By: Major Michael Mupende
Fellow Rwandans, ladies and gentlemen, this again is Major Michael Mupende. After I watched and listened to President Paul Kagame’s speech during the recent wedding ceremony of the late General Fred Gisa Rwigyema’s daughter. Considering the weight of the message the speech carried and my best understanding of who Kagame is.
As an activist that I have always been to the oppressed people of our society, I couldn’t lay back, but had to share, to expose the continued persecution of Rwigyema Family and many other Rwandans by Dictator Paul Kagame.
Persecution is any hostility, ill-treatment or harassment directed to an individual or group of people based on reasons of race, religion and or politics. So, Junior Gisa Rwigema and the entire family have been openly persecuted for a long, long time for reasons based on politics.
Mrs Jannette Rwigyema has lived in constant fear and bondage under Kagame’s total surveillance with all her life aspects controlled by Kagame, including engaging in any business or any movement within or out of the country.
Many efforts by Jeannette Rwigyema to do business with other Rwandans were stopped by Kagame himself and actually whoever attempted to show their sympathy to help and or associate with her, had to face it rough, they were either thrown into jail or relived off their job responsibilities.
Many former acquaintances and business associates to Jeannette Rwigyema ran into much trouble; they were persecuted by Kagame and the majority ran for their lives into exile.
The recent outburst, full of bitter utterances to include intimidation and threats directed to Rwigyema’s family by Paul Kagame at Teta Gisa’s wedding was, “adding an Insult to an already sore wound”.
Sincerely speaking, if Mr. Paul Kagame did not have an upper hand into the demise of Fred Gisa Rwigyema; Husband (to the Widow), Father (to the orphans) and Son (to the bereaved Mother), why under heavens, could Kagame have made such utterances at the Wedding ceremony of Fred Rwigyema’s orphaned daughter of all places and opportunities.
The acts by Paul Kagame into that speech was a violation and is tantamount to an open persecution to the whole Rwigyema family. To me, the family seriously deserves help and advocacy from outside Rwanda, for they are in imminent danger.
The strong threats and accusations to the family of being involved with Uganda’s top officials dates back to three decades ago, Jeannette Rwigyema is limited or completely barred to visit Uganda because of those and several other reasons; all these events follow a long Unresolved Demise of Gen Fred Gisa Rwigyema whose circumstances of death I narrated on several occasions as a witness who was on ground at the battle field during the time of his death.
The death of Fred Gisa Rwigyema in the morning of October 2, 1990, implicates Paul Kagame’s involvement but was ever since covered up and presented to Rwandans by the Kagame regime into more than three versions, trying to escape the responsibility.
In recent years, after the long-time open secret of Rwigyema’s death was narrated by myself as one the witness and went through the media; the sister to Fred Rwigyema, Joy Agaba shared the reality of the facts from my testimony to friends and relatives and she immediately died in mysterious circumstances, according to news from many in the Rwandan community.
Now, Kagame is targeting Eric Junior Gisa and has made it clear in his public statements and tone for his (Gisa Junior’s) allegedly involvement with Uganda.
What are the Ugandans or Uganda government deceiving or Using Junior Gisa to do with him? It’s just Paul Kagame’s guilt to have killed Junior’s father that is haunting him, its sheer paranoia. Literary, Kagame in his outburst indicated that, Ugandans are Luring Junior Gisa into succeeding Paul Kagame by supporting him in the effort.
Ordering the Fred Rwigyema family members; the Bride, Teta, Jeannette and Mama Fred to bring exiled Junior back into Rwanda, was directly implicating the whole family into the alleged hate/ unacceptable acts that Junior is involved in with Uganda.
Therefore, Kagame’s utterances should be taken seriously, for his plan to harm the family are imminent. He talked of having tolerated many things from the family for too long and the message was clear. Urgent help and advocacy to Fred Gisa Rwigyema’s family is required. Gisa Junior should be advised not to risk his life traveling to the region for its obviously unsafe for him.
Secondly, it’s a shame to hear what Paul Kagame had to say about the role of Museveni’s Uganda into our liberation war.
It is very annoying to hear Kagame falsifying the history regarding our war as if all Rwandan former Fighters, Politicians, and the general population, then governments from the region to include Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Congo all don’t know what happened, or as if no one from that generation still exist. Paul Kagame, Rwandans and the world are tired of your lies about everything.
It is Undebatable, that Uganda and its leadership was pivotal to everything about RPF/A; it was the headquarter and coordination center of everything that RPF/A was. It was the center for Rwandans from all over the world to Join the military, do all administrative work to the unending fundraising meetings and shows, on to military support to include command and mentoring etc. Paul Kagame personalized and or privatized the history of our liberation and everything else about Rwanda.
I wish some top Military commanders from Uganda circles who were involved with us in the struggle, could give an interview and shed some light regarding what exactly transpired during the war to reveal the truth against Kagame’s reckless downplay of Uganda’s role.
Its not a secret anymore, to say that Kagame was introduced to us (RPA officers) by one top NRA Commander who is still alive and kicking; I don’t have permission to reveal his name.
In the first ever meeting that took place in Kashenyi, Ntungamo district, chaired by that top NRA Commander, is where Kagame derived the power that he bears today, and that is what made him what he has become.
It is Uganda’s NRA, and more especially that very Commander that was assigned to us (RPA) that re-organized us, and changed the mode of fighting to guerrilla war tactics, when we had been defeated and humiliated by FAR in the Akagera national park, and they helped us use Uganda’s side of the mountain forest (the rugano), all of these strategies which Paul Kagame has always claimed credit for, was all the acts of our brothers, comrades from the Uganda’s NRA.
Note: If NRA hadn’t accorded us support and asked us to go back to the park, I tell you that; paul Kagame wouldn’t be the RPA leader of today, for he would not have accepted the offer due to his cowardice.
Conspiracy into Rwigyema’s assassination by itself, wouldn’t have necessarily made it a guarantee for Kagame to become the leader of RPA, it was just a mistaken favor granted to him.
I can freshly remember the mood of all officers in around December of 1990 when the meeting of introducing Paul Kagame as our new leader was announced, no one, not even a single one fighter officer was ready for Paul Kagame’s leadership.
Therefore, had it not been this NRA top Commander and his Uganda’s leadership, no one would have accepted to be led by greedy Paul Kagame as we all knew him. From the time of the first meeting, Paul Kagame was mentored by Uganda in everything. The same top NRA officer, his assistants and liaison officers pretty much ran the war.
These liaison officers linked RPA today’s RDF to the mainstream NRA now (UPDF) throughout Rwanda’s liberation war. Uganda’s officers frequently visited RPA operation areas and the frontline to assess the situation through meetings and physical observations and to report back to higher authority for action. (I don’t want to go into details).
Major Paul Kagame shared daily/ periodic operational radio sitreps and equipment requisition, and on the other hand, he received guidance, directives and equipment as necessary.
We had signalers operating communication radios stationed in Uganda’s NRA throughout our struggle for easy facilitation of the war, these Rwandan officers came to join RPA’s Communication and Technical department way later after the war. So, what is Kagame talking about that, we were not helped by Uganda during our liberation struggle. Kagame should deal with his doctorship and oppression of the Rwandan people, but should leave our history alone for us to tell.
1. Whatever Kagame thinks and does to make himself the savior, the maker and supreme being to the Rwandan people, he should always remember that, he was, “exactly made”. First of all, you were made by Fred Gusa Rwigyema who picked you from the streets of Kampala and showed you the way, to join him and others in the struggle to liberate Uganda.
Kagame, you can say and do anything, be the president of Rwanda for life, but Rwandans will always honor and respect the name of our hero, Fred Gisa Rwigyema for his outstanding role to Rwandan society, and his name will never be erased in our history as you wish.
2. Whatever, the mental issues that are going on with you Kagame, you should remember that, the relationship of Ugandans and Rwandans, is not a relationship that begins and ends with your bad behaviors, the people of the two sister countries have more than you, they are brothers and sisters and the bad relationship you have created within our two people will not hold.
What a shame for you to distort our historical relationship with our brothers and sisters from Uganda. Uganda made you; it rose you from nobody to somebody; they promoted you in NRA, they appointed you to lead us in RPA, they mentored and supported you in everything till they put power into your hands in Kigali.
Kagame you never fought the war as you claim, you did; is that what you call fighting; you only visited our operation areas at wish. You lived in Uganda all the time when we were at war, you made all your children with your wife in the so-called time of war; in the period of four years we were fighting, you were making Children in Uganda, is that how busy you were, busy with us? You lived and got protected inside Uganda all the time, When you came to sleep in Mbarara, Kabale, and Kisoro probably maybe that’s time you could take a story back to Kampala of having stepped at the battlefield.
Your frontlines areas were, Kashekye, Kahondo, Rwene, Karujanga and Gasiza when we were in the adjacent areas of Rwanda near or across the border. When we had a small territory, you had to stay in Uganda, and had your temporary camp at Nyakigando parish of Kahondo sub-county inside Uganda, which you kept calling Gikoba of secteur Shonga in Rwanda.
Mr. Kagame, you came to believe that we have a territory, only when we fought to extend our operations to areas of Byumba; namely; Kiyombe, Bwisigye, Mukarangye, Kivuye to connect with Butaro areas and now we had the Kabuga’s tea estates that had buildings for you to come and live in comfortably, whenever you chose to come over, you were always not there because of your cowardice.
First of all, I usually feel very sick when I see the so called an historic bunker that allegedly, you lived in during the struggle, that is now dubbed the Rwandan war museum. Was there any bomb, be it from air or the ground artillery that ever landed in that tea estate?
Everything you say that you accomplished about leading that war has always been fake news, just to portray yourself as a superior being who has accomplished the unbelievable.
There is nothing new to say that; Kabuga’s Mulindi tea estates was selected as a convenient and safe area in the Rear, closest to Katuna Uganda’s boarder post (about 1 ½ km),where every RPA cadre and supporters came for meetings and fundraising; and you were only there to participate in those activities like everyone else, to include those of Tito, Inyumba, Mazimpaka, Bihozagara , Bizimungu, Kanyarengwe etc, plus those Ugandans you fight so hard to take out of the equation of having helped us in Rwanda’s liberation.
We Rwandans, who participated in that struggle, either militarily and otherwise, altogether honor and appreciate the role Uganda under president Yoweri Museveni played to make it happen, we and the generations to follow us, will never forget the sacrifice, kindness and humility accorded to us by Uganda to liberate our country. Actually, had it not been Uganda, we wouldn’t have won that war.