The new Pygmalion

Pygmalion is a young prince from ancient Cyprus who sculpted an ivory statue representing a beautiful young girl. He so much fell in love with his statue that Aphrodite, the love goddess, heard his prayer and gave life to the statue, and, like in all fairytales, the couple lived in happiness. The modern concept of self-fulfilling prophecy has it that expectations and beliefs highly influence individual behaviour.

Take a bank that goes bankrupt. The process starts with the belief that a bank encounters difficulties and may soon go bankrupt. This is the prophecy. This expectation provokes customers’ behavior change. They lose confidence and withdraw massively their savings. Inevitably, massive withdrawals bring about treasury difficulties. Unmet withdrawal orders exacerbate the feeling that the prophecy is under course. Ironically, it is the panicking savers who unintentionally provoke the bank’s failure to pay, hence bankruptcy.  The movement has a justification:  to escape a financial loss. The prophet (bank customers) is therefore psychologically justified.
In a similar move, Rudasingwa hopes to provoke by his sheer lies a total collapse of President Kagame’s personality, in a proper character assassination campaign, while cleansing his portrait "in a spirit of truth-telling in search of forgiveness and healing”, as put in his confession.

Rudasingwa’s expectations

As it has often been highlighted, Rudasingwa’s agenda is to demonise President Kagame. To this end, his gleeful skirmishes spare no weapon, even those weapons that might backfire in a boomerang effect. Take his novel style of compromising with known genocidaires and evildoers of all walks. To the pinnacle of irony, he and his half brother publically associate with their yesterday foes Kanziga and the like, and connive with wanted genocide master-minders. He has today again hit the ceiling of irony by "confessing” the crime (he never committed, he says!) of assassinating Habyarimana. He believes that by luring the world with his infamous utterances, his expectations will be realised. His sole expectation, his conviction, his dream is a Rwanda without President Kagame. That is why he confesses a false truth that cannot stand a simple test.

A confessed guilt …

Talking of confession, Rudasingwa actually pretends to be candid. He says: " …In July, 1994, Paul Kagame himself, with characteristic callousness and much glee, told me that he was responsible for shooting down the plane”. What does he have to confess then?  Being entrusted a secret as RPF Secretary General? No, because in his capacity, he would rather have been part and parcel of the plot. He would therefore be the first culprit, not for a secret disclosure, but for the methodically hatched plan he describes.
And quickly to add:  "I was never party to the conspiracy to commit this heinous crime”.  Just imagine a trustee who was not in confidence by planning time, but was the early recipient of the terrible secret… faithfully kept all this time. One thing is clear. Betrayal has been his deadly sin all through his life. But this time, he waited for others to break the secret before him. As if hesitantly, he finally takes the bold decision today. Bruguiere and Merelles said it for political and strategic reasons. Furuma and Ruzibiza said it to earn a living in exile. Some confessed having declared false truths. Ruzibiza is the typical character with his pre-mortem confession.

Different agendas, identical confessions

Ruzibiza confessed he had told lies on the downing of Habyarimana’s plane. He said he was the author of the crime, because he needed to earn a living. Rudasingwa confesses his fabricated lies because of mere jealousy and the guts hatred he nourishes against President Kagame. The importance of Ruzibiza’s confession was that it shamed Rwanda’s detractors. It punched holes into the notion of the thoroughness and superiority of Western justice systems. His accusations had framed the indictments of the French and Spanish judges, but today they have emptied the allegations of all substance. Today, with an unfathomable villainy, Rudasingwa is asking for forgiveness "in the context of collective responsibility”…If he were to seek for forgiveness, he would rather do his personal mea culpa and not spread a fog mantle of "collective responsibility”, to ease his concealment behind it.

Back to the future

Confession is the fashion.  Being haunted by the memory of all his misdeeds, Rudasingwa feels he needs to confess. Today, he confesses having heard of who shot a plane. By doing so, he believes he will pin down his imaginary enemy and hopes his prophecy will be realised. But the more he exposes himself, one thing becomes clear. He will soon confess the truth… that he has been a liar throughout.
He will confess having lied, betrayed and failed his comrades during the liberation struggle, putting forward personal interests and lucre; he will confess mismanagement in his tenure of office; he will confess public monies embezzlement and sexual misconduct; he will confess negating genocide and inciting divisive maneuvers among Rwandans on ethnic grounds. He will finally confess he has uttered false allegations defaming President Kagame on the shooting of Habyarimana’s plane, this simply hoping to confuse the world in a childlike retarded conviction that the swindle will work.

Conclusion

We should not be mistaken, neither should his new allies be.  Rudasingwa has nothing to offer to Rwandans. He has no credible project. He proclaims of securing HIS alleged rights, but he merely claims for HIS dividends. He still dreams of the epoch of his grandeur and signs today with his lost titles. He can’t simply forget the past, such past which is narrowed around HIS personal and his quartet’s interests, and in extenso those of the entire dodgy bunch behind him. The only prophecy that will be fulfilled is his confused and distorted mind that will bring him one day to confess, a genuine confession to Rwanda, to President Paul Kagame and other comrades, to the legitimate leadership and to the betrayed citizenry he is misleading today. He will ask for forgiveness on both knees and he will be pardoned. Ibyaye ikiboze irakirigata!

Ends