DR Congo: Rwanda and the credibility gap.

The Rwandan Ministry of Defence reports.

FARDC Officer arrested on Rwanda Territory

Kigali, 15 September 2013

A FARDC (Congolese Army) Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, Sergeant Major Kusakana Munanga Andre, service number (matricule): 1-72-88-93460-89 was today arrested by Security Organs in Rubavu Town, Western Rwanda in very suspicious activities. He was heavily armed, dressed in full battle dress, carrying all sorts of military gear.

Just remember those details particularly the gear he was wearing and the location of his arrest.

“Sgt Major Kusakana Munanga Andre was arrested at around 1320hrs at Mbuga Ngali village, Rubavu Town, where FARDC deliberately fired a rocket that killed Mukagasana Vestine injuring her two months old baby on 29 August 2013. A total of 38 rockets and bombs were fired in Rubavu District, by FARDC from 15 July to 29 August 2013”, said Brig Gen Joseph Nzabamwita, Defence and Military Spokesman.

That is consistent if nothing else. Unfortunately for Rwanda it is not what actually happened. 

Since August 22, a series of artillery shells have fallen in Goma and Rwanda, killing civilians on either side of the border.  The UN has now told the press that at least some of the mortars that fell in Rwanda came from M23 positions. According to one UN official in Goma I spoke to, their troops could observe the trajectory of the mortars.

The Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) has been asked to carry out verification of this latest violation.

Remember that.

On 3 November 2012 two FARDC and FDLR fighters conducted combined armed reconnaissance at Busasamana, Rubavu District in Rwanda. Cpl Nzaza Nyabigoro, a suspected FDLR fighter embedded in 391 Reconnaissance Battalion of FARDC was killed. His remains were handed over to the FARDC 8 Military Region Commander, Col Evariste Somo Kakule.

EJVM investigated this incident of 3 November 2012 which was a reconnaissance for FDLR attack on Rwanda territory on 27 November 2012.

OK so we have an allegation of a FARDC soldier swanning around in full battle gear on Rwandan territory. It actually strikes me as a bloody stupid thing to do, we also have the usual collection of lies about the bombs and their origins that actually seem to have nothing whatsoever to do with the arrested soldier, except that they do share one thing in common, both are lies. 

New Vision ( Uganda ) reports.

Congo soldier freed after Rwanda 'kidnapping'

Publish Date: Sep 18, 2013

KINSHASA - A Congolese soldier who was captured by Rwandan forces at the weekend was set free on Tuesday, both countries said, ending a row that risked heightening tensions between the neighbours.

It is interesting that New Vision has chosen to report the story this way. Uganda and Rwanda are close allies and New Vision is a majority government owned paper. 

Sergeant-Major Andre Munanga Kusakana "has been returned to us," said Olivier Hamuli, spokesman for the Congolese army in the country's troubled North-Kivu province, on the border with Rwanda.

Hamuli had on Sunday said that the soldier was pounced on by three Rwandan police officers as he was walking in a neutral border zone, an act he said amounted to "a kidnapping".

It would seem that yet again Rwanda is lying. It would seem Uganda have decided that the Rwandan line is sheer bullshit.

The Rwandan army for its part said they had arrested the "heavily armed" soldier inside their territory for carrying out "suspect activities".

The incident came amid continuing tension between Kigali and Kinshasa over a rebellion in and around the eastern city of Goma, the capital of North-Kivu province.

"...a neutral border zone. "  is not Rwandan territory. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations accuse Rwanda of being actively involved in the rebellion by the M23, a group of former rebels who were integrated in the army in 2009 but mutinied again last year.

Which is demonstrably accurate.

Rwanda in turn has accused the Congolese army of firing rockets and mortar shells on its territory and has massed troops at the border, sparking fears of a further regionalisation of the conflict.

Which it would seem is yet another lie according to observers from the UN on the ground as well as having being confirmed by other eyewitnesses.

Hamuli said the Joint Verification Mechanism, a multinational team of military officers set up by the Great Lakes regional body last year in a bid to defuse the M23 crisis, had helped facilitate the soldier's return.

Now remember above the Rwandan promise that they would have the Joint Verification Mechanism investigate, well it would seem that they have and found that yet again Rwanda is lying.

The Rwandan defence ministry confirmed the officer's release on its Twitter feed.

"#FARDC Sergeant Major Kusakana Munanga Andre, arrested on #Rwanda territory was handed over to EJVM today as gesture of good will and peace," it said.

I think we can interpret that statement as a whoops we screwed up but we sure as hell are not going to admit it. Why on earth would a soldier a senior NCO no less from the DR Congo be dressed as described if he was on a covert mission in Rwanda. Sometimes the truth just stares you in the face. 

Uganda: Riviting Stuff ( Not ). Why Ugandans ignored the media siege.

New Vision ( Uganda ) reports along with a counter comentary from The Wire Perspective I have inserted parts of James Wire Lunghabo blog at random points. When the other woman confronts you 

  

By Irene Kiiza - Onyango

On a scorching Thursday afternoon, I boarded a taxi from Mutungo heading to Kampala. Everything was as usual, until a girl I will call Beautiful, seated at the back, received a phone call.

 

Now to the media houses, for long you have and continue to feed us with news that concentrates on women nudity, alcohol binges, serial daters, sex scandals, drivers of monstrous cars like Hummers, creating celebrities out of nothing among others. What you don’t know is that progressively, you are adjusting our mindsets to stop being bothered about the serious issues of life and instead appreciate the softer and less important aspects.

It was no ordinary call.

“You old hug, leave Alfred alone,” she told the caller in an annoyingly sweet voice.

“Yes, he is mine, just leave him alone. He is my husband and whatever you do, you will never be his wife,” she added.

 

So, considering how much you have fed us with below average content, where do you expect us to get the mindset to address serious challenges to the press like the Government Siege of your premises and its implications to the future of the press in Uganda? If we had been given an opportunity to read and learn from you about these fundamental necessities in our society, then maybe we could have come up in arms. But you chose to follow the money. Hence the famous proverb; “As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.“

Everybody else in the taxi went silent, probably because the conversation we had been forced to tap into was getting interesting.

“You are a grand mum, don’t you feel embarrassed to insist on grabbing a boy fit to be your son? Just leave him alone. I would tolerate it if it were your daughter dating him, not you!”

At that point the man seated one passenger away from her started shaking his head in disbelief. Different passengers turned to look at her, others wrinkling their faces in dissatisfaction, but Beautiful was heated up and it looked like she did not care anymore and simply wanted to get her message across. 

 

I believe such a character will only be willing to go to such extents if the Government decided to deny him/her their conjugal rights because ....

“Just hand Alfred the phone and let me talk to him. In case you did not know, he has already paid my dowry, he pays my tuition (fees) and I am his future wife, okay?” She yelled into her phone.

“Ok, thank you for calling. Now will you hand Alfred that phone, I am sure he wants to hear me speak,” she instructed.

But the person on the other end would not relent.

The conversation turned into a war of words and more insults flew back and forth... Unfortunately, we could not hear what the caller was offering. I was tempted to ask the young lady to put the receiver on loud speaker for our benefit, since the phone call had already turned into a kimeeza of sorts, but there was no chance at interrupting her.

“So what? I have told you he is using you; anyway go ahead and entertain him; he is too bored with me miles away.”

Eventually she got off the phone and as if instructed, everyone on board started discussing the situation.

The opinions that came were as varying as the passengers on board. To her credit, Beautiful answered every question she was asked as if she had to, albeit with a lump in her throat. Apparently, Alfred lives in Australia with the woman that had called and the phone call was intended to tell the Ugandan girl to back off.

But should you confront a woman you suspect to be having an inappropriate relationship with your husband? Maybe yes, maybe no!

So, what lessons do we learn from this siege?

Garbage in Garbage Out; What you feed the public is what you get out of it. This answers the question why the Ngoma (Luganda daily) newspaper that the Monitor Publications had launched failed.

You want allies, build them. You cant plant a Mango Tree and expect Jack fruit from it. Start sensitizing we the public on the kind of issues that will increase our alertness as civil society and you will see a big difference.

There is nothing like free press in the world anymore. Even in the countries that we so much admire like the USA, the concept of the free press is a myth. In 1983, 90% of American media was owned by 50 companies; in 2011, the same 90% was controlled by 6 companies. This has even made it easier to control what the Americans get from the media.

In Uganda, between The New Vision Group and Monitor Publications, they control over 60% of the media. With the New Vision being firmly under Government control, we had the Daily Monitor to help as a balancing act only to realize that based on this article published on the 31^st of May 2013, we can as well kiss the free/independent press good bye.

Batshit Crazy ?