By David Himbara
On December 11, 2018, General Paul Kagame was breathing fire as he addressed his army during its war games in eastern Rwanda. In his typical rhetoric, Kagame boasted that Rwanda’s various enemies may dream of causing it harm but if they dared to cross the red line, Rwanda would kill or capture them alive.
As Kagame put it, “those who wish to do us harm will keep dreaming; but those who will come to us, we will keep them, dead or alive.” The General added that “we don’t even react when they insult us, provided that they don’t cross the red line.” Here is a man who thrives in violence.
A day later, Rwanda attacked South Africa for engaging Rwanda’s “enemies” in Canada and South Africa
On December 12, 2018, Rwanda attacked South Africa through the media. In a press release, Rwanda accused South Africa of buying into “rumours and distortions propagated by Rwandan detractors based in Canada and South Africa” instead of normalizing relations with Rwanda.
The most ironic part of Rwanda’s attack on South Africa is this statement in the Rwanda government news release of December 12: “The government of Rwanda reiterates its willingness to continue working with the government of South Africa on the rapid normalization of relations through normal diplomatic channels.” Who is the party in desperate need to reestablish these relationships?
Who was responsible for breaking the relations in the first place? Who is nervous about the pending inquest into the murder of the former intelligence chief, Patrick Karegeya? And who is lecturing whom now through a media release?