By David Himbara
On March 17, 2019, I was asked what I would say directly to Rwanda’s ruler General Paul Kagame. I was appearing on the Fourth Estate, NTV Uganda. I said I would tell Kagame the following:
”President Kagame stop this. I remind you of what President Kikwete told you in 2013. He told you to stop fighting. Most of all, do not ever close an International border. Mr. Kagame you just broke all the rules.”
World-over, the unintended consequences of big blunders by an arrogant but a paranoid, inward-looking, and detached regimes include sudden collapse. This is because such regimes, as exemplified by the Kagame’s totalitarian state are often isolated from the reality of what the overwhelming majority of citizens think. What informs the Kagame regime today is exclusively a cadre of sycophants and yes-men and yes-women who tell Kagame only what he wants hear thus shielding him from reality.
Here is a crazy regime closing a border with Uganda through which most of Rwanda’s exports and imports transit — and through which basic food into Rwanda comes. These are the very border posts at many Rwandans desperately looking for work in Uganda pass. Is it possible that the Kagame’s regime, regarded as stable and invulnerable by outsiders may soon collapse due to its own craziness?One thing is for sure — Kagame has crossed the tipping point.
He has pushed the Rwandan people to the wall. Meanwhile, the regime has painted itself in the corner and is isolated by all its neighbors and countries afar, such as South Africa. The next two months will be most revealing as to how the regime survives the self-inflicted injuries, and whether or not the injuries are fatal.
