Behind western media’s trash writing about Rwanda

Michela Wrong with Leah, the wife of Patrick Karegeya. Wrong became the spokesperson of Karegeya family and Rwandan dissidents at large. Her upcoming book should not be a surprise.

As Rwanda is gearing up to host the 2021 Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) Meeting, some in the western media are throwing any dirt they can find on Rwanda and its leadership with the aim of painting them in a very dark light, and thus to negatively impact this prestigious conference.

Rwanda is the youngest member of this organization. The last CHOGAM meeting to be held on the African continent took place in Uganda in 2007. The Commonwealth flag has already been raised in Kigali and nothing can stop the CHOGM2021 meeting from taking place as scheduled in June.

It has become fashionable for Rwanda’s detractors to rehash unfair criticisms of the Rwandan government, circulating abundantly in the circle of so-called human rights activists, about its human rights record, and freedom of speech.

However, a recent article by Peter Beaumont titled “We choose god guys and bad guys: beneath the myth of ‘model Rwanda’ (Guardian, March 19,2021) recycles old cliches and stereotypes about President Paul Kagame which are akin to character assassination of Africa leaders

Beaumont’s article is based on an interview with a South Africa-based journalist named Michela Wrong, whose book titled “Do Not Disturb” is set to come out around  April, a time Rwanda commemorates the genocide of over one million Tutsi slaughtered in 1994.

This book is rather a denigration of Rwanda’s leadership, and Beaumont says it heavily relies “on numerous interviews with former members of his inner circles.” Who are those so called inner circles?

Michela Wrong’s friendship and frequent visits to Leah Karegeya, wife of former Rwanda’s Spy Chief, Patrick Karegeya, are well documented. Michella Wrong, without any shred of evidence accuses President Kagame of an alleged role in a “sustained campaign of assassinating his rivals in exile.”  It is not surprising therefore, that Wrong’s book is filled with the murder of Patrick Karegeya in South Africa which she baselessly attributes to Rwandan agents.

Wrong loses balance and fairness as cardinal principles of journalistic ethics to become a prosecutor in a case that was handled by courts of law in South Africa. Journalists do not take sides, neither are they driven by sentiments and personal views. Real journalists rely on evidence and facts.

One can easily see who her contacts are in South Africa which is considered a haven for Rwandan fugitives including the leadership of terrorist Rwandan National Congress (RNC).

More daring is her assertion that President Kagame played a role in the overthrow of two Congolese presidents and without any proof she alleges that the unresolved assassination of former Congolese President Laurent Desire Kabila may have been ordered by President Paul Kagame.

Rwandans are fed up with recycled baseless allegations against the country’s leadership claiming involvement in the illegal exploitation of Congo’s mineral resources. Rwanda’s interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are of a security dimension, those spinning for political mileage are bent on misleading.  Rwanda and DRC enjoy good bilateral and trading relations and are both members of the Economic Community of Countries of the Great lakes Region (CEPGL) and cross-border trade is legal.

With so many uncorroborated allegations, Michela Wrong is always  wrong in her narrative about what Beaumont calls Kagame’s regime. One can easily see that this lady has shelved all journalistic ethics and the Guardian has stooped too low to be used as a mouth piece for a smear campaign against Rwanda. Beaumont joins arm chair western journalists who simply believe what “their own journalist” tells them without any simple research

In the end, what the Guardian journalist calls a “meticulously researched, with substantial new material and interviews,” is rather the narrative of Rwandan dissidents like the wife of Karegeya, RNC terror group members as well as genocide deniers in exile. Wrong has sacrificed her profession by putting herself at the service of Rwanda’s enemies probably for a few bucks. This shows how corrupt international media and journalists have become, where facts and truth are no longer sacred. 

One wonders why some in members of the western media, especially the British, are always. The Guardian has become an unrepentant offender inclined at recycling old stereotypes about Rwanda and its leadership.  It acts a conveyor belt for all negative reporting about Rwanda, especially by giving a platform to Michela Wrong who acts as a mouthpiece of Rwanda’s enemies to spread her lies. 

These attacks on Rwanda government by Beaumont came hard on the heels of another Guardian writer called Barney Ronay who questioned the wisdom of Rwanda-Arsenal #VisitRwanda deal. In his article titled “Does Arsenal Visit Rwanda shirt sleeves deal remain a compelling fit?”  The writer also condescendingly talks about Rwanda and its people in the following disparaging terms:

“While undoubtedly (Rwanda) is a beautiful place to visit, it is also one of the poorest nations on earth… The majority of its people live in poverty. “Yes, Barney may be living in a rich country and boasting about it forgetting that it’s the poor countries that contributed to the richness of his own country. I can also remind him that poverty is not a permanent, but white supremacy mindset which seems permanent in his mind leads him to think the way he does. 

He ignores the great strides made by Rwanda to recover from the devastation left by the genocide of more than one million Tutsi in 1994. The star expert for this journalist is none other than Michela Wrong who has all along been writing anti-Rwanda articles from her base in South Africa. Evidence abounds online.

It is high time Rwandans shut their ears to the haters like Michela Wrong, and her evil fraternity in the western media that promotes her dangerous agenda on Rwanda. Rwandas known where they came from, and know much better where they want to be and who should be their leaders. Rwanda is where it is today not because enemies wished it, but because of the zeal by Rwandans to rebuild Rwanda into a better place to live for all Rwandans.