Latest news with #Kagame
2 days ago
- Politics
Rwandan opposition leader arrested over alleged plot against authorities
KIGALI, Rwanda -- A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest. Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest 'baseless and politically motivated.' The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame. The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang. Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities. Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government. Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election. She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges she denied. Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon. But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again. Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes. 'This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out' against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said. Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda's president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery. But Kagame has faced criticism for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. He denies the accusations. ____
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rwandan opposition leader arrested over alleged plot against authorities
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest. Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest 'baseless and politically motivated.' The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame. The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang. Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities. Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government. Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election. She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges she denied. Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon. But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again. Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes. 'This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out' against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said. Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda's president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery. But Kagame has faced criticism for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. He denies the accusations. ____ AP's Africa coverage at:
Daily Maverick
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Loaded for Bear: African Parks has disgracefully sent more SA rhinos to repressive Rwanda
Much of Africa's wildlife lies within the borders of states with questionable governance or human rights records. But some lines can be drawn in the sand. The Kigali regime stands out for the sheer scale of its repression and the regional instability it has unleashed. Many conservation groups in Africa have a human rights problem. Pointedly, they often stand accused of being more concerned about the plight of Africa's animals than that of its people. This perception has been further entrenched by African Parks' announcement this week that it has just translocated another 70 white rhinos from South Africa to Rwanda – a sinister state that has been credibly linked to the killing of dissidents on South African soil. When African Parks, a Johannesburg-based NGO, announced in 2021 that it had relocated 30 white rhinos to Rwanda's Akagera National Park, I criticised it at the time in this publication, noting that those rhinos would be safer than the country's dissidents. That observation still holds and, if anything, Rwanda under the autocratic rule of Paul Kagame has become even more of a pariah state with its documented support for the M23 rebels in neighbouring DRC. The diabolical nature of the Rwandan regime under Kagame has been clinically dissected in veteran journalist Michela Wrong's troubling 2021 book, Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad. 'Do Not Disturb' was the sign placed on the room door at the posh Sandton Hotel where Patrick Karegeya, once Rwanda's head of external intelligence, was found murdered more than a decade ago. But what's the murder of a dissident or two or three – or a dozen for that matter – between friends? African Parks sees no issue with shaking hands with the devil if it advances its conservation agenda – which is disturbing. 'In 2021, African Parks moved 30 southern white rhinos to Akagera National Park. This initial population has increased to 41 animals today. Building on this success, the additional 70 animals will now play a crucial role in ensuring the presence of meta-populations across the continent, presenting opportunities for future range expansion,' African Parks said. It's all about the animals! It's like African Parks is living in a bubble, completely disconnected from the odious nature of the state it has chosen as a conservation partner. But that's perhaps not surprising, given the NGO's track record elsewhere in Africa. Last month it acknowledged that some of its eco-rangers had committed human rights abuses against the Baka community in Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo, based on the findings of an independent investigation it had commissioned to probe the allegations. 'African Parks acknowledges that, in some incidents, human rights abuses have occurred, and we deeply regret the pain and suffering caused to the victims. There is no place for any form of abuse in the name of conservation,' it said. There may be 'no place' for this kind of abuse 'in the name of conservation'. But if the state you have chosen to host a rhino conservation project is a serial human rights abuser, there is nothing to see here, folks. The rhinos will be fine! What will grab the headlines is that this is the largest translocation of its kind. African Parks has also been involved in a previous megafauna translocation which was billed as the 'largest of its kind'. In July 2022, 263 elephants were moved from Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi to Kasungu National Park, which borders Zambia along a frontier which has no fence. African Parks has since distanced itself from this project, but it certainly claimed some of the credit at the time. As I reported from the Zambian side of the park in 2024, this misconceived translocation has transformed the landscape into one of fear and loathing for the poor rural people who live there. Human-wildlife conflict is raging there, with a mounting death toll among both people and elephants. The big critters that have just been moved to Rwanda come from the 2,000-strong herd that African Parks bought in 2023 from rhino tycoon John Hume. Largely because of the efforts of the private sector, South Africa has enough rhinos for 'rewilding' efforts elsewhere, which broadly aim to restore wildlife populations to former ranges. Rwanda, by the way, is not a former white rhino range state. It is indeed the case that much of Africa's wildlife lies within the borders of states with questionable governance or human rights records. I recently covered first-hand the translocation of South African cheetahs to Mozambique, where last year's elections were hotly disputed, sparking nationwide protests. And let's face it, the ruling Frelimo party has followed other African liberation movements down the well-trodden path of corruption and misrule. But some lines can be drawn in the sand. Mountain gorillas, for example, are only found in Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda and the DRC, and so conservation efforts for this species need to be focused in those countries, regardless of the governments in power. That is not the case with white rhinos. There are plenty of other African countries where they can be translocated to and protected. The Kigali government stands out for the sheer scale of its repression and the regional instability it has unleashed. And Kagame has an instinctive understanding of what is important to the West. The rhino project comes with the prestige he craves, adding another layer of legitimacy to his regime – which does keep the streets of Kigali clean. Kagame got 99% of the vote in Rwanda's 2024 elections and unlike in Mozambique, no one was going to raise an eyebrow about that result, let alone lead a protest in the streets.
Zawya
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Why Rwanda is quitting ECCAS – again?
Rwanda is accusing Kinshasa of instrumentalising regional and international organisations to sanction Kigali over the war in eastern Congo, despite several initiatives seeking peace and a solution to the Congo crisis.'It's unbelievable and unacceptable to note that, whereas President Tshisekedi met President Kagame in a fruitful meeting in Doha, Qatar, on March 18, 2025, whereas (Foreign) Minister (Thérèse) Kayikwamba and myself signed a Declaration of Principles in Washington on April 25, 2025, and whereas Rwanda and DRC are actively engaged, over the past month, into promising US-facilitated negotiations for a historic peace agreement, the DRC, nonetheless, is still whining around in all regional and international organisations accusing Rwanda for its own turpitudes, not to mention crying out for sanctions' Rwanda Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe posted on social media platform X. This came after Kigali issued a statement announcing its decision to pull out of the regional bloc, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) over its 'instrumentalisation' by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 'with the support of certain member states.''This distortion of the organisation's purpose was once again evident during the 26th Ordinary Summit held today in Malabo, where Rwanda's right to assume the rotating Chairmanship, stipulated in Article 6 of the Treaty, was deliberately ignored in order to impose the DRC's diktat,' Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in. a statement Saturday. Kigali said it had written to the Chairperson of the African Union denouncing its 'illegal exclusion' from the 22nd Summit held in 2023 in Kinshasa under the DRC's presidency.'The silence and inaction that followed confirm the organisation's failure to enforce its own rules. Rwanda denounces the violation of its rights as guaranteed by the constitutive texts of ECCAS. Consequently, Rwanda sees no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles and intended purpose," Kigali said. Rwanda, an ECCAS founding member since 1983, is not quitting the bloc for the first time. It only returned in 2016 after eight years. It quit the organisation in 2007 'to concentrate on its membership in other blocs such as East African Community and Comesa.'When it returned, it said it wanted to widen its business and economic horizons, and reposition itself for political and diplomatic gains. But, as relations between Kigali and Kinshasa collapsed, owing to DRC's accusations that Rwanda has been backing M23 rebels bent on removing the establishment in Kinshasa. This latest development underscores the bad blood the two neighbours despite several ongoing arbitration processes. Although there has been a thaw in hostilities in eastern DRC following engagements between the rebels and DRC leadership, the war is still long from over. The US and Qatar meetings have brought a reprieve, and the mineral deals the US dangled seemed to attract interest from both countries, but the engagements are yet to bring tangible outcomes. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Morocco World
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Rwanda's Sahara Position: Algeria Caught Again Fabricating Misleading Facts
Rabat – Algeria's regime has again been caught red-handed disseminating false information regarding Rwanda's alleged support for the Polisario Front's separatist agenda in Western Sahara. The regime's mouthpiece media echoed disinformation in which the separatist group claimed that President Paul Kagame had reaffirmed Kigali's support for its self-determination and referendum claims in recent comments. Pro-Polisario websites, including Algeria's regime press agency, claimed that the comments came while President Kagame and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, exchanged views on tensions and conflicts in Africa. During that exchange, they claimed, both leaders stressed their allegedly shared'support for the Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination through a free, fair, and transparent referendum.' Yet these claims were clearly and directly refuted by Kigali merely hours after the Polisario press and Algeria's news agency had run their reports, once again dealing another setback to Algeria's besieged and increasingly exposed narrative on the Sahara dispute. In stark contrast to the statement reported by the Algerian state media, Kagama's official website published a communique detailing his remarks with no explicit or implicit mention of Rwanda's support for the Polisario. To Algeria's dismay, this reflects a direct contradiction to the Algerian regime's disinformation campaign seeking to challenge Morocco's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces. The embarrassing move further exposes Algeria's growing desperation to derail Morocco's deepening momentum on the Sahara dispute. The Moroccan Autonomy Plan has gained massive international backing over the past few years and months, with a growing cohort of countries applauding the Moroccan proposal as the most serious and credible political roadmap to end the dispute over Western Sahara. The latest such backing came from one of the UN Security Council's Permanent members, the UK, which on Sunday expressed its support for Morocco's autonomy plan as the most viable path to a lasting and politically realistic resolution of the lingering territorial dispute. While Rwanda is one of the few countries that still recognizes the self-styled SADR, the country does not embrace Algeria's consistently combatively anti-Moroccan narrative and attitude. In fact , following King Mohammed VI's historic visit to Rwanda in 2016, Rabat and Kigali have constantly pledged to strengthen relations at many levels. In particular, discussions have explored the need to expand bilateral ties on agriculture, trade, and high-level political cooperation on a wide range of strategic challenges facing the continent. T he two countries signed several agreements during the royal visit, including a Memoranda of Understanding on a political consultation mechanism, an air service agreement, an agreement on the exemption of visas, and a deal on security cooperation and tourism. In recent years, the two countries have constantly stressed the importance of maintaining or improving their bilateral cooperation at all levels. This new spirit of mutual support was particularly on display when Rwanda supported Morocco's return to the African Union in 2017. This latest fabricated news from the Algerian and Polisario media shows their desperation to undermine Morocco's growing momentum in the Sahara dossier. However, as more and more countries embrace the Moroccan autonomy proposal as the best chance for peace and prosperity in the region, or simply recognise Morocco's historical legitimacy, many observers believe that Algeria's constant attempts to challenge Morocco's growing momentum will not restore the prestige and legitimacy the exposed Algerian narrative once enjoyed. Tags: Algeria and the Western Saharaautonomy plan
