Officials of our Country
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
I greet you all and thank you
for being here with us during this event.
I especially thank everybody
working in the judiciary which is responsible for the justice in Rwanda.
We are here for two reasons:
The first is to witness the
swearing-in ceremony of Hon Mukakarangwa Clothilde, Madam Ombudsman, Cyanzayire
Aloysia, and the Army Chief of Staff, Land Forces, Maj Gen Frank Kamanzi. I
take this opportunity to welcome them and wish them the best in their new
appointments.
We are also here to launch the
2012-2013 Judicial Year. This is an opportunity to present to Rwandans the new
plans for the judicial year. The two ceremonies, though different, are complementary.
The swearing-in of some officials linked to the justice sector and the new
judicial year both aim to give Rwandans confidence in their country.
The Office of the Ombudsman
like other judicial institutions exists to protect Rwandans. These institutions
defend the freedom of the people, which cannot be possible without security in
our country.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Let me get back to the launch
of the new judicial year.
There is no doubt that the
Judiciary in Rwanda has greatly improved. Many Rwandans have trust in their
Judiciary and so does the international community. The international community
has recognised this progress and this is why there is now good collaboration in
transferring cases to be tried in Rwanda. Any other excuse not to transfer
cases here can be interpreted in another way, but not because our judiciary
doesn’t have the capacity. Cases which have not yet been transferred are a
result of external hindrances and political reasons that we cannot solve. So,
we leave that to the international community.
What is in our power is to
continue to find strategies to strengthen our judiciary and transparency in the
judicial sector. We need to do this by fighting all corruption and misuse of
public funds. Just as we demand quality service delivery from other public
officials, so do we of the judiciary. I call upon Rwandans to seek their
services and play their role in supporting these institutions so that all
problems can be solved. History has taught us that we need to continue building
our capacity for home-grown solutions to the problems of our country.
Although our judiciary has generally improved significantly, we still have challenges that we cannot control – those originating from the external justice. All our efforts have not stopped some foreign jurisdictions from misinterpreting us, especially when it comes to building our countries and our continent. In fact, this applies to developing countries in general.
As far as Africa is concerned or Rwanda in particular, it’s not possible to tell whether what is applied is justice or politics – you cannot easily see the dividing line.
International justice, just
like so many other things we have seen in the recent past, is used to define
and determine how Africans should live their lives.
In English there is the saying
about a carrot and a stick. Sometimes they give you a carrot but then later
this carrot becomes a stick which they use to beat you up.
When international justice is
applied to us, there is no carrot and stick. There is only stick; a political
stick which they use to lead Africans in the direction of their choosing. One
day they use international justice to lead you where they want but another day
they use aid.
They call it international justice, but there are no clear guidelines. This international justice is not used where there is injustice. Instead, they use it for their political interests.
Let me start with our
neighbours in D.R. Congo. This region used to be called
Congo-Belge-and-Ruanda-Urundi is if it was one country, remember. Some people
still think it is still the same – it is not. The Rwanda of today is totally
different from the Rwanda of Ruanda-Urundi-and-Congo-Belge.
Those who caused the current
problems in Congo know themselves. They caused these problems in the past
centuries. Now, strangely, they want Rwanda to be accountable for the existence
of Rwandaphones in Congo. Those who took Rwandophones to the Congo should be
the ones accountable for these problems. These Rwandaphones are persecuted
every day. Yet the people who give us lessons about human rights keep quiet and
condone what goes on. And they turn around and blame Rwanda for the problems of
the Congo. They should bear responsibility for the problems.
he law of the jungle says:
‘You break it, you own it.’ But for them, it’s the other way round: ‘I will
break it and make you own it.’ We are not going to own it. Even with these
threats every day, threats of aid cuts, threats of whatever list you have, you
are just dead wrong. We Rwandans are better off standing up to this boorish
attitude. The attitude of the bullies must be challenged. That is what some of
us live for. We are better off that way. We know that if we don’t, we will be
terribly worse off.
Rwandans – if you don’t stand
up for your dignity, you accept to be beaten with that stick I talked about
earlier. When you accept to be bullied, you are worse off than rejecting abuse
and fighting it. When you fight, you can live your own way, and get along with
what you have. This is where our interest lies; not kneeling down for people
who in the end will persecute us. When I see what Rwanda has gone through in
the recent past, I look for the real justification for it and can’t find it. I
hope some of you can find the reason for it and let us know so that we can get
out of this. Rwandans need to question why the whole world keeps mentioning
Rwanda when they are talking about problems in the D.R. Congo.
The other day I heard on the
radio people saying: “You know, if Kagame stood up and said he is condemning
this group, the donors could unfreeze the aid.” Really?
So, is that what they want?
Kagame to denounce so and so, so that they can release the aid that Rwandans
deserve? If I am to do it, I would first denounce those that caused the M23 to
exist in first place. I would denounce the government that does not respect or
work for its own citizens. I would denounce the international community that
seems blind to what is happening, before I denounce anybody else.
To me, M23, the Government of
Congo, the international community, are all ideologically bankrupt because they
cannot properly define a simple problem that they see. They keep running in
circles. For over a decade, they’ve been running around and keep blaming Rwanda
for the problems of the Congo. Why don’t they have courage to blame themselves
and take part of the responsibility before anybody else will take the
responsibility? What is this blackmail about?
Aid? There is no country in
this world that receives aid and accounts for it better than Rwanda. There is
none. So, I am not sure if these people who give us aid want us to develop.
They give us aid and expect us to remain beggars. They give you aid so that you
forever glorify them and depend on them. They keep using it as a tool of
control and management.
Our new Rwanda must be
different. And I will not stop telling my fellow brothers and sisters,
Africans, to just wake up and know that wherever this happens, some of them
invited it and are not ready to stand up to the challenge. They must get up and
be ready to stand up to this challenge. They are better off that way and there
is no alternative. Africans must refuse to be treated as nobodies.
These powerful countries create
a court for Africans and call it “international”, when it is only for Africans.
And it’s not necessarily for those who have done wrong. It’s for those who have
disobeyed. They pretend and tell us that they are going to punish people who
are involved in the recruitment of child soldiers but they don’t pursue those
who kill children. There are people who kill, who rape, who do everything but
these powerful countries just keep quiet about them. Is that how Africans
should be? Is it what they want them to be?
So, it becomes a tool of
control, of management. If you are killing your own people, if every day you
are inciting people to kill other people, these powers will not show up. They
will be quiet because, after all, to them there are some people who deserve to
be killed. That’s what we are seeing across in the Congo.
Some of you, members of this
house, you probably will have visited those refugees as many others I know
have. You follow what goes on in the Congo.
One part, actually the main
part, where crimes are committed in broad daylight, that’s none of their
business. It’s ok because people who are being killed, who are being raped,
maybe deserve it. And then they turn to the other part and say everything wrong
that has happened in the Congo now has to have people who should be responsible
– the so-called M23. People who are raped and killed in Kinshasa, M23 is blamed
and Rwanda must condemn it. People killed in Kindu, in Uvira, wherever, M23 is
responsible and Rwanda must condemn it. People who raped young girls who are in
those refugee camps, it’s M23. Even now in the territory that is occupied by
representatives of that international community…..
It even goes to Geneva, the UN
Commissioner for Human Rights who says: “These are the worst criminals in that
territory. They are raping……”Well, there is a bigger territory where worse
things are happening. If that was happening, it does not cover up what is
happening even in the hands of government, does not substitute for what needs
to be done about crimes.
So, if I am to condemn; if you
ask me to condemn people or to blame them for anything, I know where to start.
I can’t be like these people. This law of the Jungle, this persecution of
people even at the international level is just unbecoming. It is unbecoming and
they start mixing things that are completely unrelated. They say: “Freeze,
freeze aid to Rwanda, suspend…” What is the connection? This injustice does not
make us compliant, it make us defiant. I am not one of those who would be made
to comply by means of injustice done to my people, to my country. I am one of
those who will be openly defiant. On being defiant, count me on that.
You can have your day, you can
cause suffering to my people. On that one, they are very good. You can have
your day. But to make Rwandans compliant because of that or on that basis will
be very, very difficult. I know I am speaking for Rwandans. I know I am
speaking for Africans, many of who will not stand and say it. If I am wrong and
mistaken; if I am not speaking on behalf of you Rwandans; if I am not speaking
on behalf of Africans and you are not of the same view as me, ask me to step
down and I will not hesitate to do so right away.
If at all you think I am not
adequately representing Rwanda’s interests, you should let me know and I will
step aside immediately. This injustice cannot and should not be tolerated. And
these people who created injustices here and who have created injustices for
this region and for our neighbours cannot stand there and give me lectures
about anything. They cannot. They are free to go and do anything they want. I
know they are capable of doing wrong things… On that one they are very good, so
they are free.
We are doing our best. We are
trying our best to take this country forward, to unite our people, to give them
a decent living like those people have. But they think we don’t deserve it.
They think we don’t deserve the same development, the same value as they have.
Why would anybody accept that?
Why should you Rwandans ever
accept it? Why? The only crime we have committed is to be trying our best to be
decently making progress. That’s a crime! Let me tell you: No, it cannot
happen. It should not happen. It should not be allowed. It should not be
accepted. Let us continue to do what we can do. Those insults thrown upon us
every day, you ignore them. Don’t even accept to put these unhappy faces on
because they will think they have got where they wanted you. Just let us
continue doing our best and let us not accept to be provoked. Let us remain
balanced. Let us keep mastering our art of getting the most out of the very
little we have in our hands. Let us also try and continue to be decent people.
Some of these insults and injustices, everything, happen because of mainly two
reasons.
One reason is that some
Africans also continue to make horrible mistakes and of course that makes for a
good excuse for people to come in and make it worse for you, not any better.
The other reason is our
weaknesses in terms of institutions and our own lack of integrity. We fail to
focus on how to deal with our problems ourselves or at least to take the lead
in resolving our problems. So they go through that. Those are cracks through
which they will come in and cause you worse problems.
All these pretexts come about
because some people in Africa make mistakes that they shouldn’t make. People
who don’t govern their people and represent their interests in the way they
should and end up attracting attention and give people loopholes and excuses to
come and mess them up. They will use that to say: “you see, this is how
Africans are…”
There is also the failure to
create institutions, because of the mistakes I mentioned, and end up attracting
these people who come with the excuses of helping to solve our problems. Fellow
Rwandans, you should not accept to be victims. Never put yourself in a vulnerable
position because no one will get you out.
Of course, there are good
people out there who understand how things should be but sometimes we find
ourselves getting caught in the cross-fire of political wars. Sometimes you
find that people who don’t understand things are the ones wielding power and we
end up bearing the brunt of their frustrations. Never mind that some of the
frustrations may even be as a result of personal problems. Rwanda ends up being
trodden on like that.
Honestly, some of these things
are done to us because people can just do it; they don’t have to have
justification, no. First of all they are the law unto themselves. They consider
themselves as the law and what they say or want is what should be done. They
even influence international justice institutions to do their bidding and this
is where international justice ends up being politicised. There is no respect
for justice. When you don’t respect the law, why do you expect others to do so?
Look at the issue of aid. There
have been many agreements on aid, signed in different places; there is Busan,
Cotonou; the Abuja treaty, Lagos….. What else? We are not short of places and
agreements signed for aid disbursement. But if you ever were deceived that the
other party respects you or the agreements, then you are mistaken. They have
not even the courtesy to tell you. You just hear on radio that they’ve cut aid
or read it in newspapers. No courtesy because they owe you nothing. May be
that’s right. They really don’t owe us anything after all, do they?
But why would you deceive
people and say we have an agreement and this is how we are going to conduct
business, and the other party disowns the agreement as and when they want? They
don’t even have to have a good reason, they don’t. That shows how much contempt
these people have for us. This shows how much contempt and arrogance they
regard us all with. If there was an understanding that they owe us nothing, I
would endorse that 100% because it’s true. The problem is that they say they
are assisting us but there is lack of consistence.
We are told that they are
pursuing their interests but you are left wondering sometimes how we have stood
in the way to stop them from pursuing their interests. It is difficult to
understand what they really want. We have never questioned or stopped anyone
from taking Congo’s wealth because it’s not even our business. However, you
will hear the same people turn around and accuse Rwanda of progressing because
of Congo’s wealth. How can this happen if the wealth cannot make the Congolese
who own the wealth progress? What is saddening is that even the Congolese
themselves will join the chorus about Rwanda progressing because of their
wealth. Why won’t they use their wealth to develop their country? How can
wealth benefit others and not those who possess it?
The only external wealth that I
acknowledge to have helped Rwanda progress is the aid that is given to us and
taken away as those who give it wish. We are always courteous enough to
register our appreciations to those who assist us. However, there are those who
give you assistance and want to control and follow you up to show you how you
should use the assistance. What culture is this? I think this is too much
contempt and arrogance. This cannot happen in a society that values its
culture.
People who have power, and have
a lot of it for that matter, should also be wise. They should wisely exercise
that power. After all if you have power, why not exercise it deligently, in a
wise way? Why do you have power and go tramping on people who are powerless?
When the powerful get angry, it’s not justified. But many times the powerless
have a lot of justifications to be angry.
The powerful, please don’t
abuse your power. It is not appropriate in any culture for the powerful to use
excessive power on the weak, the poor and powerless. This only happens in a
world without a culture and values. But the weak, the poor, the powerless have
a different potential that they should use correctly to get out of this kind of
position we find ourselves in every time. There is another kind of power that
we have and should use. The power of being right. The power of being correct.
The power of refusing injustice. So, you will keep hearing from me on this.
That is why you hired me, Rwandans. I would be happy that some of you or all of
you should be thinking about how we continue with this attitude of according
ourselves dignity.
Even after me, we should have
somebody who continues on the same path. In fact, this should be the
qualification for the one who will step in my position. It should be that and
nothing else: to fight for Rwandans so as to have what they deserve and that is
no less than dignity. Agaciro – the dignity that we have. Only people who can
continue to give that dignity to Rwanda are the people who should lead
Abanyarwanda!
