It’s a sorrowful time in this land, as we received the terrible news last July 10 that one of our young men was felled. Killed at saviour work, as he and his group of peacekeepers were on their tour of duty, trying to save brethren/sistren from their enemies’ swords. These are our kith and kin of the Central African Republic (CAR) where our Rwandan army has answered the call to keep the peace. They are integrated into the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission (MINUSCA), just as they have been, and are quick to join hands with other nations that are ready to come to the rescue of anybody, anywhere, in distress. Even where others develop feet of clay, Rwanda does not shy away from going it alone, by bilateral arrangement, to answer any country’s SOS. Quick to come to the rescue of others, this has been brand Rwanda. From the time she pulled herself by her very bootstraps out of hell, this has been her mantra. She knows by the time she was done salvaging herself, she had lost more than one million citizens. Wherever she can help, therefore, Rwanda will not allow this to happen to any other people. Many powers have dilly-dallied, paying lip service, till they saw situations irredeemably sink into the hole. Yet those situations could have been reversed by one single command from any of the superpowers domineering the Global South to this day. Or by the UN that’s supposedly our global guardian. Or by NATO, some of whose member states have had an inflammatory hand in these circumstances. Or by even the Asian ASEAN or South American UNASUR, far-flung as they may appear. Or our own OAU (turned AU), its west-induced impotence notwithstanding. All individuals of the world, to a man/woman, we should be our brother’s/sister’s keepers. Wherever she goes, what animates Rwanda in her rescue missions is that none of the above so much as tries to budge. And so she moves to, in her humble way, demonstrate to everyone that the compass towards righteousness compels every human to open their eyes to its existence. For purely this reason and nothing but, Rwanda has been to Sudan, Mali, Haiti, South Sudan, CAR, and Mozambique. Where the situation stabilised, she left; where it didn’t, she stays to date. The same obtains for stranded refugees and migrants. But no, no! Says the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). It says not solely so for CAR and picks on the story of some Rwandan companies investing there and goes to town on it. Rwandan troops in MINUSCA and in a bilateral arrangement have brought some measure of stability, admits ICG, but no, the country’s interest is in her business companies signing business projects! So, if Rwandan troops have helped strengthen CAR’s institutions and these institutions want an investment that would strengthen them further; and if there are Rwandan companies that are happy to come into agreement and invest; is there anything untoward about that? I don’t see any. Yes, ICG sees something untoward! Why, pray? “Rwanda is getting mining concessions!” Minerals and these Northern-based ‘humanitarian organisations’, why do they fret and foam at the mouth when they smell minerals? Remember, the organisation was founded in 1995 in response to the horrors of Somalia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. But listening to them here, you’d think it was founded in response to the horrors of losing mineral concessions! We have companies galore investing here in Rwanda and are happy when we see even more, a number of them in the mining sector, why shouldn’t other countries be happy to have investors from Rwanda? After all, ICG says CAR’s institutions have been strengthened, which means they know which country’s company to give which concession. That’s not all, though. The ICG is in a panic for different reasons yet: “Rwanda’s mining interest [will] pit it directly against Wagner.” Oh? You see, ICG was founded in response to the horrors of, among others, Rwanda. So now it fears that these Wagner mercenaries might bring horror to bear on Rwanda? Isn’t it nice that these ICG dears have a soft heart for Rwanda? It’s odd, though, because, with that care, you’d have thought ICG would have sent a condolence message when, just after this long report of bad omen, one of our Rwandan troops was killed. ICG, worry not for Rwanda. As said, she has always held her own and there is no doubt she will never disappoint. Not even if shove comes to push with this Wagner group. Why, maybe if this group were to actually assault Rwandan troops, ICG’s unexpected would happen, instead. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to some of us used to their ways, to see Rwandan troops bundle up these ‘Wagners’ and deliver them to this land! Then call whoever cares for them to come and return the package to the sender! Banter alone, however, why should that happen? Rwanda is in CAR solely to deliver its people from grief, by any of her modest means possible. If in the process Central Africans and Rwandans can earn a dime through investments, so much the better.
