Friends,
I’m sad to read news everyday from DRC showing that Africans have not stopped killing fellow Africans despite the end of colonialism. It is a like a new form of colonialism is silently pronouncing itself and has come to be called ‘black colonialism’. In November 2008, Congo converted from being a personal property of Belgian King Leopold II to a colonial possession of Belgium, itself. The mineral wealth in Congo was the one that was used to build a modern city in Brussels at the expense of the poor Congolese that are still being killed up to now.
Congo finally got its independence on June 30, 1960 but it’s as if these guys have never been independent at all as foreigners still control the country left and right. No wonder president Kabila keeps running to Kampala and Kigali every time there is a problem in his country,as if Museveni and Kagame are the one leading DRC! But the question everyone should be asking themselves is: where do Museveni and Kagame derive their power from apart from obviously their armies?
When Leopard handed over Congo to Belgium, it was as if he had handed it to over to US and UK indirectly to also have a share of Congo’s wealth. The two countries are the one that have been funding the armies in Rwanda and Uganda, as documented by reports commissioned by the UN Security Council more than 9 years ago. Uganda , till a few days ago, was one of the largest recipients of U.K military and economic aid in Africa. Kagame is a student of US military tactics that he learned at Ft. Leavenworth and Rwanda is arguably Africa’s largest per capita recipient of U.S. military and economic aid.
The US is using the Uganda troops to keep in Somalia and they are also part of the “civilians” assisting the U.S. military in Iraq. When the lattest UN report came out again accusing Rwanda and Uganda of aiding the M23 rebels, Museveni used the Somali card to ‘shut up’ Obama for good over Congo, as he threatened to withdraw Uganda troops from Somalia if they keep pointing fingers at him. It was total blackmail and i guess some in Washington are still shaking their heads over it, but it worked, at least in the short run.
‘The USA has got an international mandate as a super power to stop the ‘nonsense’ in DRC but it looks like president Museveni has got them by their balls. The UK, on the other hand, have only cut aid over the recent corruption scandals in the Office of Prime Minister(OPM), Amama Mbabazi, but nobody expects them to do anything more than that. Now that only leaves Congo’s savior in the hands of Janet Museveni and probably the French and Belgians. Janet( being Museveni’s sweetheart minister) needs to prove what a christian savior she is to the world, not just Karamoja gold lands. I would hug her whole day if she can save the Congolese from murder, rape and all evils that have been associated with that country for the last 12 years. I would even forget about the auditor General’s reports implicating her in the OPM corruption scandal where she is accused of having used over shs.180m of ‘donor’ money( meant for recovery and development of the North)- to travel to Israel 12 times in a month. I would vouch for her to travel as many times as she wants as long as she can pull the plug on this one. No wonder a friend of mine left UK for good, with his IT degree, to go back to Zanzibar to work in a travel Agency!’
FRENCH
But the Congo is Europe’s cross to bare especially Belgium’s and French. If the French ever had any feelings of ‘punishing’ kagame after the fall of habyarimana, I think this is their chance. The problem in Europe is that all countries are stretched economically such that the idea of financing a foreign war looks so dumb at the moment. But this is their chance if they wanna find a way of changing the status quo in Kigali. Kagame has become a little bit more comfortable, I believe. He needs something to keep him busy.
In 2004, Kagame accused France of direct responsibility for the 1994 genocide of at least 800,000 people in Rwanda. The French have not forgotten that their gift to President Habyarimana: a Mystère Falcon jet, was shot down by allegedly the Tutsi( Kagames) and they would want to ‘pat Kagame at the back’ with a sound, given a chance to. Well. i think this is their chance and im really waiting for ’round 2′ between these guys. How president Museveni will feature in all this, i dont know, but it will be interesting if it happens when we are all still alive.
Congo is so big and it is an open secret that Rwanda would love to see part of that country under their control. Congo is like the size of Western Europe. Uganda’s population is only about 35 million and Rwanda’s no more than about 8 million. Rwanda is probably as big as west and East Yorkshire combined together.
The 2001-03 UN-commissioned reports showed just how lucrative the Congo invasion and occupation has been for Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers. No wonder Otafiire has got a house in his village in western Uganda that i can only dream of building one day, as he was one of those implicated in these reports.
The Congo is mineral rich. That is one of the driving reasons for the wars there. Take the DRCs industrial diamond output of around $300 million a year – any ideas who uses that?
UN
But i have been disappointed with the UN and its peace keepers in Goma. The reports show that they took off when they saw the Congolese forces taking off too. It was like a coward following a coward. In 2004, UN came with an excuse that its peacekeepers in the Congo were not mandated to stop rebel factions taking control of the eastern town of Bukavu. Now, its almost the similar excuse in 2012 in Goma. So, what is UN doing there, anyway?
The UN Charter gives the Security Council the ability to take military action if other means don’t work. And both the Korean War and the Gulf War of 1991 were launched after explicit UN authorization for joint military force. So,what the heck do France, Belgium and Germany do with their armed forces anyway, if there are people killing each other in DRC? Show them off at parades or waiting for Ghadaffi to attack Benghazi again? No wonder Bush( Junior) never respected the UN( whatever that means) because they are really disappointing
–
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
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“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. “
~ Martin Luther King Jr. ~


























