Africa

Congo President Felix Tshisekedi visits a memorial of civil war victims in Rwanda in March 2019

On May 18, 2021, on the sidelines of an African economic summit organized by French President Emmanuel Macron,  Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, talking to French media, rejected the 2010 UN Mapping Report. The report  documents the systematic massacres and acts of genocide committed in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)  by the Rwandan army and its created, armed and funded militias. Paul Kagame's statements received worldwide condemnations and indignations. Congolese leaders were initially silent. Following massive popular and media pressure,  DRC  President Felix Tshiskedi reacted with brief, but even more controversial,  statements. His statements have created indignations, condamnations and great dismay in  DRC and around the World.  Following his statetments,  activists, journalists, politicians, and others,  on social media and other channels,  have been wondering how a country like the DRC can have such an apparently "incompetent",  "ignorant", and "opportunist" leader. 

General Paul Kagame's Speech Attacking BBC in December 2014 over Human Rights Abuses Reports

 Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, has cancelled the CommonWealth summit that was planned in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2021. The decision was communicated in a Circular Letter dated on May 7, 2021,  a copy of which was obtained by AfroAmerica Network.  The official reasons of the cancellation are the prevailing risks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CommonWealth Secretary-General refers to  assessments by health institutions, including the World Health Organization. 

Front row, from left: Gen Dan Munyuza, Jean Bosco Kazura and Fred Ibingira in a meeting in early April 2021

 In mid January 2021,  sources within the Rwandan Department of Military Intelligence (DMI) confirmed to an AfroAmerica Network correspondent in Kigali that the military leaders supporting  Ms. Ange Kagame, have asked General Paul Kagame to impose a country lockdown to be able to better watch the movement of unreliable top military leaders. The decision was made due to the deteriorating health conditions of General Paul Kagame and the infighting among his closest aides and his family on his succession, when and just in case he becomes incapacitated (see here  Rwanda: As Rwandan Dictator Paul Kagame's Health Deteriorates, Rwandan Government Allegedly Uses COVID-19 to Impose a Lockdown Aimed at Keeping Top Military Leaders Suspected of Planning a Coup Under Close watch).  AfroAmerica Network sources have now learned that more officers, under such a watch,  have been arrested as they tried to coordinate their plot activities or flee the country: those recently arrested under the COVID-19 lockdown provisions include Gen Fred Ibingira, Rwanda Defence Force Chief of Staff  of the Reserve Force and Retired Lt Gen  Charles Muhire and other mid-ranking officers.