Protestation contre la présence de Kagame à Harvard university

Alain Fazili Bula

Dear Ms Breen,

It is with profound frustration that I learned of the invitation of Paul Kagame, Rwandan acting president, to your prestigious academic institution.

Should that event take place it will indeed be a day of deep sorrow for the 50 millions of Congolese people who have seen their beloved country mutilated and pillaged by this character.

Paul Kagame is in fact one of the most sinister sons of Africa and his presence at Harvard University will irretrievably tarnish the prestige of your secular institution and I am going to tell you why.

Kagame regime emerged from the genocide that claimed the lives of 800, 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 in Rwanda.

In the wake of that horrendous event, the new regime with, Kagame as strongman, enjoyed worldwide sympathy and support from a remorseful western political and financial community.

However, instead of using that formidable global assistance and mobilization toward the reconstruction and development of his small nation, Kagame embarked on a large scale military campaign aiming at establishing himself as a major power player in Central Africa which is responsible for the current political destabilization and tremendous human misery in the region.

Kagame started to put into action its hegemonic ambitions in 1996 when he joined a regional alliance, that included Angola and to a lesser extent Zimbabwe, aiming at toppling Mobutu the infamous Zairian leader.

It is important to note here that it was in the best interest of each coalition member and the Congolese people to be rid of Mobutu whose brutal and corrupt rule was a major obstacle for the development of the central African region.

Upon completion of this goal, Angola withdrew its troops effecting enabing the Congolese people to chart their own destiny. Kagame sharp in contrast elected to become the effective leader of the New Congo by insisting to maintaining its trigger-happy troops and controlling the Congo’s bountiful resources.

It is that unacceptable departure from the initial goal of stabilizing central Africa that compelled the late Kabila to heed the public outcry and order the return of Rwandan troops in early august 1998.

HAVING TASTED THE POLITICAL CLOUT AND FINANCIAL GAINS ASSOCIATED WITH BEING A POWER PLAYER IN CONGO KAGAME WAS NOT ABOUT TO LET GO.

Taking advantage of the relative weakness of the Congolese army and the presence of a large community of Tutsi immigrants in Congo, Kagame formed an unlikely alliance with Mobutu cronies and launched an military attack aiming at installing a puppet regime in DR Congo.

However, this time around the Congolese people resisted the foreign invasion and rallied around Kabila and Governmental forces.

Two years after its inception the foreign invasion orchestrated by Kagame continue to encounter staunch popular resistance.

To overcome that resistance Kagame troops have resorted to mass murders, abductions, and mindless killings abundantly evidenced on the Internet links at the bottom of that message.

That reign of terror has took the lives of 1.7 millions Congolese, fragmented an entire nation and caused the displacement of hundred of thousands of Congolese across central Africa.

Today the DR Congo is compelled to devote up to 80% of its resources to resist the aggression while Kagame and his partner in crime Museveni of Uganda continue to use the proceeds of international charity to fund their war effort.

Its is estimated that each of these two countries receive over $400 millions each year in international financial assistance.

These two unscrupulous characters went as far as to engage in a military battle last year for the control of Kisangani, a diamond and gold rich town in Congo, that claimed over 700 lives and destroyed half of the city.

The UNO despite its passivity in the current aggression set up a commission to assess the level of compensation to the Congolese victims.

IN LIGHT OF THESE DRAMATIC AND WELL DOCUMENTED EVENTS ONE MIGHT RIGHTFULLY WONDER WHY IS THE WORLD FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP KEEPING QUIET AND NOT EXPOSING KAGAME ACTIONS?

The main reason in my opinion is that having invested cold cash and its political credibility in Kagame’s and Museveni, hailing them as "the leaders of the African Renaissance, the western political and financial establishment is not about to shoot itself in the foot by denouncing their criminal actions.

That’s why they find it too convenient to believe Kagame’s official justification of his military presence in Congo as a means to prevent cross borders attacks from hostile Hutus militia.

By so doing, they rationalize an attempt to occupy and police an area larger than France and Germany combined to protect the puny 100 kilometers of international frontiers that separates Rwanda from the DR Congo.

Another explanation is the deft and intensive media manipulation orchestrated by Kagame who has been portraying the current aggression as a civil war using Tutsi immigrants in Congo as proxies in the various armed groups that he uses as vehicles in his aggression.

It is then up to the academic community and the general public, which has no particular interest in the current situation to educate itself appropriately and arrive at a better understanding of the drama and rightly distinguish the victims from the aggressors.

The John Hokins University has already embraced that approach by producing a special report available at Cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/congo.

KAGAME AND MUSEVENI SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES TO FINANCE THEIR AGGRESSION OF THE DR CONGO; EXPOSING THEIR CRIMES COULD LEAD TO A SUSPENSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE THAT THEY USE FOR THAT PURPOSE.

The peace of the souls of 1.7 millions Congolese hinges upon our capacity to complete that mission.

Best regards.

Alain Fazili Bula