International
Open letter to Rosa Lund, Danish Member of Parliament
Hon.
Member of Parliament,
I
hope this letter finds you well. The reason I am writing to you is related to
your recent visit to Rwanda, after which you tweeted that you met with Victoire
Ingabire Umuhoza.
In
your own words, you said: “Such an honour meeting you. Hope to see you soon.”
Again, you tweeted: “huge respect for this woman,” in reference to Ingabire.
I
also read your message that you had landed in Copenhagen after three intense
days in Rwanda. Your description of Rwanda reminds me of how colonial explorers
in Africa claimed to have discovered lakes, rivers and mountains, as if there
were no people living on this beautiful continent. It is your right to visit
Victoire Ingabire, as your personal friend.
However,
the message your friend also published on her twitter account, shows that your
visit was of a political nature. Ingabire claims to be a politician and a human
rights activist.
Foreign
politicians, Western media and NGOs, have decided to brand her as “a strong
opposition politician and critic of President Kagame.” What your visit to
Ingabire means to me, and many Rwandans, is that you profile Victoire Ingabire
as a strong “politician” who should replace Kagame as the President of Rwanda,
because, “Kagame’s government is not democratic and violates human rights.”
Hon.
MP, let me remind you of a few things about Ingabire and Rwanda that you
probably intentionally chose to ignore to know, as a politician. To majority
Rwandans, she is not a representative of democracy or human rights. She
deserves no leadership position even at a village level because of her
criminality and double genocide ideology.
In
2018, she was released from prison on a Presidential pardon, after serving
eight of her then 15-year prison sentence for crimes ranging from collaborating
with armed groups targeting the country, denying the 1994 genocide against
Tutsi, and attempting to saw seeds of communal hatred. On her release, Ingabire
said that: “I am grateful for the presidential mercy because the President
[Paul Kagame] decided to pardon me so that I can go out and live a normal
life.” However, she later changed her talk, and claimed that her early release
was secured by her and her supporter’s pressure on the Rwandan government. In a
similar manner, she continuously changes the names of her political outfits
whenever their secret links to anti-Rwanda terror groups are exposed. On this,
the government of The Netherlands shared with Rwanda crucial information as evidence.
Hon.
MP, the law of Rwanda is very clear on the requirements of who should be a
politician in the country. Ingabire does
not qualify either to be a politician or to head any political organization.
Organic Law n° 10/2013/0L of 11/07/2013,
governing Political Organizations and Politicians as amended to date,
prohibits anyone who has been sentenced to an imprisonment equal to or
exceeding six (6) months; or committed
crimes of Genocide against the Tutsi, to be in the management of a political
organization.
Ingabire
served eight years on genocide related crimes. She was not acquitted but
released on clemency. Therefore, her
political credentials in Rwanda are null and void. The DALFA Umurinzi political
party she claims to own is not legally registered and only exists by her
wishful thinking. The illegal party though, enables her to collect lots of
money from sponsors like you who have huge respect for her.
It
is ironical that voices which make Ingabire a politician come from outsiders
rather than Rwandans. Your visit to Rwanda, therefore, is pregnant with a
conspiracy against the wish of Rwandans to democratically choose politicians of
their choice. If Rwandans saw any political material in Ingabire, they would
choose her without being influenced. The agenda by outsiders like you to impose
her on Rwandans will always fail.
On
January 16, 2010, when Ingabire landed at Kigali International Airport, from
The Netherlands, she went straight to the Kigali Genocide memorial where more
than 250,000 genocide victims are laid to rest. She questioned staff about why
there were only remains of the Tutsi, yet the Hutu were also killed. Ingabire
is a double genocide ideologue.
Her
mother, Dusabe Teresa, was sentenced, in absentia, to 30 years in jail by the
Gacaca court, for disemboweling pregnant Tutsi women and removing their foetus
which she would smash to death in a horrendous manner. There are surviving
witnesses who testified to Gacaca Courts. Like many other children of parents
who committed genocide, Ingabire uses the smoke screen of ‘politician and human
rights activist’ as a cover to defend
her mother and other perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
Hon,
MP, Rwandans react with shock when they see foreigners like you happy to
identify with people like Ingabire, but worse still, to sanitize her as a
political figure worth leading Rwandans. We deserve much better that your
friend who wants to return Rwanda to the dark days.
As
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) gets closer, you are
interested in propping up Ingabire as a politician and human rights activist
who should be invited in the civil society forums. Kindly, we beg your pardon.
Rwandans know better.
‘Politicians’
like Ingabire are the ones who prepared the genocide against the Tutsi and
killed more than a million innocent lives. You are now supporting them in the
last stage of genocide - denial - and turning around the narrative, to shift
blame on those who stopped the genocide. If you measure Rwanda in the lenses of
people like Ingabire, with who you spent your time in Rwanda, you are deceiving
yourself, the Danish people, and the Parliament you represent.
Hon.
MP, Rosa Lundu, I may go on and on writing because of your provocation, to me
and fellow Rwandans whose hearts are still bleeding. You can keep your
friendship with Ingabire because it’s your right and personal choice. But we
beg you to give Rwandans a break by not interfering in our history and
politics. I promise you, Rwandans will also not interfere in the politics of
Denmark.
Sincerely,
Gad
Ntambara
Concerned
Rwandan citizen
CC:
The
Danish Folketing,
The
Speaker of Danish Parliament, Hon. Henrik Dam Kristensen
The
Speaker of Rwanda Chamber of Deputies
The
Danish High Commissioner to Rwanda
Rwanda
High Commissioner to Denmark
Rwanda Minister of Foreign Affairs