{"id":8302,"date":"2013-06-06T15:18:33","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T15:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/will-the-framework-for-hope-make-a-difference-in\/"},"modified":"2013-06-09T04:00:21","modified_gmt":"2013-06-09T04:00:21","slug":"will-the-framework-for-hope-make-a-difference-in","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/opinion\/will-the-framework-for-hope-make-a-difference-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the \u201cFramework for Hope\u201d make a difference in Congo?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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{{The visit to Rwanda of UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon, alongside heavyweights such as the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, and former Irish President turned UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, provided renewed hopes that a fresh track to peace could be opening in the troubled land of the DRC. }} <\/p>\n

Personally, the new influx of energy and enthusiasm embodied in the people mobilized for this new effort gave me the kind of hope reflected in Mary Robinson\u2019s choice of words when she renamed the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, \u201cFramework of Hope\u201d. <\/p>\n

This title indeed alludes to a deliberate willingness to approach the problem from a different angle: constructive and forward-looking, rather than focused on sterile stigmatization. <\/p>\n

Signed by the DRC and ten other countries and witnessed by three African regional bodies and the United Nations, the Framework Agreement is the concept paper that the UNSG\u2019s Special Envoy was tasked to map out and monitor. <\/p>\n

It highlights the urgent need for accelerated reforms within the DRC and increased cooperation among key countries in the Great Lakes region, particularly Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s new in here? For a start, the framework agreement\u2019s broader perspective that focuses on political dialogue, good governance and regional cooperation is, to say the least, refreshing. <\/p>\n

Second, the clear-headed view that economic development is crucial to support cooperation amongst the signatories, stimulated by much needed funding to the tune of a billion dollars courtesy of the World Bank, indicates a constructive mindset, more interested in the fate of affected populations than political score-setting. <\/p>\n

Led by Robinson, whose thoughtful and experienced personality brings an additional dimension to this initiative, the framework might symbolize a welcome departure away from a long track record of international failure in the Great Lakes Region. <\/p>\n

A senior Rwandan Government Official, whom I met after the UNSG\u2019s visit confirmed this perception to me. He shared my view of the former Irish President as an experienced leader used to looking at the big picture of the issues, rather than narrow agendas and skewed narratives. <\/p>\n

But he was also cautiously optimistic about the prospects of the \u201cFramework of Hope\u201d as a new approach in solving recurrent insecurity in the DRC. When I asked what he expected to be the biggest obstacle to the success of its implementation, his response came as a surprise! <\/p>\n

Rather than pointing at usual references such as the Congolese Government\u2019s poor governance and irresponsibility, the M23 trigger-happiness or the unrealistic expectations raised by the FIB, he said and I quote: \u201c\u2026the pernicious influence of a certain type of activists\u2026 activists with too much ideological baggage to provide a fresh perspective on the Eastern DRC crisis\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cA specific brand of international actors\u201d, he added, \u201cwho have invested so heavily in a regressive, finger-pointing approach, and are not ready to reconsider this approach despite its obvious failure to contribute to a real solution\u2026\u201d end of quote. <\/p>\n

Needless to say my optimistic mood went down a notch. And for good reasons\u2026
\nNot so long ago, I published a piece in \u2018The East African\u2019 about Steve Hege the chairman of the 2012 Group of Experts and his longstanding ideological war against Rwanda. <\/p>\n

(http:\/\/www.theeastafrican.co.ke\/OpEd\/comment\/Ideological-warrior-Steve-Hege\/-\/434750\/1471564\/-\/12d81xg\/-\/index.html )<\/p>\n

It provided a detailed account of Hege\u2019s well-documented ideological activism and advocacy for the FDLR, an infamous radical organization comprised of genocide perpetrators. <\/p>\n

But just as Hege\u2019s deep-seated bias and personal agenda became too hard to overlook, his eventual dismissal from the GoE made way for another controversial figure; Bernard Leloup. <\/p>\n

The nomination in the GoE of Mr. Bernard Leloup whose longstanding activism against Rwanda, alongside his close collaborator, the well-known Genocide revisionist, Philip Reyntjens, triggered a preventable clash with the Government of Rwanda which was left with no choice but to formally notify its reservation to Leloup\u2019s participation in the GoE 2013. (See: http:\/\/www.innercitypress.com\/drc1noleloup020113.html )<\/p>\n

So, while I was led to believe that Mary Robinson had gathered a solid team of credible analysts and international experts to support her peace efforts, a quick research following the conversation I just described, revealed one notable exception that had escaped my scrutiny. <\/p>\n

According to reliable sources, an eyebrow-raising development is the addition to \u2018team Robinson\u201d of one Frederico Borello, who will be acting as the Special Envoy\u2019s advisor. <\/p>\n

Borello\u2019s \u201chope\u201d credentials became increasingly questionable when I found out that he was the lead investigator for the infamous \u201cDRC Mapping Report\u201d (2010) largely discredited for its misleading accounts and radical assertions including the preposterous use of the term \u201cGenocide\u201d against Hutu refugees in Eastern DRC. <\/p>\n

But the inflammatory views of the activist have found many other outlets; in 2011, for example, Borello co-authored the equally discredited \u201cRemaking Rwanda\u201d along with the who\u2019s who of anti-Rwanda activists or, as one author called them, the \u201cHate Rwanda Ltd\u201d. <\/p>\n

Using his usual punish-Rwanda prism to analyze all DRC problems, he wrote: \u201cif the international community had put more pressure on Rwanda earlier on, it would have deterred its subsequent support for militias such as the CNDP\u201d (See a review of Remaking Rwanda: http:\/\/pambazuka.org\/en\/category\/books\/77258 and http:\/\/josephrwagatare.wordpress.com\/?s=Remake+Rwanda&submit=Search)<\/p>\n

More recently, in April 2013, Frederico Borello with the help of his extensive links in the anti-Rwanda network found his way to the US Congress where his testimony was notably centered around Rwanda as the main cause of DRC\u2019s instability with sweeping statements such as \u201cEliminating Rwanda\u2019s destabilizing influence a necessary precondition to resolving the root causes of the conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

A famous Rwandan saying goes \u201ca hidden stone cannot harm the hoe once its presence is discovered\u201d; such is the purpose of this exercise. <\/p>\n

Pointing to the negative influence of partisans actors in a situation where the stakes are so high should serve as a warning to them that such hidden agendas will not be allowed to harm a peace process we, in Rwanda, hold so dear. <\/p>\n

Between distasteful calls to legitimize the genocidal FDLR, and the negative influence of agenda-driven activists, the role of the United Nations\u2019 Special Envoy won\u2019t be easy. <\/p>\n

Yet, her contribution to lasting stability in the Great Lakes Region is desperately needed; it is a unique opportunity that should not be missed. <\/p>\n

Mary Robinson will need to demonstrate all the independence of character and the leadership qualities she is known for, if the \u201cFramework for Hope\u201d is ever to make a genuine difference.<\/p>\n

{The Author is a Political Analyst of Great Lakes Region}<\/p>\n

email: alberuda@gmail.com <\/p>\n

tweeter: @albcontact\u202c <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{{The visit to Rwanda of UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon, alongside heavyweights such as the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, and former Irish President turned UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, provided renewed hopes that a fresh track to peace could be opening in the troubled land of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"archived_slugs":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[75],"byline":[440],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-8302","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","hentry","category-opinions","tag-homenews","byline-albert-rudatsimburwa"],"bylines":[{"id":440,"name":"Albert Rudatsimburwa","slug":"albert-rudatsimburwa","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null,"twitter_handle":""}],"contributors":[{"id":440,"name":"Albert Rudatsimburwa","slug":"albert-rudatsimburwa","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null,"twitter_handle":""}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/8302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opinion"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/8302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8302"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=8302"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=8302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}