Applied Policy Researcher | Academic |Public Affairs Commentary| A critical mass for an introspective Africa|The Conscience is the guiding compass.
Rwanda
Joined November 2014
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Africa’s education should help us understand five things:
1. Who we are.
2. What we aspire to be.
3. What explains the gap.
4. How to close the gap.
5. How to develop a critical mass with knowledge of 1-4.
This should then be the measure of an educated African.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
"Finally, #Rwanda must come to terms with the idea that it is no longer involved in mediation, either walk away or readjust its posture towards a reality that what it is involved in has ceased to be a mediation."💯
The moment a mediator starts to issue threats and sanctions against a party to the mediation, he ceases to be a mediator and must recuse themselves from the mediation, replaced by another should the parties involved in the conflict choose to continue with mediation as the path for resolving the grievances.
Should the mediator refuse to recuse themselves, the sanctioned party has every right to withdraw from the mediation - it is the natural reaction to a self imposed mediator.
Should the aggrieved party remain in the mediation, it accepts - overtly or covertly - that what it is involved in is no longer a mediation but something else. In fact, all parties remaining are aware that they are participating in something other than mediation.
Therefore, the U.S must either recuse itself from mediation or walk itself back to a posture of a mediator. Otherwise, it implicitly enjoins the FARDC/FDLR alliance, a tripartite underpinned by a genocidal ideology.
Finally, Rwanda must come to terms with the idea that it is no longer involved in mediation, either walk away or readjust its posture towards a reality that what it is involved in has ceased to be a mediation.
Tshisekedi’s dollars can be better put to work. Lobbyists having a field day.
Paul Rusesabagina : « Ce qui m'a gardé en vie, c'était ma famille et la communauté internationale »
Revenant sur les circonstances de sa libération, Paul Rusesabagina a attribué sa survie à deux forces : sa famille et la mobilisation internationale.
« Quand vous voyez quelqu'un en difficulté, ne vous taisez jamais. Parlez de cette personne. Allez partout et parlez d'elle », avait-il enseigné à son épouse et à ses enfants, une consigne qu'ils ont suivie à la lettre pendant sa détention, entraînant dans leur sillage le Congrès et le Sénat américains, l'Union européenne, le gouvernement belge et de nombreuses organisations humanitaires.
Évoquant la « répression transnationale », il s'est présenté comme le seul, selon lui, à avoir été enlevé depuis les États-Unis, ramené au Rwanda, torturé, détenu deux ans et sept mois, et à en être sorti vivant. D'autres, a-t-il rappelé, n'ont pas eu cette chance, citant certains opposants rwandais, assassinés au Kenya, ainsi que des victimes en Ouganda, en Afrique du Sud et dans plusieurs pays européens.
« Ce qui m'a gardé en vie, c'était ma famille, c'était la communauté internationale et c'était vous », a-t-il conclu.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
True; Africans have always desparately wanted without for all that knowing how to bridge the gap between wanting and achieving.
The U.S is confusing the role of Mediator with that of Guarantor.
One cannot be the other. Neither can one be both.
Only the Guarantor can issue threats/sanctions.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
So, Rwanda should SURRENDER AND MAKE THE PERISHING FASTER?! They didn't survive Genocide to just come and grant Tshisekedi& Americans a CHEAP VICTORY- WHAT THEY COULDN'T ACHIEVE ON THE BATTLEFIELD to FLUKE it through cowardly SANCTIONS which punish UNARMED CIVILIANS.
🇺🇸🇷🇼🇨🇩 Weeks after Tim Kennedy was shot three times in eastern Congo... Washington sanctioned the army he was fighting
Treasury hit Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense for deploying thousands of troops alongside the M23 rebels in North and South Kivu, and Zigama Credit and Savings Society for moving the money that buys their weapons and launders the gold that comes out of rebel-held mines into Rwanda.
That is the same war Erik Prince’s contractors are in on the Congolese side, under a contract to secure and tax the mining areas Washington wants American companies in, and the September ambush that wounded Kennedy and killed a former New Zealand commando happened on one of those mining-revenue operations.
The sanctions put the US government where Prince already was: on Tshisekedi’s side against Kigali, which was Washington’s Africa partner until the minerals deal made Congo worth more.
Rwanda now has a choice between pulling its troops out of the Kivus or watching its defense ministry get cut off from dollars, and M23 has to decide whether to keep fighting with its bank frozen.
Source: Reuters, New York Times / Writer: Daniel
The moment a mediator starts to issue threats and sanctions against a party to the mediation, he ceases to be a mediator and must recuse themselves from the mediation, replaced by another should the parties involved in the conflict choose to continue with mediation as the path for resolving the grievances.
Should the mediator refuse to recuse themselves, the sanctioned party has every right to withdraw from the mediation - it is the natural reaction to a self imposed mediator.
Should the aggrieved party remain in the mediation, it accepts - overtly or covertly - that what it is involved in is no longer a mediation but something else. In fact, all parties remaining are aware that they are participating in something other than mediation.
Therefore, the U.S must either recuse itself from mediation or walk itself back to a posture of a mediator. Otherwise, it implicitly enjoins the FARDC/FDLR alliance, a tripartite underpinned by a genocidal ideology.
Finally, Rwanda must come to terms with the idea that it is no longer involved in mediation, either walk away or readjust its posture towards a reality that what it is involved in has ceased to be a mediation.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
Brilliant analysis.
Mediation, American style:
1. Sanction the side with a real cause not the genocidal alliance
2. Ask the genocidal alliance to neutralize itself not the force (M23) with the actual cause and capacity to do so
3. Refuse to sanction mercenaries (Eric Prince) involved in the very conflict you are mediating.
On these bases, you would be a fool to conclude that an outcome of peace is being sought by the mediator.
Also note: every time Tshisekedi has domestic pressure in Kinshasa, Massad Boulos (whose son has business interests with Tshisekedi) pulls a trick out of his hat to distract and scatter that pressure.
Think: How can the U.S announce an operation plan to neutralize the FDLR and the following day sanction the Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense - not the FDLR or its ally the FARDC. These two actions are a contradiction that is only possible via Boulos’ ability to pull the cat out of that hat for reasons noted in the preceding paragraph.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
American mediation on an issue in which the very individuals making decisions in the Administration regarding the outcome of that "mediation" stand to gain financially, is an oxymoron.
Mediation, American style:
1. Sanction the side with a real cause not the genocidal alliance
2. Ask the genocidal alliance to neutralize itself not the force (M23) with the actual cause and capacity to do so
3. Refuse to sanction mercenaries (Eric Prince) involved in the very conflict you are mediating.
On these bases, you would be a fool to conclude that an outcome of peace is being sought by the mediator.
Also note: every time Tshisekedi has domestic pressure in Kinshasa, Massad Boulos (whose son has business interests with Tshisekedi) pulls a trick out of his hat to distract and scatter that pressure.
Think: How can the U.S announce an operation plan to neutralize the FDLR and the following day sanction the Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense - not the FDLR or its ally the FARDC. These two actions are a contradiction that is only possible via Boulos’ ability to pull the cat out of that hat for reasons noted in the preceding paragraph.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
The West seem to believe they are entitled to be the sole owners of Africa's resources.
So, the issue is the destination of the minerals.
If M23 decided to send them to another destination - since it must because it doesn’t have processing plants - then sanctions against Rwanda will be lifted or those other countries receiving them will also be sanctioned?
The question is: why is it criminal for African minerals to end up in an African country?
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
If only a pint of the pressure against Rwanda was used on the DRC government to stop its support to the FDLR & harassing of Kinyarwanda speaking communities in Eastern DRC , we wouldn't be were we are now.
The way Rwanda is being punched, you’d think it was a superpower competing with the US in the nuclear arms race. 😂 These look less like sanctions than rewards for Tshisekedi handing over Congo’s minerals. If both parties fail to comply, why sanction only one? @TiborPNagyJr
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
Flávio Bolsonaro a fui le pays après sa défaite, avec un passeport italien, nationalité qu’il possède depuis 2023. 60 millions de Brésiliens ont voté pour qu’un Européen devienne leur président 😂 Je croyais que c’était seulement les Africains qui faisaient ça…
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
“In hating Africa and in hating the Africans, we ended up hating ourselves, without even realizing it. Because you can't hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree. You can't hate your origin and not end up hating yourself.”
-Malcolm X
Brilliant!
Friends, a lot is happening, but please allow me a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for the outpouring of kindness I have received since the @BPRbankrw leadership transition was announced.
As I conclude my tenure as BPR MD, my heart is filled with gratitude for the privilege of serving this remarkable institution.
I joined the bank during one of the most transformative and challenging periods in the Bank's history, following the KCB/BPR merger. Oh how far we have come! Raising my head a little the last weeks has enabled me to have a deep appreciation of how much we have achieved and where the bank stands today. What kept us going was the opportunity to serve the people who place their trust in us every day: our customers, partners, shareholders, our communities, and most importantly, our staff.
Our brand purpose; “For People, For Better”, deeply reflects my own values. I have always believed that leadership is about service, and service is ultimately about people. In every decision we make and every initiative we pursue, our goal is simple: to leave the lives of those we touch a little better than we found them.
To everyone who is part of this journey, thank you. Thank you for your trust, your support, your partnership, and the opportunity to serve. I do not take any of it lightly, my heart is full 💚
Madame,
Rwanda doesn’t - and shouldn’t - desire for sanctions against “both sides.” It desires sanctions against offenders of the Washington Agreement. They ought to be instruments for enforcing accountability.
Current sanctions are anything but drivers of accountability.
On the contrary, they incentivize the violation of the Washington Accord.
Question becomes: Is the U.S the key spoiler of its own Accord?
Mr. Nagy, a threat, perceived or real, is not equivalent to thousands killed and millions displaced. When you served in government, would you have equated fear of an attack in a dark alley with decades of violence, rape and forced displacement? “Sanction both sides” erases that distinction—and suggests Congolese lives count for less. They do not.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
Man! Your analysis has killed my appetite. So on point.
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
Neoliberalism is best understood not simply as economic policy, but as a project to restore class power and consolidate control over the economy.
The top 0.1% of U.S. firms went from owning 47% of corporate assets in 1930 to 88% in 2013.
On the contrary, the sanctions are to relieve the panic in Kinshasa due to Kabila’s move. It is Boulos’ counter move on behalf of his family’s business partner, Tshisekedi.
Note that it also happened when a General in the FARDC defected to join Kabila. Subsequently, Kinshasa issued directives against the movement of senior officers for any reason.
#RDC: "Les nouvelles sanctions américaines contre Kigali tombent à point nommé. Le Président Kagame découvre que même en utilisant l'ex-président J. Kabila pour "congoliser" l'agression militaire du Rwanda contre la RDC, on ne peut pas tromper tout le monde tout le temps...", Lambert Mende
Lonzen Rugira retweeted
给我们的法国朋友提个醒，你们靠殖民掠夺的财富差不多花完了，所以你们要过苦日子了。而毛泽东对中国的意义在于，你们没钱以后只怕又想出去抢劫，他让中国人民不再害怕被抢劫，也让你们不敢再对中国动手。明白么？强盗的子民，你们先管好自己，不要一天到晚总想教育别人，先把自己的底裤穿上，别光着屁股丢人。
Rappel pour nos amis chinois : Une dictature est un régime politique autocratique dans lequel une seule personne ou un groupe restreint de personnes détient le pouvoir absolu, sans aucun contrôle légal, institutionnel ou démocratique.
Non seulement Mao était un dictateur mais, désolé de vous décevoir et de vous révéler un secret bien gardé, vous êtes toujours en dictature même si les choses sont apaisées et que le pays se développe.