We Took Risks For Rwanda, Says Museveni
UGANDA risked United Nations’ censure and helped the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army to fight off genocidaires in Rwanda in the 1990s
By Alfred Wasike
UGANDA risked United Nations’ censure and helped the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army to fight off genocidaires in Rwanda in the 1990s.
President Yoweri Museveni was yesterday speaking in Kigali at the 10th anniversary of the 1994, 100-day blood bath by former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s Force Armee Rwandaise (FAR) and the Interahamwe that decimated about a million civilians.
Addressing a mammoth gathering in Amahoro Stadium, Museveni prompted cheers when he said: “Uganda did not stand aloof while those criminals were butchering people here, like others did.â€
“We stood with our brothers, the RPF, to save the rest of the people whom the killers did not
get. Uganda was under real threat. The so-called UNAMIR (UN Mission in Rwanda) was instead watching me and not the genocidaires,†he said.
Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, and Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi, attended, while Tanzania, Mozambique, Belgium, USA and other bodies sent representatives.
Many survivors wept openly, while others had to be taken out.
At the Amahoro (Peace) Stadium, a black banner in front of the presidential stand bore the words, “Never Again, Plus Jamais.â€
In a mixture of English, Kinyarwanda, Runyankore and Luganda, Museveni frequently consulted his host, Kagame, for translations.
Museveni said, “Before colonialism we had wars but not genocide. We must make sure, as Africans, that we expunge this colonial backwardness,†he said.
He said genocidaires committed genocide in Rwanda in 1959, 1963 and 1994 and in 1965 in Burundi.
“It had become akamanyiro (familiarity). They are now running around covering up. Let us get rid of them,†he stressed as the stadium roared with cheers.
He said, “Those so-called peace keepers...from Uruguay, Bangladesh and I don’t know where,...sat in Kabale like tourists. all they did was sun-tan in our swimming pools. Did they have a stake in saving our people? We need internal capacity. That talk about the UN and others just makes me go to sleep. God created Banyarwanda and no-one will wipe them off the map,†he said.
Kagame, who in 1994 led the RPF to power in July that year, lashed out at the USA, Belgium, France and the UN for their inaction in 1994. He denied that Rwanda plundered the DRC. “We went there to guarantee our security because the genocidaires ran there,†he said.
“These have been long and agonising years. It was not an uncontrolled outburst of tribal hatred like some people in the West want the rest of the world to believe. It was deliberate, pre-meditated and calculated. The victims were defenceless,†he said.
He said colonialists and evangelists sowed the seeds of hatred in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, adding that the genocide was organised by top leaders in the Habyarimana regime.
“The genocidaires were supported by powerful countries. I will name them without fear or consequences to myself. They are the USA, UK and Belgium. The media drummed up the hatred.
They have apologised and we accept their apology,†he said.
“France trained and armed the criminals. In 1992, I was invited by the French Government and told that it was an effort to resolve the conflict in Rwanda. Officials told me that if RPF did not stop fighting, ‘you shall find none of our relatives alive.’ They were senior French officials. They have the audacity not to apologise,†he said.
He swore that the genocide would never happen again and wondered why the UN Genocide Convention was not invoked. He said Rwanda was ready to help the African Union fight.
The function began with a three- minute moment of silence and prayers. Kagame also inaugurated a genocide memorial overlooking the capital. About 20 coffins with remains of victims recently exhumed from mass graves, were reburied in the gardens around the memorial.
Belgium, Rwanda’s colonial master, was represented by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who said, “The international community failed in its most basic duty to intervene.â€
Kagame lit an eternal flame at the entrance to the site.
UGANDA risked United Nations’ censure and helped the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army to fight off genocidaires in Rwanda in the 1990s.
President Yoweri Museveni was yesterday speaking in Kigali at the 10th anniversary of the 1994, 100-day blood bath by former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s Force Armee Rwandaise (FAR) and the Interahamwe that decimated about a million civilians.
Addressing a mammoth gathering in Amahoro Stadium, Museveni prompted cheers when he said: “Uganda did not stand aloof while those criminals were butchering people here, like others did.â€
“We stood with our brothers, the RPF, to save the rest of the people whom the killers did not
get. Uganda was under real threat. The so-called UNAMIR (UN Mission in Rwanda) was instead watching me and not the genocidaires,†he said.
Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, and Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi, attended, while Tanzania, Mozambique, Belgium, USA and other bodies sent representatives.
Many survivors wept openly, while others had to be taken out.
At the Amahoro (Peace) Stadium, a black banner in front of the presidential stand bore the words, “Never Again, Plus Jamais.â€
In a mixture of English, Kinyarwanda, Runyankore and Luganda, Museveni frequently consulted his host, Kagame, for translations.
Museveni said, “Before colonialism we had wars but not genocide. We must make sure, as Africans, that we expunge this colonial backwardness,†he said.
He said genocidaires committed genocide in Rwanda in 1959, 1963 and 1994 and in 1965 in Burundi.
“It had become akamanyiro (familiarity). They are now running around covering up. Let us get rid of them,†he stressed as the stadium roared with cheers.
He said, “Those so-called peace keepers...from Uruguay, Bangladesh and I don’t know where,...sat in Kabale like tourists. all they did was sun-tan in our swimming pools. Did they have a stake in saving our people? We need internal capacity. That talk about the UN and others just makes me go to sleep. God created Banyarwanda and no-one will wipe them off the map,†he said.
Kagame, who in 1994 led the RPF to power in July that year, lashed out at the USA, Belgium, France and the UN for their inaction in 1994. He denied that Rwanda plundered the DRC. “We went there to guarantee our security because the genocidaires ran there,†he said.
“These have been long and agonising years. It was not an uncontrolled outburst of tribal hatred like some people in the West want the rest of the world to believe. It was deliberate, pre-meditated and calculated. The victims were defenceless,†he said.
He said colonialists and evangelists sowed the seeds of hatred in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, adding that the genocide was organised by top leaders in the Habyarimana regime.
“The genocidaires were supported by powerful countries. I will name them without fear or consequences to myself. They are the USA, UK and Belgium. The media drummed up the hatred.
They have apologised and we accept their apology,†he said.
“France trained and armed the criminals. In 1992, I was invited by the French Government and told that it was an effort to resolve the conflict in Rwanda. Officials told me that if RPF did not stop fighting, ‘you shall find none of our relatives alive.’ They were senior French officials. They have the audacity not to apologise,†he said.
He swore that the genocide would never happen again and wondered why the UN Genocide Convention was not invoked. He said Rwanda was ready to help the African Union fight.
The function began with a three- minute moment of silence and prayers. Kagame also inaugurated a genocide memorial overlooking the capital. About 20 coffins with remains of victims recently exhumed from mass graves, were reburied in the gardens around the memorial.
Belgium, Rwanda’s colonial master, was represented by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who said, “The international community failed in its most basic duty to intervene.â€
Kagame lit an eternal flame at the entrance to the site.