Priti Patel and Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Vincent Biruta shake hands after signing a lucrative deal to process asylum seekers in Kigali in April (Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt/Getty)

It is ‘inconceivable that a country like the UK, that values freedom’, a Rwandan political exile told i

Yet Rwanda has created, and continues to create, countless refugees of its own. At least 287,000 Rwandans live outside the country, having fled from the regime of President Paul Kagame – and it is estimated the figure could be as high as one million.

“Kagame is a stooge: he’s a conman of the West in dubious business including, now, human trafficking,” is how one such Rwandan exile describes the president and his £120m deal with the UK Government. 

Etienne Mutabazi is the legal affairs officer of the Rwanda National Congress, a party formed in exile to oppose the Kagame regime. He left the country in July 1994, just after the genocide and now lives in South Africa.

As an academic he had been acquiring and studying documentation that implicated both sides in horrific human rights abuses leading up to and during the genocide. He quickly realised that as Kagame’s invading army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) approached, his life would be at risk for the work he was doing.

In the UK, and the West generally, the story we have of Rwanda is the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi minority conducted by the Interahamwe, a Hutu militia, with support from the government, was ended by the heroic RPF.

The RPF won the war, put a stop to the bloodshed, and upon taking over have unified the country and built Rwanda into, not only one of the most stable countries in Africa, but also one of the most prosperous, marketing itself as the Singapore of Africa.

Yet Mutabazi argues the story is not so simple. “Both parties [during the war] committed violation of human rights,” he said.

“There is no attempt to properly categorise what the RPF was doing at the time. It could also be described as genocide, but we are prevented from looking at that.”

But Kagame doesn’t tolerate any questioning of his narrative.

As a Hutu who left in the immediate aftermath of the genocide, the Kagame regime is quick to paint refugees like Mutabazi as enemies of the state or genocide deniers. Yet there has been a steady stream of exiles from Rwanda, from those within Kagame’s government since he took power.

One of those is Jean-Paul Turayishimye, who is of a Tutsi background and served in the Rwandan National Security Services until he fled the country in 2005. He feared for his life due to his close relationship with an army general who had fallen out with Kagame.

Ahead of a third round of questioning by the state over his association with General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, for whom he worked as a personal assistant, Turayishimye left the country and made it to the US. He is now the co-ordinator of the Rwandan Alliance for Change, another organisation in exile that works towards freedom in Rwanda.

“Kagame’s very paranoid,” he explained. “He wanted a loyalty test [from the general] who was unwilling to incriminate himself on fabricated charges.” 

The Kagame regime is not content with creating exiles, however, and has pursued some perceived enemies overseas in the past.

“It doesn’t matter where you are, Rwanda doesn’t use government agencies, they use diaspora members [to carry out assassinations],” said Turayishimye.

“We’re not safe anywhere, even in the US.”  By Joe Walsh, I news

Eversend, a Ugandan fintech startup providing cross-border money transfers for Africans and Africans in the diaspora has rebranded. The startup has reinforced its commitment to users with an all-inclusive payment platform and a modified look to support this transition. 

One key new feature is a B2B crypto-fiat payments application that enables businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method. This solution allows companies to hold, payout, collect and convert fiat and cryptocurrencies under one platform, ensuring connectedness and accessibility, which is integral to Eversend’s business offerings. The API and web-based platform that allows you to move from fiat currencies to crypto and back is being launched in crypto-friendly markets. 

“Since our launch in 2019, we have evolved to serve our customers holistically by building features like multi-currency wallets, virtual cards, and cross border payments. Now we are introducing collections, payouts, and currency exchange for businesses. This distinctly shows that we have matured into a different company than three years ago”, says Stone Atwine, Eversend CEO and Co-founder. 

The firm says a new brand identity was created to reflect its offerings, the company's future, and its core values; promoting economic stability, well-being, and livelihood through financial empowerment for communities. Although Eversend cuts across payments, it is centered around people and connections. 

“The new logo and branding evoke emotion, expression, and dynamism, which are critical values in our thought process. Our new visual identity results from the valuable feedback received from our customers. For that reason, we agreed on a coin representing money and the letter E expressing emotions, connections, and Eversend”, comments Atwine. 

Eversend is a leading African FX startup that has matured from a mobile application to a retail and business payments platform. By Nixon Kanadi, Africa Tech

The Ugandan authorities must release the six politicians and activists arrested solely for protesting the high cost of living and respect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said today ahead of their bail hearing tomorrow. 

Police arrested the six women on 30 May 2022 at Mulago roundabout in Kampala while they held placards protesting inflation, high prices of essential goods and the continued detention of Kizza Besigye, the leader of the political pressure group People’s Front for Transition.

“The arrest and continued detention of these activists amounts to intimidation and harassment. This is a clear attempt by the Ugandan authorities to suppress freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

“These six activists must be immediately released. Instead of criminalizing public criticism of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, the Ugandan authorities should take steps to mitigate the impact of rising food costs on those who can least afford it.”

The six women include MP Anna Adeke, Deputy Mayor of Kampala Doreen Nyanjura and four women activists, Wokuri Mudanda, Susan Nanyojo, Mariam Kizito and Alice Amony. They were charged with inciting violence and unlawful assembly and remanded at Luzira Prison in Kampala.

The protests were sparked by rising inflation, which grew from 2.7% in January 2022 to 6.3% in May 2022 and increased the cost of essential consumer goods. Food inflation disproportionately impacts people living in poverty, who spend a greater percentage of their income on food. While inflation is currently a global problem, governments have an obligation to ensure the right to sufficient and adequate access to food, including through international assistance. The arrested politicians and activists had criticized the Ugandan government’s response to rising food costs.

Clampdown on dissent

Ugandan police arrested Kizza Besigye at Arua Park in Kampala on 23 May, where he was addressing people in one of a series of protests about the economic situation.

On 12 May, the police had placed him under a “preventive arrest” which the Ugandan authorities use to pre-emptively prevent an offence.

On 25 May, Besigye was charged with incitement to violence in Buganda Road Court and granted a UGX 30,000,000 (about USD 8,100) cash bail. He objected to this on the grounds that it was excessive and instructed his lawyers to apply for a review of the bail conditions. On 6 June, the High Court reduced the cash bail to UGX 3,000,000 (about USD 810).

The Ugandan authorities must stop using preventive detention and criminal charges to deter people from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The Constitution of Uganda obliges the state to ensure that Ugandans are able to petition the government, exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and to enjoy decent shelter, health and food security.

“By arresting people who are concerned about the high cost of living, the Ugandan authorities risk seeming disconnected from the everyday reality of those living in poverty, including people who cannot afford to put a meal on the table,” said Deprose Muchena.

Background:

Protests continue to be criminalized in Uganda with no legal basis even after the country’s Constitutional Court declared Section 8 of the Public Order Management unconstitutional. It was thought that nullifying parts of the law would limit the power held by the Inspector General of Police to arbitrarily prevent or stop public gatherings and crack down on protests.

The state uses Section 83 of the Penal Code Act to charge people for incitement to violence to deter them from protesting. - Amnesty International