Western countries’ public funds put into tarnishing Rwanda in Mozambique

Looking at some Western countries’ policies regarding Rwanda, it is clear that their aim is to ensure other Africans distrust Rwanda, to see it as a virus or a curse rather than as a fellow African country that wants to partner with others in Africa's development.

To achieve this objective, they deploy Western media to publish stories misrepresenting Rwanda as a country where nothing good happens. And when something positive they cannot deny happens, they fabricate and prioritize coverage on something else that overshadows the truth and the good that Rwanda is doing. They are artful when it comes to this.

Those countries are particularly consistent in their determination to provide public support to anyone willing to help incite hatred or hostility against Rwanda, particularly in countries where Kigali has deployed troops such as the Central African Republic and Mozambique. At the same time, they intentionally undermine collective efforts to help those countries restore peace and security.

Centro para Democracia E Desenvolvimento

In Mozambique, for example, they are funding an organization called Centro para Democracia E Desenvolvimento (CDD) - or Center for Democracy and Development – which brands itself as the “Guardian of Democracy”.

However, far from seeming to be preoccupied by the fate of the people of Mozambique, CDD does nothing but publish articles aimed at making readers hate Rwanda by especially painting its President, Paul Kagame, as the one actually exporting insecurity to Mozambique.

On November 25, the organisation published a diatribe titled, “United States of America criticizes EU for its close cooperation with Paul Kagame’s authoritarian regime in Rwanda”, in which it compiled anti-Rwanda narratives about the democracy and human rights situation in Rwanda, and suggested there is “a list of 20 Rwandan refugees [in Mozambique] identified as targets to be ‘slaughtered’ by Kagame’s regime”.

It ended its litany of regurgitated allegations against Rwanda with the case of terrorism convict Paul Rusesabagina. The case is depicted as a kidnapping of a “Rwanda politician”, “a Belgian citizen and U.S. resident […] who has received international praise for saving hundreds of lives during the Rwandan genocide in 1994”, and “a victim of Rwanda’s cross border persecution of opponents”, who, despite rejecting terrorism charges, was condemned by the Rwandan justice whose verdict was criticized by the Belgium’s Foreign Minister and condemned by the European Parliament.

Interestingly, since the deployment of Rwandan troops to support the Mozambican army in fighting Islamic State-linked terrorists in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado that had displaced nearly a million people and killed more than 3, 000 innocent lives, the organization’s only concern has been Rwanda’s internal affairs. The CDD invested almost obsessively in spreading Western media and NGO's anti-Rwanda propaganda. It has published absolutely nothing about the impact of Rwanda's successful intervention in helping to restore security in Cabo Delgado, a feat well appreciated by the government in Maputo.

Hundreds of people who had fled the terror in Cabo Delgado warmly welcomed Rwandan security forces on witnessing the very good job in the liberation of their villages.

In many parts of the vast province, people have returned home with the confidence that “as long as the Rwandan forces stay for a long time, it’ll be fine”, as was reported by the Financial Times.

"We're very happy with the presence of the Rwandans. They bring peace", a resident of Mocimboa da Praia said.

But for the Western-funded so-called ‘Guardian of Democracy’, anything that advances the welfare of Cabo Delgado isn’t worth any acknowledgement as long as Rwandan forces are a part of it.

The Rwandan High Commissioner to Mozambique, Claude Nikobisanzwe, has wondered why CDD, “singled out one comment from other positive things [said by Samantha Power].” He suggested that, “maybe there is another reason for such frightful title!” If one endeavors to find out why the CDD’s major obsession is Rwanda rather than real challenges and aspirations of Mozambican people, it is imperative to look at its sponsors, to understand why it has chosen its anti-Rwanda editorial line.

At the bottom of its propaganda leaflet, CDD proudly displayed its “financing partners” who without surprise include known promotors of democracy overseas like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a fund created and refurbished by the U.S. government with the flexibility “to respond quickly when there is an opportunity for political change.”

The CDD is also funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign through a Dutch entity called NUFFIC, and by the Embassy of Switzerland in Mozambique, as well as  by Western organisations that are often criticized for lack of political neutrality or political interferences in the guise of democracy promotion. The latter include the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) which is part of the Open Society Foundation (OSF) founded by American billionaire George Soros, or the Ford Foundation which is often accused of being funded by the US government, and the Resilience Fund established with the support of the Government of Norway.

Sadly, these Western countries deceitfully portray the funds given to CDD as aid meant to help Mozambique with its security, governance and development issues, while pro-Western recipients are using it to undermine those very goals the Mozambican government is pursuing, with the support of Rwanda.