In a stirring and impassioned speech while addressing the newly sworn in parliament on August 14, 2024, Kagame castigated efforts in place to confront a conflict that has cast long shadows over the region for decades.<\/p>\n
With reason and conviction, The Head of State dismantled the falsehoods that have long painted Rwanda as the villain in this tragic saga, asserting with unwavering clarity that the DRC\u2019s problems must not, and cannot be blamed on Rwanda.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me speak plainly about these issues of regional insecurity, the war that has gripped the eastern part of DRC, the simmering tensions that have pitted neighbors against each other, these are not new problems,\u201d Kagame said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI addressed them the other day at the inauguration, and I address them again now: the true root of these conflicts lies not in Rwanda, but in the mire of interests and hypocrisies that refuse to confront the real causes,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
Kagame peeled back the layers of distortion that have clouded the truth for so long describing a narrative that has been twisted and turned to serve the interests of a few, while the many suffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a story that was told not to illuminate the truth, but to obscure it by shifting the blame away from those who must be held accountable,\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n
The president questioned those that allege Rwanda\u2019s exploitation of the DRC\u2019s resources through the supposed support of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say the FDLR returned to Rwanda only to be sent back to the DRC, to exploit their riches. But I ask, what riches? What resources are they speaking of, when the people they claim to defend live in conditions worse than my own citizens?\u201d he wondered<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that many of these fighters came back to Rwanda and everyone knows who they are and also addressed the concerning misrepresentation of the refugee situation in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou acknowledge that there are people who need to be resettled, yet you refuse to engage with the very refugees who are at the heart of the insecurity in this region and then you turn around and blame Rwanda? This is not just wrong, it is unacceptable!\u201d Kagame said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear that they have no real interest in resolving this conflict. They do not seek peace, but rather, they seek to maintain the chaos from which they benefit,\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on discussions held with some delegates at his inauguration, Kagame questioned why Rwanda is continually asked to clean up the mess that others have created.
\nBut let me remind you, Rwanda\u2019s liberation and progress was not handed to us as a gift. We fought for it, we bled for it, and we earned it,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
He emphasized that security is a matter of survival for Rwanda and good neighborliness cannot come at the country\u2019s expense, or anyone else\u2019s. He said that the problems in the DRC is not Rwanda\u2019s to solve, and this constant narrative should not be used as a scapegoat. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to protect our people, our interests, without fear, and without hesitation,\u201d he stressed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the second time in a row since his inauguration, President Paul Kagame has addressed the festering conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), saying the problem is not Rwanda\u2019s burden to bear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000073874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[75],"byline":[3135],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-51221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-homenews","byline-sam-k-nkurunziza-2"],"bylines":[{"id":3135,"name":"Sam K Nkurunziza","slug":"sam-k-nkurunziza-2","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}],"contributors":[{"id":3135,"name":"Sam K Nkurunziza","slug":"sam-k-nkurunziza-2","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}],"featured_image":{"id":2000073874,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/pk_pic-2.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/pk_pic-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/pk_pic-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/pk_pic-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/pk_pic-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/pk_pic-2.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000073874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51221"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=51221"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=51221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}