The untold story of the VOA, BBC conspiracy

In an Open Letter to the BBC World Service Group, Esteri Kanakuze, a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, again brought to light as well as requested for action to be taken against sympathizers of genocide perpetrators in the international broadcaster’s Kinyarwanda programs, BBC - Gahuza Miryango.

In the trial of Paul Rusesabagina who was sentenced for terrorism, one of BBC’s Rwandan employees, Ally Yusuf Mugenzi, a long-time host of the Imvo N’Imvano program, was mentioned among journalists who conspired to frame a false narrative aimed at shifting responsibility, from terrorists to the government, for the killings of civilians in the Nyabimata attacks. 

“Mugenzi was on a chat group with Rusesabagina’s family where all the fictitious framing was planned. Does this represent the high quality, impartial and editorial independent international news that BBC world service claims to stand for?” Kanakuze asked.

“It is very dangerous to see that an international media house meant to be a role model of responsible journalism and ethical standards is at the helm of sowing seeds of divisionism among Rwandans, aimed at returning our country to the dark past. This kind of editorial line aids the last stage of genocide; denial and shifting the blame to those who stopped the genocide. It is aimed at re-writing Rwandan history.”

Kanakuze reminds us of the sad tale of journalists who formerly worked for hate media in Rwanda and now occupy positions of influence in Western media organizations.  After the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, a number of them fled to the West. Instead of being held to account for inciting genocide and murder, and instead of shunning them for such ignominious acts, some media houses welcomed and hired them.

That was the case of Voice of America (VOA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Though they look ordinary, these journalists never shed their links to the Hutu Power ideology they spread before and during the 1994 genocide. This explains why in their coverage of Rwanda, and the region, they continue to peddle genocide denial and revisionism.

Evidence suggests that journalists working for Western media organisations were complicit in the planning and dissemination of FLN propaganda in collaboration with Rusesabagina’s political coalition, MRCD. The journalists were found working closely and sharing information with Rusesabagina and associates, between 2018 and 2019 when FLN carried out armed attacks on Rwanda.

WhatsApp messages retrieved by Belgian Prosecutors from Rusesabagina’s computer and phone following a search of his house in Brussels show that journalists from the Voice of America (VOA) Kinyarwanda service and BBC Gahuzamiryango went as far as sharing stories with Rusesabagina and his team for approval before airing them. Also, BBC and VOA journalists and editors kept in constant contact with Rusesabagina and his team, as they played the MRCD/FLN mouthpiece role, particularly in the period leading up to the arrest of FLN spokesperson, Callixte Nsabimana, in April 2019.

Kanakuze noted: “Some questions come to mind when the BBC decides to employ people like Mugenzi, an outright sympathizer of the genocide perpetrators. If the BBC does not give space to neo-Nazis, then why does it uphold different standards when it comes to Rwanda?”

In one of the correspondences following the arrest of Nsabimana, Rusesabagina (codenamed ‘Humura’) discusses with Mukashema Esperance, Thomas Kamirindi, the BBC's former Kigali correspondent who now works for VOA, and news editor Etienne Karekezi, how to communicate the FLN Spokesperson’s arrest. They agreed to describe the arrest as abduction. The conversation involves Appolinaire Nsengiyumva, who seemed to be the focal point, and a BBC journalist, who investigators confirmed was Ally Yussuf Mugenzi, discussing a press conference held by President Paul Kagame, touching on regional issues.

This unethical behavior most likely stems from the fact that the two media organisations employ journalists with strong ties to the past Hutu Power ideology. People should not be surprised by the anti- Rwanda stances of VOA and BBC and their readiness to be used as a conveyor belts for genocide denial and revisionism.

Karekezi, born in former Byumba prefecture, today Gicumbi, was after finishing his university studies hired as an editor by Umurwanashyaka, a mouthpiece of then ruling Mouvemenet Revolutionaire Nationale Pour le Development (MRND). Umurwanashyaka was part of the extremist publications created to incite hatred against the Tutsi. During the 1994 genocide, Karekezi interviewed government officials who were involved in the mass-killings but after the defeat of that genocidal government, he fled to the US where he is Managing Editor at VOA despite his dark past.

It is difficult to understand why VOA hired him without questioning his past activities in Rwanda. He is today a top executive at VOA, which often used to peddle genocide denial and revisionism.

Vénuste Nshimiyimana, born in 1973 in Gishamvu Commune, in Southern Butare Prefecture, among others, studied at Anglia Ruskin College, and the London School of Economics. Those who know him very well note that he was a close confidant of President Juvenal Habyarimana.

Nshimiyimana began his journalistic career as a trainee for the Rwanda Television in Brussels in 1991. He worked for Radio Rwanda in 1992 before moving to the AU as a press officer seconded to the Military Observer Group (UNMOG), then moved to working for Jacques Roger Booh Booh, UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General and the UN Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). In 1994, he fled to Belgium and continued his career as a journalist. In September 1997, he moved to London as a producer and broadcaster for the BBC and later worked as Regional Planning Editor for the BBC.

While at the BBC, in June 2000, he travelled to Mali to interview Jean Kambanda, the prime minister of the genocidal government. The interview sparked outrage as it helped Kambanda spread his hateful Hutu power propaganda behind the atrocious crimes of genocide against the Tutsi. Nshimiyimana is currently VOA Bureau Chief in London, UK, working closely with Karekezi. The interview with Kambanda is one among many acts of genocide denial and revisionism the BBC has never apologized for.

Did Nshimiyimana’s employers bother to check his dark past? If they did, they know that he sat on the board of the hate RTLM radio blamed for inciting the 1994 genocide.