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Isn't Gen. Kagame's Proposal the
Only Hope for Country?
The Monitor (Kampala)
10 February 2008
Sam Akaki
He is many things to many people. To French investigating judge
Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Gen Paul Kagame is a suspected international
war criminal who should be in The Hague, facing charges for his
alleged role in the death of former Rwanda president Juvenal
Habyarimana who died in a plane crash, sparking the 1994
inter-communal violence, which killed one million Rwandese, mainly
Tustis and moderate Hutus.
It would be surprising if some leading individuals in Uganda did
not actively assist and encourage Judge Bruguiere in his "investigations"
with a view to ensuring Gen. Kagame's disappearance from the
region.
To these individuals, Gen. Kagame is heading a hostile regime bent
on destabilising us, first by allegedly funding Dr Kizza Besigye's
2001 presidential election bid, and then by supporting a shadowy
People's Redemption Army that is yet to fire a short in anger or
excitement since is formation in 2001!
But to the British and the Americans, Gen. Kagame is the only
leader in the region who is genuinely committed to fighting
corruption, and uplifting the living conditions of the majority.
Last July, the British Conservative leader, Mr David Cameroon,
ignored floods in his constituency and visited Rwanda to work with
local communities in self-help projects because "tackling global
poverty is a "personal priority"
Recently, according to the Daily Monitor, "Rwanda's Dr David
Himbara, the head of the Strategy and Policy Unit in the Office of
the President, confirmed that former British Prime Minister Tony
Blair has taken on the job of adviser to President Kagame's
government."("Kagame gives job to Blair", DM, January 23)
And to the Kenyans, Gen. Kagame is the bearer of the ultimate good
news, published in the Daily Monitor that "Rwandan President Paul
Kagame has said a re-run of Kenya's disputed December 27
presidential poll should be considered seriously". ("Kenya: Kagame
calls for a re-run", Daily Monitor, February 5).
By making his statement almost four weeks after the disputed
elections, Gen. Kagame has come across as a considered and
constructive regional leader who weighs the situation carefully
before making a comment.
This contrasts sharply with Gen. Yoweri Museveni's hasty
recognition of Mr Mwai Mwaki Kibaki as the "elected" president of
Kenya.
Gen. Kagame is not the only one to have called for fresh elections.
The outgoing African Union Commissioner Mr Alpha Oumar Konare, has
declared that only fresh elections administered by an independent
Election Commission and supervised by an international body, can
finally break the dead-lock and avoid bloodshed. Why?
The European Union elections observer team leader, Mr Alexander
Graf Lambsdorff, has said the presidential poll tallying were not
credible.
The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Foreign Secretary David
Miliband, as well as the US Assistant Secretary Ms Jendayi Frazer,
have said they do not know who won the presidential elections. And
the Chairman of the Election Commission of Kenya, Mr Samuel
Kivuito has said he was leaned on to announce the results, which
have been disowned by several election commissioners.
These damning comments by leading personalities raise many
uncomfortable questions, especially for Mr Kofi Annan who is
leading mediation efforts to resolve the crisis in Kenya.
Why should Mr Kibaki and Mr Raila Odinga share power when it is
almost universally agreed that, at best, no one knows who won the
elections and, at worst, Mr Kibaki stole victory from Mr Odinga?
Isn't it plainly obvious that Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga are now
prisoners of their respective political positions in which a
compromise, including power-sharing, would certainly herald their
political unravelling?
Isn't Mr Kibaki being childish to suggest that the opposition
should take the election grievance to court, a position that
should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves, knowing that
the so-called
Kenya High Court, as the Election Commission of Kenya, which gave
Mr Kibaki victory, is packed with his personal appointees?
Does Mr Kibaki expect anyone to take his suggestion seriously,
given that any grievance taken to the High Court would not be
decided on until well after the next elections 2012?
But why is Gen. Kagame also proposing that a peace-keeping force
be sent to Kenya? Doesn't he realise the folly of his suggestion,
given the open-ended tenure of UN peace keeping operations around
the world?
The 1948 UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) in Palestine,
the 1949 UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
and the 1964 United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which were
established to separate the warring communities in the Middle
East, the Indian sub-continent and Cyprus, are still in place, 60
years on.
Does Gen. Kagame want a UN peace-keeping force to stay in Kenya
decades to come? Does he seriously believe that current United
Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo will leave the Great Lakes Region in his life time?
Why can't Gen. Kagame concentrate on rallying African and
international support for his proposal for fresh elections to
determine the real winner who will command and enjoy the support
of the international community? Is that not the only realistic
hope for a lasting peace in Kenya?
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