After rumors of death that Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was shot down, across the border in the Eastern Congo, a time-stamped photograph was tweeted of a UN truck full of people on the back, captioned “MONUSCO in Goma celebrating the death of H.E President Paul Kagame.”
It seemed worth asking the UN mission Chief Martin Kobler to comment on or explain about the photograph, therefore Inner City Press decided to send this, to Kobler and other three MONUSCO spokespeople:
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“Can you please comment on or explain this time-stamped photo, which is being described as a UN truck participating in “celebrations” of the rumor of the Rwandan president’s death. Do you dispute that the photo was taken on January 10? To whom is the UN giving a ride in this truck and in what context?”
{{ After sometime, UN envoy Kobler replied:}}
The question became, now what does Kobler, or those above him in New York, do?
Inner City Press on January 10 went to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s press conference, at 11 am in New York, to ask this question:
“in the DRC this morning, after false rumors of Paul Kagame being dead, a MONUSCO truck was photographed in what some call celebrations and Martin Kobler told me is “unacceptable.
“What do you think your UN should do about this, in terms of the perception of impartiality or bias by the UN?”
In reality, the truck was taken over by demonstrators while on a regular mission. The driver was alone and unarmed when the incident happened. MONUSCO condemns this agressivity against its assets.
MONUSCO has launched a full investigation to ascertain the circumstances and the context surrounding the incident.
On January 13, Inner City Press asked Kobler about the two vehicles. He said that both had been taken over, which now seems to mean that the UN drivers remained in the vehicles, carrying the protesters, on the single road from Sake to Munigi, through
Goma.
Kobler said the drivers were unarmed, but even if they were armed, they would not have tried to get the demonstrators off, at least not by using force.
He also said the protesters got off or disappeared out by the Uruguayan peacekeepers’ base by the air port. There is more than a little skepticism. But that is what Kobler said:
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