS
Agreeing with Ofwono on going directly to the people of Buganda, David Mafabi, a presidential assistant and an NRM strategist, told The Observer that the ruling party will stick to the tested methods.
“We are going to engage the ordinary people like we have been doing, we are going to rely on our good track record of delivering services, and I can tell you that we shall win decisively in Buganda,” Mafabi said.
Mafabi further said that Buganda is not going to hold the NRM at ransom with its demands and that government is not going to yield simply because of votes. If CBS is to be reopened, he said, it will not be because of a looming election.
Yet other NRM members and officials from Buganda remain concerned that the party could lose heavily in the sub-region in 2011, unless something is done to improve the relations. Hajj Abdul Nadduli, a bush war veteran and former LC-V chairman of Luwero, told The Observer this week that the opposition had exploited the poor relations between the government and Mengo to make headway in Buganda.
“Today, you hear even someone like [Olara] Otunnu (UPC President) saying he loves Buganda. Tomorrow it is [Norbert] Mao (DP President General),” Nadduli said. Peter Mutuluza, an NRM MP who represents Mawokota South in Mpigi District, said government needs to move quickly to save its political image in Buganda
“The way things are moving, NRM will lose votes in Buganda. It must sit down with Buganda and listen to their demands,” said Mutuluza, who last year voted against the government-backed Land Amendment Bill, a law opposed by Mengo.
These passionate pleas from some NRM members come in the aftermath of the Kasubi Tombs fire, which further damaged an already precarious relationship. President Museveni was heckled and some people tried to block him when he went to tour the gutted tombs. His presidential guard had earlier shot at the protesters before his arrival, killing three people.
While the party is fumbling over a strategy on how to bring Buganda on board ahead of the 2011 elections, some members told us that recent incidents seem to illustrate that government has softened its stance towards Mengo.
Just last week, the Cabinet decided that it would pay Buganda its outstanding property rent arrears, an estimated Shs 20 billion, if Mengo can put its request in writing and both parties verify the figures.
It is also telling that government yielded to Mengo’s protest against state security by not deploying Police or the military during special prayers to mark the end of the five-day mourning period at Kasubi last week.
The security was provided by Kabaka’s royal guards and Nkoba Zambogo, an organisation that unites Buganda youth in education institutions. These gestures, however small, appear to portray a government in an awkward position; trying hard to gain lost ground in the sub-region.
Hajj Nadduli, who once claimed that Museveni and Buganda agreed on federo in the bush, says part of the reason why the NRM has no clear strategy on Buganda is because Museveni is getting conflicting messages from NRM politicians in the sub-region.
“Some tell him not to give Buganda audience. Others tell him things that he wants to hear,” Nadduli says. This was hinted on by the President’s Press Secretary, Tamale Mirundi, who told the press recently that ministers are leaving the President to be bashed instead of coming to his rescue on issues such as CBS.
The NRM is certainly aware of the political implications of losing a significant chunk of the Buganda vote to the opposition.
Already, Museveni’s vote margin in the sub-region has been reducing steadily over the last two presidential elections. Between 2001 and 2006, Museveni’s margin dropped by 355,124 votes.
Having lost heavily in Acholi, Teso and Lango sub-regions, and with the opposition gnawing away at Bugisu and Busoga, losing Buganda could spell disaster for the NRM.
The options
The most obvious way the NRM can significantly mend its relationship with Buganda, in the short term, some party officials say, is by re-opening the Buganda establishment radio, CBS. The kingdom-owned radio was closed in September 2009 during riots in Buganda.
Wherever President Museveni has toured in Buganda, the rallying call from the masses has been for him to reopen the radio. Government accuses CBS of inciting Ugandans to riot and hate the NRM. Discussions between the government and CBS owners have stalled, with Buganda refusing to accept government conditions, including an apology.
Kaddunabbi Lubega, the MP for Butambala, says the critical thing at this moment is for the two sides to talk. “It is important that each party looks at the other’s demands and they find ways of working together in a sober way,” the legislator said.
According to the Katikkiro, J.B. Walusimbi, Buganda is also aggrieved at the creation of tiny kingdoms within Buganda, the blocking of the Kabaka from touring his kingdom as was the case with Buruuli and Bugerere, government’s failure to pay ground rent amounting to billions, government’s refusal to fulfill its promises, and government’s regard of Mengo as rivals every time Mengo openly expresses its opinion.
“All these make the Baganda believe that government is deliberately squeezing Buganda,” Walusimbi told us this week. The Katikkiro added that although Mengo has done all it can to resolve the sticking issues through dialogue, government, on the other hand, appears to be adamant.
He cited the meeting between the Kabaka and President Museveni in the aftermath of the September riots which to date has not borne any fruits. Nadduli says returning Buganda’s properties is a simple matter, which the NRM can do in the same way it returned the properties of the Asians in the 1980s.
31 March 2010
By EDRIS KIGGUNDU & HUSSEIN BOGERE
The ruling party is mulling over winning back the hearts, minds and possibly votes of Baganda ahead of the 2011 elections, following a fallout that threatens a hitherto major vote base.
Ofwono Opondo, the NRM deputy spokesperson, told The Observer that NRM plans to take the battle to Mengo by ignoring the “unprincipled leaders” there and concentrating on the people that matter; the elected leaders and the peasants who vote.
Ofwono’s reference to unprincipled leaders is understood to mean the Mengo leadership led by the Katikkiro, Eng. J.B. Walusimbi, and his ministers.
“Museveni said he was tired of talking to unprincipled people; so, he opted for the elected people of Buganda like MPs, Local Council chairpersons. By touring Buganda, he is [telling] the voters that the misinformation is between NRM and some unprincipled leaders in Mengo,” Ofwono said.
Indeed Museveni has been touring the Buganda countryside in recent weeks, to draw attention to government programmes and how they can help fight household poverty. During his tours, the President has taken off time to explain why he closed CBS radio and the conditions under which it can be reopened.
Ofwono said that Mengo’s demands are isolating it from the rest of the country and NRM plans to exploit that to the fullest as well.
“Its [Mengo’s] actions since September [2009] show how extremist Mengo can be. It gives us our second strategy; to show people that this has been the character of Mengo. They think they [Mengo] are smarter; but, they are always outsmarted. Unless their character changes, we shall see politics of conflict,” he cautioned.
Ofwono added that some of Buganda’s demands are “excessive, untenable and unsustainable.”
Buganda has over the years demanded a federal system of government and a return of all its ancestral properties. Mengo and the Central Government have recently clashed over the Land Amendment Act, the Regional Tier Bill and the closure of CBS, among others.
DEMANDS
Agreeing with Ofwono on going directly to the people of Buganda, David Mafabi, a presidential assistant and an NRM strategist, told The Observer that the ruling party will stick to the tested methods.
“We are going to engage the ordinary people like we have been doing, we are going to rely on our good track record of delivering services, and I can tell you that we shall win decisively in Buganda,” Mafabi said.
Mafabi further said that Buganda is not going to hold the NRM at ransom with its demands and that government is not going to yield simply because of votes. If CBS is to be reopened, he said, it will not be because of a looming election.
Yet other NRM members and officials from Buganda remain concerned that the party could lose heavily in the sub-region in 2011, unless something is done to improve the relations. Hajj Abdul Nadduli, a bush war veteran and former LC-V chairman of Luwero, told The Observer this week that the opposition had exploited the poor relations between the government and Mengo to make headway in Buganda.
“Today, you hear even someone like [Olara] Otunnu (UPC President) saying he loves Buganda. Tomorrow it is [Norbert] Mao (DP President General),” Nadduli said. Peter Mutuluza, an NRM MP who represents Mawokota South in Mpigi District, said government needs to move quickly to save its political image in Buganda
“The way things are moving, NRM will lose votes in Buganda. It must sit down with Buganda and listen to their demands,” said Mutuluza, who last year voted against the government-backed Land Amendment Bill, a law opposed by Mengo.
These passionate pleas from some NRM members come in the aftermath of the Kasubi Tombs fire, which further damaged an already precarious relationship. President Museveni was heckled and some people tried to block him when he went to tour the gutted tombs. His presidential guard had earlier shot at the protesters before his arrival, killing three people.
While the party is fumbling over a strategy on how to bring Buganda on board ahead of the 2011 elections, some members told us that recent incidents seem to illustrate that government has softened its stance towards Mengo.
Just last week, the Cabinet decided that it would pay Buganda its outstanding property rent arrears, an estimated Shs 20 billion, if Mengo can put its request in writing and both parties verify the figures.
It is also telling that government yielded to Mengo’s protest against state security by not deploying Police or the military during special prayers to mark the end of the five-day mourning period at Kasubi last week.
The security was provided by Kabaka’s royal guards and Nkoba Zambogo, an organisation that unites Buganda youth in education institutions. These gestures, however small, appear to portray a government in an awkward position; trying hard to gain lost ground in the sub-region.
Hajj Nadduli, who once claimed that Museveni and Buganda agreed on federo in the bush, says part of the reason why the NRM has no clear strategy on Buganda is because Museveni is getting conflicting messages from NRM politicians in the sub-region.
“Some tell him not to give Buganda audience. Others tell him things that he wants to hear,” Nadduli says. This was hinted on by the President’s Press Secretary, Tamale Mirundi, who told the press recently that ministers are leaving the President to be bashed instead of coming to his rescue on issues such as CBS.
The NRM is certainly aware of the political implications of losing a significant chunk of the Buganda vote to the opposition.
Already, Museveni’s vote margin in the sub-region has been reducing steadily over the last two presidential elections. Between 2001 and 2006, Museveni’s margin dropped by 355,124 votes.
Having lost heavily in Acholi, Teso and Lango sub-regions, and with the opposition gnawing away at Bugisu and Busoga, losing Buganda could spell disaster for the NRM.
The options
The most obvious way the NRM can significantly mend its relationship with Buganda, in the short term, some party officials say, is by re-opening the Buganda establishment radio, CBS. The kingdom-owned radio was closed in September 2009 during riots in Buganda.
Wherever President Museveni has toured in Buganda, the rallying call from the masses has been for him to reopen the radio. Government accuses CBS of inciting Ugandans to riot and hate the NRM. Discussions between the government and CBS owners have stalled, with Buganda refusing to accept government conditions, including an apology.
Kaddunabbi Lubega, the MP for Butambala, says the critical thing at this moment is for the two sides to talk. “It is important that each party looks at the other’s demands and they find ways of working together in a sober way,” the legislator said.
According to the Katikkiro, J.B. Walusimbi, Buganda is also aggrieved at the creation of tiny kingdoms within Buganda, the blocking of the Kabaka from touring his kingdom as was the case with Buruuli and Bugerere, government’s failure to pay ground rent amounting to billions, government’s refusal to fulfill its promises, and government’s regard of Mengo as rivals every time Mengo openly expresses its opinion.
“All these make the Baganda believe that government is deliberately squeezing Buganda,” Walusimbi told us this week. The Katikkiro added that although Mengo has done all it can to resolve the sticking issues through dialogue, government, on the other hand, appears to be adamant.
He cited the meeting between the Kabaka and President Museveni in the aftermath of the September riots which to date has not borne any fruits. Nadduli says returning Buganda’s properties is a simple matter, which the NRM can do in the same way it returned the properties of the Asians in the 1980s.
FDU/UDF-Inkingi révèlent rapidement la nature totalitaire du régime rwandais du FPR Etat des lieux après 2 mois et demi de présence dans le pays.
UDF/FDU-Inkingi
Press Release
Le 16 janvier 2010 rentrait au Rwanda, après 16 ans d’exil, une opposante politique, Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Présidente des Forces démocratiques unifiées FDU-Inkingi, afin de faire agréer sa formation politique et participer aux élections présidentielles prévues en août 2010.
La décision de rentrer au pays, faut-il le rappeler, a été prise après analyse approfondie du contexte politique, des défis et des enjeux, ainsi que des différents scenarii d’action politique et des risques liés à chacun d’eux. Il est apparu pour les FDU-Inkingi que le pari de la lutte démocratique pacifique était le mieux à même de soutenir notre projet politique et de construire un pays hospitalier à tous les Rwandais.
Mais cette perspective s’adressait non seulement au peuple rwandais mais aussi à ses dirigeants actuels. Nous attendions de ces derniers qu’ils fassent montre de bonne volonté, ouvrent l’espace politique, permettent le débat contradictoire autour des projets de société afin que le peuple fasse en connaissance de cause son choix, notamment lors d’élections. Tel ne fut malheureusement pas le cas, le régime du Front Patriotique Rwandais « FPR » nous érigea au contraire des obstacles progressivement infranchissables, démontrant ainsi, dans un délai de moins de deux mois, sa nature totalitaire. Quelques exemples nous permettent d’étayer ce constat.
1.Le refus d’octroyer des passeports aux exilés membres des FDU-Inkingi
Après avoir annoncé leur volonté de rentrer au Rwanda, une dizaine de membres pressentis pour mener le combat politique à l’intérieur du pays ont sollicité des passeports. Leurs demandes sont restées sans réponse jusqu’à aujourd’hui à l’exception de deux passeports dont celui de la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi. Ceci est d’autant plus incompréhensible que le gouvernement rwandais multiplie des opérations envers le HCR et les pays africains qui hébergent des réfugiés rwandais afin de les rentrer de force au Rwanda.
2.Des rapports télécommandés pour accuser faussement l’opposition politique
Le 23 Novembre 2009, sortait un rapport dit des Nations Unies sur les FDLR opérant en République Démocratique du Congo. Sans en apporter la moindre preuve, par exemple du contenu des conversations, ce rapport accusait certains dirigeants des FDU-Inkingi de collaborer avec ladite opposition armée. La Présidente des FDU-Inkingi était accusée d’avoir rencontré en Espagne en 2006, certains dirigeants des Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda « FDLR ». Le rapport omet de mentionner que des représentants du gouvernement et des survivants du génocide rwandais participaient aussi à cette réunion consacrée à la paix, facilitée par la Fondation Solivar.
Le timing de publication de ce rapport avec l’annonce de la décision des FDU-Inkingi de participer aux élections présidentielles rwandaises d’août 2010, la légèreté des éléments de preuve à l’encontre de notre formation ainsi que l’utilisation quasi-instantané de ce rapport par le gouvernement rwandais, pour empêcher la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi d’exercer ses droits politiques, laissent suspecter l’immixtion du régime du FPR, dans la réalisation de ce rapport. Ce dernier est en outre, rappelons-le, rejeté par tous les pays de la région des Grands Lacs Africains accusés dans ledit rapport, à savoir le Burundi, l’Ouganda et la Tanzanie.
3.Le lynchage médiatique par les médias publics et privés sous le joug du pouvoir
Le 16 janvier 2010, jour de son retour au Rwanda, la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi est allée le se recueillir au Mémorial du génocide de Gisozi. Répondant à une question d’un journaliste, elle a rappelé que l’unité et la réconciliation ne seront pleinement atteintes que lorsque tous les coupables de génocide contre les Tutsi mais aussi de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l’humanité commis à l’encontre des Hutus, seront traduits en justice. Le lendemain de cette déclaration, le quotidien pro-gouvernemental The News Times lançait une véritable campagne de haine et de déshumanisation à l’encontre de Mme Ingabire qu’il accusait faussement de négationnisme. Cette campagne de lynchage fut suivie par d’autres journaux et médias d’Etat, y compris la radio et la télévision nationales. Les hautes autorités de l’Etat comme les ministres ainsi que les chefs de partis alliés au FPR s’en mêlèrent et appellent au supplice de la Présidentes des FDU-Inkingi. Cette campagne d’intimidation atteindra son paroxysme lorsque le Président de la République intimera lui-même l’ordre à la justice d’engager des poursuites contre Mme Ingabire.
4.Les agressions physiques, autre moyen d’intimidation
Alors qu’ils se rendaient au bureau administratif du secteur Kinyinya suite à l’appel du Secrétaire exécutif de ce secteur pour retirer des documents administratifs, la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi et son assistant furent agressés dans les bureaux de l’administration publique par une bande de jeunes vraisemblablement dressés pour la cause. Mme Ingabire se vit arracher son sac à main, lequel contenait ses papiers d’identité et ses effets personnels. Aucune enquête ne fut diligentée pour retrouver et sanctionner les malfrats.
5.Les enquêtes policières et judiciaires, autre stratégie pour criminaliser l’opposition
Après les ordres donnés par le Président de la République, le Département des Investigations Criminelles de la police rwandaise convoqua quasi-instantanément la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi pour lui signifier les charges qui pesaient contre elle, à savoir l’atteinte à la sûreté de l’Etat, le divisionnisme, le véhicule de l’idéologie génocidaire, la minimalisation du génocide, la collaboration avec les FDLR, et, cerises sur le gâteau, le trouble de la sécurité publique par des attentats à la grenade ainsi que le projet de renverser un gouvernement légal. On se rappellera qu’un autre opposant politique, Monsieur Deogratias Mushayidi ainsi que des officiers supérieurs de l’armée, en rupture avec le régime, sont accusées des mêmes infractions.
S’ensuivirent des convocations et des interrogatoires devenues répétitives destinées à briser le mental de Mme Ingabire dont certains pouvaient durer jusqu’à 10 heures de suite.
6.L’interdiction de tenir le congrès constitutif du parti
La réalité voudrait que Mme Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, n’ayant été jugée coupable par aucun tribunal, bénéficie de la présomption d’innocence. Mais quelle n’a pas été la surprise quand le Maire de Nyarugenge, après avoir usé de tous les subterfuges lors de demandes précédentes, refusa de lui délivrer l’autorisation de tenir une réunion publique sous le prétexte qu’elle faisait l’objet d’enquêtes policières. Cette interdiction est aussi justifiée, d’après Madame le Maire, par le fait que l’administration ne saurait pas le contenu des déclarations de la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi, confirmant ainsi que seuls, ceux qui parlent le même langage que le FPR, ont droit à l’espace politique au Rwanda. Cette position fut reprise et confirmée par le Ministre ayant en charge les partis politiques et l’administration locale dans ses attributions, tout cela en violation flagrante des dispositions légales en vigueur.
7.L’action de fomenter des divisions et des putschs au sein des partis d’opposition
Les trois partis d’opposition à savoir le PS-Imberakuri, seul parti d’opposition agréé à ce jour, le Democratic Green Party of Rwanda et les FDU-Inkingi, deux formations qui cherchent encore à se faire enregistrer, ont créé un conseil de concertation permanent afin de se renforcer mutuellement en menant en commun certaines actions politiques et diplomatiques. Ce Conseil était devenu donc un casse-tête pour le régime en place qui décida de passer à la vitesse supérieure pour lui barrer la route. Alors que des obstacles non légaux sont dressés devant les formations politiques de l’opposition pour ne pas tenir leur réunion, c’est par des facilités déconcertantes que des dissidents dociles obtinrent les autorisations nécessaires pour tenir leur congrès extraordinaire et ainsi chasser le Président légal et légitime du parti PS-Imberakuri, Me Bernard Ntaganda.
8.Les entraves à la liberté d’aller et venir à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du pays.
Après plus de 15 ans d’exil, Mme Ingabire cherchait à découvrir le pays. Mais tous ses déplacements furent surveillés à la loupe afin d’empêcher tout contact avec la population, laquelle commençait à montrer un certain enthousiasme aux encouragements de sortir de la peur qu’elle leur prodiguait et à l’idée d’une alternance politique pacifique. Le 23 mars 2010, alors que Mme Ingabire ne faisait l’objet d’aucun contrôle judiciaire la contraignant à rester au Rwanda, elle fut empêchée de prendre l’avion à l’aéroport international de Kanombe pour rendre visite à sa famille.
Mr Ntaganda, Président du parti PS-Imberakuri, a lui aussi été empêché à plusieurs reprises d’installer les organes statutaires de son parti dans les provinces.
Conclusion
Les obstacles que le régime dresse contre ses opposants politiques, obstacles que l’entrée des FDU-Inkingi sur la scène politique rwandaise vient de mettre au grand jour, révèlent la nature d’un pouvoir qui veut interpréter la loi et les procédures à sa guise, qui a des difficultés énormes à tolérer le débat contradictoire, qui éprouve des graves embarras à accepter l’opposition politique et qui considère la force comme le seul argument qui compte dans la gestion politique. Tous ces attributs sont ceux d’un pouvoir totalitaire dont il faut sérieusement craindre qu’ils ne fassent dérailler le processus politique en cours en vue des élections présidentielles d’août 2010.
Cette mise à nue du caractère totalitaire du FPR survient étonnamment rapidement et montre une fois encore qu’il est temps que le régime comprenne que la démocratie est indubitable, qu’elle arrivera tôt ou tard et que, devant la détermination de plus en plus perceptible de la population, rien ne l’arrêtera.
Fait à Kigali, le 31 mars 2010
Les Forces Démocratiques Unifiées-Inkingi
Press Release
Le 16 janvier 2010 rentrait au Rwanda, après 16 ans d’exil, une opposante politique, Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Présidente des Forces démocratiques unifiées FDU-Inkingi, afin de faire agréer sa formation politique et participer aux élections présidentielles prévues en août 2010.
La décision de rentrer au pays, faut-il le rappeler, a été prise après analyse approfondie du contexte politique, des défis et des enjeux, ainsi que des différents scenarii d’action politique et des risques liés à chacun d’eux. Il est apparu pour les FDU-Inkingi que le pari de la lutte démocratique pacifique était le mieux à même de soutenir notre projet politique et de construire un pays hospitalier à tous les Rwandais.
Mais cette perspective s’adressait non seulement au peuple rwandais mais aussi à ses dirigeants actuels. Nous attendions de ces derniers qu’ils fassent montre de bonne volonté, ouvrent l’espace politique, permettent le débat contradictoire autour des projets de société afin que le peuple fasse en connaissance de cause son choix, notamment lors d’élections. Tel ne fut malheureusement pas le cas, le régime du Front Patriotique Rwandais « FPR » nous érigea au contraire des obstacles progressivement infranchissables, démontrant ainsi, dans un délai de moins de deux mois, sa nature totalitaire. Quelques exemples nous permettent d’étayer ce constat.
1.Le refus d’octroyer des passeports aux exilés membres des FDU-Inkingi
Après avoir annoncé leur volonté de rentrer au Rwanda, une dizaine de membres pressentis pour mener le combat politique à l’intérieur du pays ont sollicité des passeports. Leurs demandes sont restées sans réponse jusqu’à aujourd’hui à l’exception de deux passeports dont celui de la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi. Ceci est d’autant plus incompréhensible que le gouvernement rwandais multiplie des opérations envers le HCR et les pays africains qui hébergent des réfugiés rwandais afin de les rentrer de force au Rwanda.
2.Des rapports télécommandés pour accuser faussement l’opposition politique
Le 23 Novembre 2009, sortait un rapport dit des Nations Unies sur les FDLR opérant en République Démocratique du Congo. Sans en apporter la moindre preuve, par exemple du contenu des conversations, ce rapport accusait certains dirigeants des FDU-Inkingi de collaborer avec ladite opposition armée. La Présidente des FDU-Inkingi était accusée d’avoir rencontré en Espagne en 2006, certains dirigeants des Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda « FDLR ». Le rapport omet de mentionner que des représentants du gouvernement et des survivants du génocide rwandais participaient aussi à cette réunion consacrée à la paix, facilitée par la Fondation Solivar.
Le timing de publication de ce rapport avec l’annonce de la décision des FDU-Inkingi de participer aux élections présidentielles rwandaises d’août 2010, la légèreté des éléments de preuve à l’encontre de notre formation ainsi que l’utilisation quasi-instantané de ce rapport par le gouvernement rwandais, pour empêcher la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi d’exercer ses droits politiques, laissent suspecter l’immixtion du régime du FPR, dans la réalisation de ce rapport. Ce dernier est en outre, rappelons-le, rejeté par tous les pays de la région des Grands Lacs Africains accusés dans ledit rapport, à savoir le Burundi, l’Ouganda et la Tanzanie.
3.Le lynchage médiatique par les médias publics et privés sous le joug du pouvoir
Le 16 janvier 2010, jour de son retour au Rwanda, la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi est allée le se recueillir au Mémorial du génocide de Gisozi. Répondant à une question d’un journaliste, elle a rappelé que l’unité et la réconciliation ne seront pleinement atteintes que lorsque tous les coupables de génocide contre les Tutsi mais aussi de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l’humanité commis à l’encontre des Hutus, seront traduits en justice. Le lendemain de cette déclaration, le quotidien pro-gouvernemental The News Times lançait une véritable campagne de haine et de déshumanisation à l’encontre de Mme Ingabire qu’il accusait faussement de négationnisme. Cette campagne de lynchage fut suivie par d’autres journaux et médias d’Etat, y compris la radio et la télévision nationales. Les hautes autorités de l’Etat comme les ministres ainsi que les chefs de partis alliés au FPR s’en mêlèrent et appellent au supplice de la Présidentes des FDU-Inkingi. Cette campagne d’intimidation atteindra son paroxysme lorsque le Président de la République intimera lui-même l’ordre à la justice d’engager des poursuites contre Mme Ingabire.
4.Les agressions physiques, autre moyen d’intimidation
Alors qu’ils se rendaient au bureau administratif du secteur Kinyinya suite à l’appel du Secrétaire exécutif de ce secteur pour retirer des documents administratifs, la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi et son assistant furent agressés dans les bureaux de l’administration publique par une bande de jeunes vraisemblablement dressés pour la cause. Mme Ingabire se vit arracher son sac à main, lequel contenait ses papiers d’identité et ses effets personnels. Aucune enquête ne fut diligentée pour retrouver et sanctionner les malfrats.
5.Les enquêtes policières et judiciaires, autre stratégie pour criminaliser l’opposition
Après les ordres donnés par le Président de la République, le Département des Investigations Criminelles de la police rwandaise convoqua quasi-instantanément la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi pour lui signifier les charges qui pesaient contre elle, à savoir l’atteinte à la sûreté de l’Etat, le divisionnisme, le véhicule de l’idéologie génocidaire, la minimalisation du génocide, la collaboration avec les FDLR, et, cerises sur le gâteau, le trouble de la sécurité publique par des attentats à la grenade ainsi que le projet de renverser un gouvernement légal. On se rappellera qu’un autre opposant politique, Monsieur Deogratias Mushayidi ainsi que des officiers supérieurs de l’armée, en rupture avec le régime, sont accusées des mêmes infractions.
S’ensuivirent des convocations et des interrogatoires devenues répétitives destinées à briser le mental de Mme Ingabire dont certains pouvaient durer jusqu’à 10 heures de suite.
6.L’interdiction de tenir le congrès constitutif du parti
La réalité voudrait que Mme Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, n’ayant été jugée coupable par aucun tribunal, bénéficie de la présomption d’innocence. Mais quelle n’a pas été la surprise quand le Maire de Nyarugenge, après avoir usé de tous les subterfuges lors de demandes précédentes, refusa de lui délivrer l’autorisation de tenir une réunion publique sous le prétexte qu’elle faisait l’objet d’enquêtes policières. Cette interdiction est aussi justifiée, d’après Madame le Maire, par le fait que l’administration ne saurait pas le contenu des déclarations de la Présidente des FDU-Inkingi, confirmant ainsi que seuls, ceux qui parlent le même langage que le FPR, ont droit à l’espace politique au Rwanda. Cette position fut reprise et confirmée par le Ministre ayant en charge les partis politiques et l’administration locale dans ses attributions, tout cela en violation flagrante des dispositions légales en vigueur.
7.L’action de fomenter des divisions et des putschs au sein des partis d’opposition
Les trois partis d’opposition à savoir le PS-Imberakuri, seul parti d’opposition agréé à ce jour, le Democratic Green Party of Rwanda et les FDU-Inkingi, deux formations qui cherchent encore à se faire enregistrer, ont créé un conseil de concertation permanent afin de se renforcer mutuellement en menant en commun certaines actions politiques et diplomatiques. Ce Conseil était devenu donc un casse-tête pour le régime en place qui décida de passer à la vitesse supérieure pour lui barrer la route. Alors que des obstacles non légaux sont dressés devant les formations politiques de l’opposition pour ne pas tenir leur réunion, c’est par des facilités déconcertantes que des dissidents dociles obtinrent les autorisations nécessaires pour tenir leur congrès extraordinaire et ainsi chasser le Président légal et légitime du parti PS-Imberakuri, Me Bernard Ntaganda.
8.Les entraves à la liberté d’aller et venir à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du pays.
Après plus de 15 ans d’exil, Mme Ingabire cherchait à découvrir le pays. Mais tous ses déplacements furent surveillés à la loupe afin d’empêcher tout contact avec la population, laquelle commençait à montrer un certain enthousiasme aux encouragements de sortir de la peur qu’elle leur prodiguait et à l’idée d’une alternance politique pacifique. Le 23 mars 2010, alors que Mme Ingabire ne faisait l’objet d’aucun contrôle judiciaire la contraignant à rester au Rwanda, elle fut empêchée de prendre l’avion à l’aéroport international de Kanombe pour rendre visite à sa famille.
Mr Ntaganda, Président du parti PS-Imberakuri, a lui aussi été empêché à plusieurs reprises d’installer les organes statutaires de son parti dans les provinces.
Conclusion
Les obstacles que le régime dresse contre ses opposants politiques, obstacles que l’entrée des FDU-Inkingi sur la scène politique rwandaise vient de mettre au grand jour, révèlent la nature d’un pouvoir qui veut interpréter la loi et les procédures à sa guise, qui a des difficultés énormes à tolérer le débat contradictoire, qui éprouve des graves embarras à accepter l’opposition politique et qui considère la force comme le seul argument qui compte dans la gestion politique. Tous ces attributs sont ceux d’un pouvoir totalitaire dont il faut sérieusement craindre qu’ils ne fassent dérailler le processus politique en cours en vue des élections présidentielles d’août 2010.
Cette mise à nue du caractère totalitaire du FPR survient étonnamment rapidement et montre une fois encore qu’il est temps que le régime comprenne que la démocratie est indubitable, qu’elle arrivera tôt ou tard et que, devant la détermination de plus en plus perceptible de la population, rien ne l’arrêtera.
Fait à Kigali, le 31 mars 2010
Les Forces Démocratiques Unifiées-Inkingi
Congolese Women Offer Prescriptions for Ending Sexual Violence in Congo.
By Bibiane Aningina Tshefu, Women’s Coordinator & Adviser, Friends of the Congo
and
Kambale Musavuli, Student Coordinator & Spokesperson, Friends of the Congo
During the week of March 1-12, 2010, several women from the D.R. Congo came to New York to participate at the United Nations 54th Commission on the Status of Women. This is a high level annual international Women’s Forum. The Congolese women represented both government and non-government sectors as well as different provinces of their country. They had ample opportunity to raise their concerns to the gathering during assembly, speak to United Nations officials, policy-makers, members of the New York civil society and community, as well as key members of President Obama’s administration.
The women came with a singular focus, to articulate how Congolese women felt the global community could best address the fourteen-year conflict in the D.R. Congo. Wherever the women ventured, whether it was a community forum in Harlem, gathering at local churches, forums at the United Nations or meetings with Obama administration officials, they articulated a consistent and resolute message. Listen to the Congolese for a change: as “we have repeatedly shared with the international community how they can optimally participate in bringing an end to the geo-strategic resource war in the Congo.”
Western based Think Tanks, humanitarian institutions and policy makers often argue that they have tried everything to bring an end to the conflict. However, a cursory look at the policies that have been prescribed or implemented reveals that almost every policy option tried, has avoided core grassroots women recommendations. Policies implemented by the international community are marked by a reluctance to pressure U.S. and British allies Rwanda, led by Paul Kagame and Uganda, headed by Yoweri Museveni. Also, in spite of the myriad United Nations studies (http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/reports), there has been deadly silence around the role of western mining interests in the perpetuation of the conflict.
The Congolese women shared the following prescriptions to bring an end to the conflict:
1. Call for an Inter-Rwandan dialogue between Rwanda’s Tutsi leadership and Hutu rebels inside Congo. There are no military solutions to what is essentially a political crisis.
2. Opening and expansion of democratic space inside both Rwanda and Uganda so their internal conflicts will cease being fought on the bodies of Congolese women.
3. Greater participation in political life and the decision-making process on the part of Congolese women.
4. Redirection of focus on the part of the global community from targeting the symptoms or effects of the conflict to addressing the root causes - primarily a foreign resource war being waged inside Congo to the detriment of innocent civilians.
In the final analysis, Sexual violence is a consequence of war, therefore, in order to end the violence against women, the conflict must end which requires an end to impunity inside the Congo and in the international community’s involvement in the Congo.
Click on below links to read the messages from the women:
Senator Eve Bazaiba Masudi – "The Political Implication of Congolese Women, for Change and the Promotion of Good Governance in the DRC "
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/bazaiba.pdf
Mme Annie Matundu Mbambi - "The Role and Involvement of Women in the Congolese Peace Process"
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/matundu.pdf
Mme Jeanine Gabrielle Ngungu - "The Problematic of Violence Against Women: A Major Challenge in the National Reconstruction Process"
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/ngungu.pdf
Mme Marie-Claire Faray - "A Message From Congolese Women on the 8th March International Women's Day"
http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/2010/03/message-from-congolese-women-on-8th.php
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) message from Congolese women. Video message read by Katherin Machalek, WILPF consultant.
http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/thirteenth/hrc100324am2-eng.rm?start=01:03:02&end=01:05:12
and
Kambale Musavuli, Student Coordinator & Spokesperson, Friends of the Congo
During the week of March 1-12, 2010, several women from the D.R. Congo came to New York to participate at the United Nations 54th Commission on the Status of Women. This is a high level annual international Women’s Forum. The Congolese women represented both government and non-government sectors as well as different provinces of their country. They had ample opportunity to raise their concerns to the gathering during assembly, speak to United Nations officials, policy-makers, members of the New York civil society and community, as well as key members of President Obama’s administration.
The women came with a singular focus, to articulate how Congolese women felt the global community could best address the fourteen-year conflict in the D.R. Congo. Wherever the women ventured, whether it was a community forum in Harlem, gathering at local churches, forums at the United Nations or meetings with Obama administration officials, they articulated a consistent and resolute message. Listen to the Congolese for a change: as “we have repeatedly shared with the international community how they can optimally participate in bringing an end to the geo-strategic resource war in the Congo.”
Western based Think Tanks, humanitarian institutions and policy makers often argue that they have tried everything to bring an end to the conflict. However, a cursory look at the policies that have been prescribed or implemented reveals that almost every policy option tried, has avoided core grassroots women recommendations. Policies implemented by the international community are marked by a reluctance to pressure U.S. and British allies Rwanda, led by Paul Kagame and Uganda, headed by Yoweri Museveni. Also, in spite of the myriad United Nations studies (http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/reports), there has been deadly silence around the role of western mining interests in the perpetuation of the conflict.
The Congolese women shared the following prescriptions to bring an end to the conflict:
1. Call for an Inter-Rwandan dialogue between Rwanda’s Tutsi leadership and Hutu rebels inside Congo. There are no military solutions to what is essentially a political crisis.
2. Opening and expansion of democratic space inside both Rwanda and Uganda so their internal conflicts will cease being fought on the bodies of Congolese women.
3. Greater participation in political life and the decision-making process on the part of Congolese women.
4. Redirection of focus on the part of the global community from targeting the symptoms or effects of the conflict to addressing the root causes - primarily a foreign resource war being waged inside Congo to the detriment of innocent civilians.
In the final analysis, Sexual violence is a consequence of war, therefore, in order to end the violence against women, the conflict must end which requires an end to impunity inside the Congo and in the international community’s involvement in the Congo.
Click on below links to read the messages from the women:
Senator Eve Bazaiba Masudi – "The Political Implication of Congolese Women, for Change and the Promotion of Good Governance in the DRC "
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/bazaiba.pdf
Mme Annie Matundu Mbambi - "The Role and Involvement of Women in the Congolese Peace Process"
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/matundu.pdf
Mme Jeanine Gabrielle Ngungu - "The Problematic of Violence Against Women: A Major Challenge in the National Reconstruction Process"
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/ngungu.pdf
Mme Marie-Claire Faray - "A Message From Congolese Women on the 8th March International Women's Day"
http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/2010/03/message-from-congolese-women-on-8th.php
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) message from Congolese women. Video message read by Katherin Machalek, WILPF consultant.
http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/thirteenth/hrc100324am2-eng.rm?start=01:03:02&end=01:05:12
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