African Regime Gone Bad: The Bad Lads Club Impunity

Whatever crimes the RPF had or hadn’t committed inside Rwanda, its interventions in DRC and meddling in neighbouring states (Uganda and Burundi) had exposed a casualness to human life, cavalier ruthlessness, and shocking levels of greed. And at home, steady elimination of one civilian politician after another, most of them Hutus, had removed any convenient fiction as to who, exactly, runs Rwanda and with ethnic communities in pole position.

The “collegiate character” of the RPF had leached away, and with it a commitment to self-criticism. Ministry officials recall, “In the early days it was very normal during meetings to debate openly, to correct fellow cadres by stating where they were wrong.” Now even the mischief comment, pointing out failings of Rwanda’s health-care system, or mentioning the electricity supplies do not meet the population’s needs, meant carrying the risk of being branded “enemy of the state”.

Many drew the obvious conclusion, either keep quiet or limit oneself to glowing expressions of admiration for Kagame. Of course, the concentration of power in one man’s hands is deeply worrying, the Tutsi elite told itself, “If he goes, we all go.” Unity was vital for self-survival, Kagame was both champion and mascot. Anyone expressing themselves or who’s described as “ambitious” means you are a competitor for the job of president and not a compliment. Kagame claims the right to interpose himself in every aspect of his aides’ lives, including marriages, with one senior RPF member told he was expected to divorce his wife not deemed “Pro-Rwandan” enough.

Meanwhile, excluding the death of Fred Rwigyema (Kagame’s orders), since coming to power, the list of mysterious deaths and disappearances of people critical of Rwanda’s government continues to increase. While no official comment has ever been made by Rwandan Government, Kagame did, when speaking to his controlled media, send a warning to the population: “Any person still alive who may be plotting against Rwanda, or challenges our approach, whoever they are, will pay the price, I assure you.” The system Kagame has put in place means certain laws and policies make it impossible, make it criminal, to question the government.

The ongoing, relentless pursuit of journalists, opposition politicians and social activists, whether inside Rwanda or living in exile, was just part of a widespread campaign of extra-judicial killings, kidnappings, renditions, beatings, death threats and surveillance waged home and abroad with impunity.

Kagame’s capacity for personalised intimidation usually escapes Western outsiders. When philanthropists, celebrities, pastors, and rabbis met Kagame in Davos, Washington, Brussels or Addis, what struck them was the hermit-like austerity of Kagame’s appearance, the monkish simplicity of dark shirts and high-collar tunics.

Kagame was transforming himself into one of Africa’s high-profile statesmen. His capital was being successfully marketed as a glossy international conference centre, network hub and showcase of international development. In 2014, Kigali hosted the African Development Bank’s AGM, in 2016 Schwab’s WEF chose it for an “African Davos.” Kagame is a regular at WEF’s Davos meetings, most recently in 2022 while his M23 proxy and FARC were igniting the DRC-Rwanda border. In 2022, Kigali held the originally scheduled 2020 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM). Held at the Kigali Convention Centre in June, built around the theme ‘Delivering A Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming’, especially through leveraging technology for the youth.

More recently Rwanda was proposed as a final destination point for illegal economic migrants, that is entailed with being transferred to Rwanda courtesy of bilateral MoU signed between UK and Rwanda in April 2022 (conveniently ahead of CHOGM). The MoU includes an upfront payment of £120 million by the UK, who will also pay the processing and integration costs for each relocated person.

In January 2018, Kagame assumed the rotating chairmanship of the African Union (AU), and also chaired the East African Community from 2018-2021 more international stage platforms. His term was the most dynamic in decades, with the man who got stuff done promoting the neo-liberal and Great Reset agendas of tariff-free, continent-wide trade and lambasting his peers for the dependency on Western aid with the same unforgiving enthusiasm as he berated his own officials. Nothing was raised that while pushing these agendas, who was funding and supporting him as the preferred proxy client? All from a man who never completed high school, but now boasts more honorary degrees and honours than Barack Obama.

The Western friends, having jettisoned Somalia, focused upon Rwanda, their preferred proxy client as the primary hub to control Africa’s resources (and weaken Francophone Africa). In the health sector, the developing of bio labs also high on the list of Western Friends priorities saw the visit on 7th Feb 2023 by chair of International Vaccine Institute (IVI) Board of Trustees, George Bickerstaff.

Western Friends’ leverage goes higher up and deeper into the elite tree. Rwanda have now taken over as the preferred proxy client of royals, banks and industrialists via WWF and its 1001 Club. In 1948, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) was established, mainly by Sir Julian Huxley, a famous biologist. Later, in September 1961, Julian Huxley officially established the WWF, together with Prince Bernhard and Prince Philip. In 1971, WWF officials Anton Rupert, Prince Philip, and Prince Bernhard came together and formed a club that would cover the administrative and fundraising aspects of the WWF, making the organization’s existence independent from donations of the general public, the 1001 Club. The 1001 Club is a geo-political clearing house for developing foreign policy for vested business interests, who are both seeking new ways to expand (and retain existing) business operations. Using the WWF and the 1001 Club is a platform to casually meet the leaders of Third World countries who control a substantial amount of the planet’s natural resources. Having previously retained Mobutu Sese Seko as the core member for the Great Lakes, Kagame was seen as the ideal replacement.

To a large extent the 1001 Club is, on the surface just what it is supposed to be: a group of influential people concerned about the environment.

However, as kings and emperors have shown over the centuries, it’s perfectly possible to enjoy nature and not care anything for the common man. Striving for a sustainable future is an elitist thinking agenda. Everyone needs fresh air and clean water. On top of that, many bankers and industrialists of the Western world list among their hobbies such activities as hiking, fishing, visiting faraway places, and above all… hunting.

Patron of the Tusk Trust Prince William said “Africa’s natural heritage is the world’s natural heritage. We have to preserve places like this… not just for us, but for future generations.” Preserving African landscapes for “us” essentially meant wealthy Britons, for they were the audience. Whose lands are they? If they are part of the world’s heritage, who gave Prince William the responsibility to lead conservation efforts?

An ever-expanding world population seriously gets in the way of these things. Helping people of Third World countries is problematic from a strictly geopolitical point of view.

The reasons:

• It upsets the balance of power
• There aren’t enough natural resources to support 6.5 billion people with a high standard of living

The economic power clique of the West realises this and use their instruments accordingly. The process through which the IMF and World Bank crush Third World countries economically extending their loans (Western unpayable debt) only after leaders of the respective countries accept secret and very far-reaching policies of privatization and deregulation. With the abundance of land and mineral resources in the Great Lakes, Kagame’s role is deemed critical to Western Friends. The other valued role Kagame plays is fulfilling demographic control (in DR Congo). As outlined by Prince Philip in the 2nd Salas Memorial Lecture , “Population growth and population size inflict major damage upon the natural world, human population explosion has become the root cause of the degradation of the natural environment. Further population growth is undesirable, and the best hope of limiting the number of poor and the disadvantaged would be if the world population could be stabilised, as we have over-stretched the carrying capacity of our habitat.”

The UK, desperate to hold onto a semblance of global influence, British Intelligence and the Foreign Colonial Office still actively use the WWF and 1001 Club in pursuing some of the UK’s geopolitical neo-imperial interests. WWF annually receives millions of dollars from its links with governments and business. Global corporations such as Coca-Cola, Shell, Monsanto, HSBC, Cargill, BP, Alcoa and Marine Harvest all benefit from the WWF’s green image to carry on their businesses as usual. The WWF/1001 Club control 10% of the world’s surface, 45% of DR Congo, 40% of Tanzania, 25% of South Africa. Kagame is therefore a valuable proxy asset and the core lynchpin of the Great Reset agenda.
 

© AW Kamau 2023