Repatriated FDLR fighters undergoing re-integration at Mutobo camp

A contradiction has emerged on reports of the exact number of FDLR combatants being repatriated to Rwanda by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and those given by Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC).

According to MONUSCO, about 31 combatants from different rebel groups operating in DRC were received in January, among them 19 FDLR fighters.

However, the available information shows that exact number of FDLR fighters reported to have been repatriated to Rwanda remains contrary to what MONUSCO provides.

In a press conference held on February 5, 2014, MONUSCO leadership told the media that 29 combatants from different rebel groups surrendered last month.

MONUSCO further said that among the rebels surrendered were 2 from Mayi-Mayi Nyatura, 4 from Mayi-Mayi Rahiya Mutomboki; 17 from FDLR, 5 from Mayi-Mayi Nziza and another fighter from APCLS rebel group. In addition to the above FDLR fighters were also two other fighters captured on February 1 in Minova on February 1.

MONUSCO added that all fighters who surrendered were operating in areas of Sake, Otobora, Kiwanja, Tongo, Nyanzale and Lubero and Kashebere.

Among the FDLR fighters who MONUSCO says surrendered, only 9 fighters were handed over to Rwanda on February 6, including one Mayi-Mayi fighter, leaving behind the question of where the remaining number of FDLR fighters branched.

In an interview with Kigali Today news website, a section of FDLR combatants who were repatriated to Rwanda said that there was no other fighter left in a transit camp where they were temporarily sheltered before coming to Rwanda. This information raises questions of where other 9 FDLR fighters could have vanished to.

MONUSCO-RDRC reports contradicting

While MONUSCO reports that it has reintegrated 1 2, 310 FDLR combatants and 11, 312 families since 2002, reports from Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) on numbers of former FDLR combatants repatriated is different.

According to Mutobo-based reintegration camp in Musanze District, Northern Province, the number of former FDLR combatants who laid down their weapons with the help of Monusco and returned home is only 11,000.

According to sources at Mutobo, all fighters who surrender to MONUSCO do not only belong to FDLR faction. There are other people who surrender on FDL ticket yet they are not. As well as other Congolese nationals who fake their Rwandan origin to profit opportunities given to Rwandans returning home.

Combatants blame MONUSCO’s disarmament strategy

According to members of FDLR faction, the way MONUSCO handles their weapons and ammunition is not productive.

“Though different groups decide to surrender and handover weapons to MONUSCO, they later (MONUSCO) send them (weapons) to FARDC who are their major customers for weapons and ammunition. FADRC soldiers are the ones who sell us weapons. This system by MONUSCO is not productive,” said a former FDLR combatant.

One of the FDLR-RUD repatriated fighters commanded by Gen. Musare who operates in Walikare said they that there has been ongoing trade of weapons and ammunitions between different rebel groups and Congolese National Army (FARDC).

“They (FARDC) sold weapons and ammunition to us (FDLR) two times. This trade is always carried out secretly between them and many rebel groups operating in DRC. The main players in this game are members of FDLR who are integrated in FARDC.

This illegal trade of weapons is mostly dominant in the areas of Ruhafu where FDLR-RUD recruitment is carried out by Col.Jean Michel and Col. Rugema who are Gen. Musare’s deputy commanders,”  said the fighter.

FDLR is a group of insurgents, largely made up of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and has been in eastern DRC for the last 15 years.

FDLR fighters have been blamed for committing atrocities against civilians (Photo BBC)

One fateful day, in 2011, Richard Mutarutinya, a young Rwandan who was living with his parents in the neighbouring Uganda received a strange call from an anonymous person.

Talking to the caller, the young man was requested by the person to meet him (caller) for a ‘productive’ conversation.

Without informing any of his family members, Mutarutinya had to rush to the agreed venue where he was supposed to meet the person.

“I could not resist meeting this person since I was in daring need of employment,” narrates Mutarutinya

When Mutarutanya who has since returned back to Rwanda finally reached at the meeting venue, he surprisingly landed on a group of his other village mates.

“They were excitedly seated with other people that I couldn’t recognize well. But since I was with them, I felt comfortable and ready for the meeting agenda,” says Mutarutinya.

A few minutes later, the official meeting started. Mutarutinya and his friends were assured of a possible wealth if they accepted to be taken to Democratic Republic of Congo for white color jobs.

“This is how I was convinced. I knew wealth was coming my way in the near future.”

How life turned sour

It took Mutarutinya only one day to cross the Ugandan border to DRC before facing a harsh and terrorising life style. All those who promised him miracles had turned into animals, he says.

“En route to DRC, after we crossed the Ugandan border, everyone started realizing something strange was going to happen. Those who formally seduced and promised us wonders turned against us. The new command was to join FDLR.”

Because of intense threats against them, some of Munyarutinya’s group members started shouting and wanted a return home. However, those who screamed a return home were instead killed as a sign of terrorizing those who could attempt to follow suit.

“When we reached DRC, we were forced to join FDLR-RUD rebel group. Most of my friends started demanding to be returned back home and many among them lost their lives.

The genesis of FDLR bush life and threats

Mutarutinya says he is a living testimony today, after escaping death several times in the hands of what he called his commanders.

“Being a Rwandan recruit in FDLR is risking your own life. You walk with death because anytime your commanders can kill you on suspicion of being a Rwandan spy. I witnessed many of my fellow recruits being killed with my own eyes,” says Mutarutinya.

According to him, being an FDLR soldier doesn’t mean your task is only on the battle field. His main job in the rebel group was to grow food crops that feed his commanders.

“Even though you get recruited in FDLR as a soldier, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be tasked to do other things. For instance, I was tasked to lead a team that would be charged with stealing food crops from nearby villages. I decided to grow them (food crops) myself instead of fighting with civilians to get food,” he says

Richard Mutarutinya is among the 9 former FDLR fighters who were repatriated to Rwanda this month (Photo S. Sebuharara)

Because of a new assignment, Mutarutinya was given the chance to stay close to his crops in Mashyuta area which was under the command of Capt. Kije Joseph.

Unfortunately, Mutarutinya was later redeployed and joined a group of FDLR soldiers charged with guarding FDLR-RUD commander, Gen. Musare after his former commander was killed by lightening.

Witnessing brutal killings of former Rwandan students

Mutarutinya recalls witnessing a big number of FDLR recruits who were accused of being Rwandan spies.

“A few days after joining Gen. Musare’s company, I witnessed horrible killings of fellow recruits. Out of 24 young men who were forcefully recruited into FDLR, 17 of them, formerly secondary students were killed before me on suspicion that they were Rwandan spies,” says a visibly regretting Mutarutinya.

He adds: “It is absurd to see a comfortably living secondary school boy being seduced and recruited into FDLR to live in those thick forests with hard life just because he wants to be a soldier. I take this opportunity to warn fellow youth that there is nothing good in joining FDLR apart from dedicating your life to permanent agony mixed with forced labour.”

Turning focus on return to Rwanda

After witnessing the brutal killing of his fellow recruits, Mutarutinya started a secret plan of returning back to his motherland.

“It is not an easy project to plan escaping FDLR leaders. You need to do it in a highly secretive way, otherwise they can immediately kill you in case they realize of your escape plans. They kill you to purposely give a clear message to anyone attempting to do the same,” he says.

The killing of FDLR suspected defectors is also testified by Jean Shyaka, another former combatant who witnessed the same killing in Sinayi sector, an area controlled by FDLR.

“I witnessed the killing of two FDLR fighters who had defected in 2009 and later returned back this year. They were killed on grounds that they were no longer trusted.”

Shyaka calls on fellow Rwandan youth especially those living near Ugandan borders to desist any form of persuasion by FDLR agents to recruit them.

Other main target of FDRL recruits, according to Shyaka, is Rwandans living in refugee camps in Uganda. He says that the camps are full of FDLR agents who persuade young men on promises to give them well paying jobs in DRC.

FDLR accused of rape, looting and killing civilians

Local residents living in Luofu village, just metres away from FDLR territory, accuse rebels of mass killings, rape and looting. The village has been dominated FDLR for the past decade.

Speaking to BBC, village residents said that FDLR rebels extort money from locals, pillaged farmers’ harvests and set up road blocks, demanding money or goods from anyone travelling through.

The residents also accuse the Congolese army (FARDC) of collaborating with FDLR, leaving locals to fend for themselves.

“At one point, they [FDLR] came to burn the villages… more than 200 houses,” Eric Kambale, a trainee priest at Luofu parish told BBC.

“People burned inside, can you imagine? It terrified people. The Congolese army was one kilometre away when that happened.” He added

TOGETHER AS NOT ONE: President Kikwete (centre) with TISS chief Rashid Othman (left) have maintained a public display of closeness, but behind the scenes, a bitter row is threatening Tanzania due to Othman’s refusal to back the FDLR agenda

At an urgent summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in Kampala in late September 2012, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete spoke passionately of how Tanzania was eager to end the conflict in DR Congo. President Kikwete informed other leaders that Tanzania was ready to use force. Months later, Tanzanian troops were deployed, but as News of Rwanda reports, the deployment is a personal project of President Kikwete after ignoring advice of the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service (TISS).

Since the ICGLR authorized the deployment of 3,069 troops, including 1,283 Tanzanian Special Forces, the events moved so fast. In April, Tanzanian Brigadier General James Aloizi Mwakibolwa was named the commander of the so called Neutral Intervention Force (NIF). On 10^th May 2013, the first batch of 100 elite forces arrived in Goma.

Even as the world was celebrating the developments on the ground in eastern DRC, back in Tanzania however, tempers were at exploding point between President Kikwete on one side and the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service (TISS). News of Rwanda has established that around July 2013, President Kikwete unilaterally appointed a man we have only managed to identify as Mr Zongo to be the deputy director general of TISS.

The shocking appointment was retaliation against the director general of TISS, Mr. Rashid Othman, who had rigidly refused to endorse the deployment of Tanzanian troops in DR Congo. According to sources close to Mr. Othman, he accused President Kikwete of “mishandling the geopolitical situation” in the region at the expense of Tanzania.

The man who the Tanzania state was paying to plan for its security strategy, feared that President Kikwete’s “unilateral decision” would come back to haunt Tanzania. As the supreme leader, President Kikwete was not impressed, and moved to curb the powers of the intelligence chief. Our sources have intimated to News of Rwanda that Mr Zongo is the current defacto boss as TISS and is the one who liaises between the Presidency and TISS.

In comes President Kabila’s sister

The refusal of TISS chief Mr. Rashid Othman did not come from the blue. Information obtained by our investigations team shows that the deployment of Tanzania troops had been a personal pledge by President Kikwete to DRC President Joseph Kabila when he was in Tanzania for the SADC Troika summit on 5^th September 2012.

But how did the Kikwete pledge come? The two presidents have cultivated a very close relationship to the point that the two families are business partners. Tanzania’s First Lady fondly known as Mama Salma Kikwete and President Kabila’s twin sister Jaynet Kabila have a mineral export business operating from Dar es Salaam’s MIKOCHENI suburb.

News of Rwanda investigations have led us to two very luxurious “shops” in Dar es Salaam. One of them is named RENZO located within the upper class MIKOCHENI Shopping Mall opposite SAVERIOS Pizza. The other “shop” is VIRAGO, positioned opposite Baraka Plaza. Both these shops are located in the MIKOCHENI suburb of Dar es Salaam where Tanzania’s rich and good brash shoulders.

According to sources on the ground, these two Kikwete-Kabila shops sell the most luxurious clothing and jewelry in Tanzania. However, despite the size and expensive line of business, the “shops” are not registered with the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA). The two names are not found anywhere in the tax receipts of the TRA, which according to well-informed sources, means they do not pay taxes. However, nobody including the TRA commissioner general Harry Kitilya can say anything for fear of retribution.

According to people operating businesses within the MIKOCHENI suburb, these particular shops are a no-go zone for ordinary Tanzanians. Apart from seeing expensive cars packed within the vicinity, the shops are also common with foreigners who do not leave with any materials, and locals suspect strange businesses are taking place inside those buildings.

Could it be that the intelligence Chief Mr. Rashid Othman knew from day one that his boss’ insistence on sending troops to DRC was not back by any love for Tanzanian interests? Could it be that Mr Zongo was brought to TISS to keep an eye on Othman such that he does not search too far? Only time will tell.

Jaynet Kabila is the twin sister of President Kabila, and a very power force in the DRC parliament. Politicians in DRC see her as the powers-be that choose Congo’s fate

Then the FDLR militia emerges

First forward, on the morning of 26 May 2013, at a special and tense closed-door Africa Union heads of state summit on DRC, President Kikwete was seated across from Rwandan counter President Paul Kagame. The Tanzanian leader tells Kagame that he needs to sit at the same table with the democratic forces for the liberation of Rwanda rebels to talk peace. President Kikwete was reading from a prepared speech.

As News of Rwanda has reported ever since, Tanzania-Rwanda relations have since gone down the drain. Privately, President Kikwete’s closest advisors have confessed to friends that the FDLR issue as advanced by their boss to other African leaders was never discussed. The original speech prepared by the Presidency did not include a reference to peace talks for ending the FDLR problem in eastern Congo.

Publicly, many Tanzanian senior officials have kept quiet leaving only two people to deal with the expected consequences of Tanzania siding with the perpetrators of the genocide. President Kikwete and his foreign affairs minister Bernard Membe have been left to fight alone, reason why they are the only people who speak passionately about the Rwanda-Tanzania showdown. However, it is not accidental.

Dorcas Membe, the wife of the foreign affairs minister is a childhood friend of First Lady Mama Salma Kikwete. According to official data, Mama Salma was comes from Lindi, in Southern Tanzania. The First Lady and Dorcas Membe hail from the same village.

On 19^th August last year, News of Rwanda reported exclusively Shabyna Stillman, a senior diplomat at the US embassy in Dar es Salaam had sent a secret cable to Washington on Thursday May 5th, 2005 explaining how Mama Salma Kikwete was from the family of ex-Rwanda president Juvenal Habyarimana.

Could it be that President Kikwete’s sudden move in favour of the FDLR was influenced by the personal friendship with DRC counterpart Joseph Kabila or his wife’s ancestry to Rwanda? Only time will tell.

Repatriated FDLR fighters undergoing re-integration at Mutobo camp

A contradiction has emerged on reports of the exact number of FDRL combatants being repatriated to Rwanda by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and those given by Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC).

According to MONUSCO, about 31 combatants from different rebel groups operating in DRC were received in January, among them 19 FDRL fighters.

However, the available information shows that exact number of FDRL fighters reported to have been repatriated to Rwanda remains contrary to what MONUSCO provides.

In a press conference held on February 5, 2014, MONUSCO leadership told the media that 29 combatants from different rebel groups surrendered last month.

MONUSCO further said that among the rebels surrendered were 2 from Mayi-Mayi Nyatura, 4 from Mayi-Mayi Rahiya Mutomboki; 17 from FDLR, 5 from Mayi-Mayi Nziza and another fighter from APCLS rebel group. In addition to the above FDRL fighters were also two other fighters captured on February 1 in Minova on February 1.

MONUSCO added that all fighters who surrendered were operating in areas of Sake, Otobora, Kiwanja, Tongo, Nyanzale and Lubero and Kashebere.

Among the FDRL fighters who MONUSCO says surrendered, only 9 fighters were handed over to Rwanda on February 6, including one Mayi-Mayi fighter, leaving behind the question of where the remaining number of FDRL fighters branched.

In an interview with Kigali Today news website, a section of FDRL combatants who were repatriated to Rwanda said that there was no other fighter left in a transit camp where they were temporarily sheltered before coming to Rwanda. This information raises questions of where other 9 FDRL fighters could have vanished to.

MONUSCO-RDRC reports contradicting

While MONUSCO reports that it has reintegrated 1 2, 310 FDRL combatants and 11, 312 families since 2002, reports from Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) on numbers of former FDRL combatants repatriated is different.

According to Mutobo-based reintegration camp in Musanze District, Northern Province, the number of former FDLR combatants who laid down their weapons with the help of Monusco and returned home is only 11,000.

According to sources at Mutobo, all fighters who surrender to MONUSCO do not only belong to FDLR faction. There are other people who surrender on FDL ticket yet they are not. As well as other Congolese nationals who fake their Rwandan origin to profit opportunities given to Rwandans returning home.

Combatants blame MONUSCO’s disarmament strategy

According to members of FDRL faction, the way MONUSCO handles their weapons and ammunition is not productive.

“Though different groups decide to surrender and handover weapons to MONUSCO, they later (MONUSCO) send them (weapons) to FARDC who are their major customers for weapons and ammunition. FADRC soldiers are the ones who sell us weapons. This system by MONUSCO is not productive,” said a former FDRL combatant.

One of the FDRL-RUD repatriated fighters commanded by Gen. Musare who operates in Walikare said they that there has been ongoing trade of weapons and ammunitions between different rebel groups and Congolese National Army (FARDC).

“They (FARDC) sold weapons and ammunition to us (FDRL) two times. This trade is always carried out secretly between them and many rebel groups operating in DRC. The main players in this game are members of FDRL who are integrated in FARDC.

This illegal trade of weapons is mostly dominant in the areas of Ruhafu where FDRL-RUD recruitment is carried out by Col.Jean Michel and Col. Rugema who are Gen. Musare’s deputy commanders,”  said the fighter.

FDLR is a group of insurgents, largely made up of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and has been in eastern DRC for the last 15 years.

Joseph Nshyimyimana with his lawyer

Joseph Nshimiyimana, an FDLR terror suspect co-accused with Lt Joel Mutabazi, yesterday surprised military court Judges when he declined to speak during his trial.

The trial of Lt Joel Mutabazi, accused of treason and terrorism along with 15 others resumed yesterday at the Military High Court in Kanombe.

While being questioned by Judges on crimes against him, Nshimiyimana instead maintained silence. It took Judges several minutes trying to convince him to speak but the suspect stood by his decision by refusing to respond to some of the questions asked by Judges.

Nshimiyimana, a member of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), is accused, among other crimes, of coordinating grenade attack plots in Kigali, especially two grenade explosions that claimed one person and injured 14 others in Kicukiro market.

The suspect is allegedly accused of coordinating these grenade attacks under the command of Lt Joel Mutabazi.

Appearing before the Military High Court, Nshimiyimana who had initially pleaded guilty to all the charges took a dramatic move to plead not guilty to all of them.

“I am not guilty of anything; I did not commit any crime and I won’t stand trial until I get a clear explanation of why I am here,” Nshimiyimana surprisingly told court.

Among other crimes, Nshimiyimana is also charged with spreading rumours with intent to incite the public to rise up against the state, illegal possession of a firearm, terrorism, formation of an armed group, murder and crimes against the state.

Lawyer surprised by his client’s change of mind

Nshimiyimana’s lawyer, Herbert Rubasha, told court that he was shocked by his client’s hasty refusal to stand trial and requested the court to give him more time to speak to his client.

However, Nshimiyimana went on with surprises telling his lawyer to never waste time speaking to him.

“There is nothing you will do to make me speak. With or without a lawyer, I will not respond to the charges against me.”

New video surfaces against Mutabazi

In the meantime, court proceeded with the case of Lt Joel Mutabazi in which a video was displayed showing how Mutabazi personally pleaded guilty of stage managing his shooting in Uganda.

According to prosecutors, the video was captured during the interrogation of Lt Mutabazi.

The video shows Mutabazi narrating in detail how he acquired the gun, how he used it and disposed it off. Mutabazi has also maintained silence in court and refused to stand trial.

Mutabazi is charged with attempt to harm the person of the President, deserting the military, terrorism, formation of an armed group, spreading rumours with intent to incite the public to rise up against the state, murder, crimes against the state and illegal possession of a firearm.

Mu mezi arindwi ashize hashyirwa mu bikorwa imihigo y’uturere mu gihugu, Minisitiri w’ubucuruzi n’inganda Francois Kanimba yasabye akarere ka Rusizi kwihutisha ibikorwa by’imihigo biyemeje , ni nyuma yo gusuzuma aho imihigo aka karere kiyemeje igeze, muri yo, Minisitiri Kanimba avuga ko igera kuri 60% igenda neza naho 21 ikaba iri gucumbagira akaba ari muri urwo rwego yakanguriye abakozi bose guhaguruka bagakora cyane kugirango ibikorwa bemereye igihugu n’abaturage muri rusange bizagerweho.

Minisitiri w’ubucuruzi n’inganda Francois Kanimba yavuze ko imishinga ikiri hasi cyane muri aka karere ngo biterwa n’itangwa ry’amasoko bigaragara ko hari intege nkeya mu itangwa ryayo, icyakora ngo hari n’imishinga minini aka karere katabasha kwishyirira mu bikorwa twonyine cyane cyane iyo mishinga ikaba ishamikiye kubikorwa bya za Minisiteri cyangwa ibigo bya Leta bityo ugasanga uko kudindira kwayo Atari uruhare rw’akarere.

Minisitiri Kanimba Francois nka minisitiri ushinzwe kubw’umwihariko gukurikirana aka karere ka Rusizi yasabye abayobozi bako, kumenya impamvu imishinga imwe n’imwe iri kudindira bagashaka n’ingamba zafatwa kugirango nayo yihutishwe.

Minisitiri W’ubucuruzi n’inganda Kanimba Francois yanavuze ko mu kudindira kw’ibikorwa by’imishinga imwe n’imwe muri aka karere ngo harimo n’ikibazo cyo kubura kw’abayobozi bungirije b’aka karere kubera imikorere mibi  ariko ngo hakaba hari icyizere cyuko hari impinduka igiye kugaragara kubera ko hatowe abandi muri iki cyumweru gishize .

Munama zatanzwe na Minisitiri Kanimba Francois yasabye abayobozi b’aka karere gukurikirana cyane itangwa ry’amasoko kuko afite ibibazo mu kudindiza imishinga kandi yasabye abayobozi kubikurikirana umunsi kuwundi kugirango amakosa agaragaye akosoke hakiri kare

Perezida wa njyanama y’akarere ka Rusizi Kamanzi Syphorie nawe yavuze ko Imihigo ihagaze neza ariko itageze kurwego bifuza ko yageraho ariko nawe atunga agatoki amasoko aho yabasabye kuyihutisha, asaba abayobozi kuyikurikirana buri munsi kuko igihe gisigaye ari gito.

Gusa ngo hari icyizere cy’uko aka karere kazarangiza umwaka kari kugipimo cyiza mu kurangiza imirimo y’imihigo kari karemereye igihugu n’abaturage muri rusange

Mrs. Jeannette Kagame left and president of Ghana John Mahama

Rwanda’s First Lady Mrs. Jeannette Kagame is in London to attend the second UNAIDS and LANCET commission meeting. The commission is convening from 13-14 February 2014 to discuss the future of AIDS and global health.

The UNAIDS and Lancet Commission: Defeating AIDS — Advancing global health was established in May 2013, to draw lessons from the AIDS experience and find ways to move to sustainable health.

The Commission will deliberate on three central questions: What will it take to end AIDS?  How can lessons from the AIDS response inform global health? How must the global health and AIDS architecture be modernized to achieve sustainable global health?

The first Commission meeting was held in Lilongwe, Malawi in June 2013; hosted by Commission Co-Chair, President Joyce Banda. Mrs. Jeannette Kagame is one of the high-level commissioners who delivered remarks where she stated that: “We have managed to provide care and treatment to keep many HIV+ people alive. They are still immuno-compromised and becoming increasingly susceptible to non-communicable diseases. We must be responsive and adapt to the changing nature of the disease. Africa should be ready! The worst is behind us. Now we know how to prevent, how to treat and how to care. We should move to the next step and do it yesterday”.

There are 30 commissioners known for their significant contributions to and leadership in HIV/AIDS, including politicians, scientists, medical professionals, donors and members of civil society.

These include Presidents of Benin, Ghana, and Switzerland, Prime Minister of Jamaica, First Ladies of Gabon, Japan and Rwanda, Global Fund Executive Director, AfDB President, Ministers of health and Special advisors to the UN.

Ku gicamunsi cyo kuri uyu wa gatatu tariki ya 12/02/2014, ubuyobozi bw’akarere ka Nyamagabe buherekejwe n’ubw’ingabo ndetse n’abinjira n’abasohoka bwasuye abaturage b’umurenge wa Gatare muri gahunda z’ukwezi kw’imiyoborere myiza hagamijwe kuganira kuri gahunda zinyuranye ndetse no gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage.

Umuyobozi w’ingabo mu karere ka Nyamagabe, Majoro Peterson Gasangwa yibukije abaturage b’uyu murenge ko bafite uruhare runini mu gucunga umutekano kandi ko kuba umutekano uri mu gihugu ari ukubera imbaraga bashyiramo.

Ati “Umutekano tugomba kuwufatanya kandi kuba dutekanye ni uko twese twumvise ko ari uwacu”.

Abaturage b’umurenge wa Gatare basabwe kongera imbaraga mu kubumbatira umutekano bafatanyije n’inzego zinyuranye z’ubuyobozi kandi bakirinda icyawuhungabanya.

“Ba bandi bamara gusinda bagashaka gufata udusantere mpiri murabazi, mubagaragaze ubuyobozi bubakurikirane,” Majoro Gasangwa.

Umuyobozi w’ingabo mu karere ka Nyamagabe yanasabye abaturage b’umurenge wa Gatare gutekereza no ku mutekano w’inda bityo bagakura amaboko mu mufuka bagakora.

Abanyagatare bashimiwe ko bahiga indi mirenge muri gahunda zinyuranye.  

Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Nyamagabe wungirije ushinzwe imibereho myiza y’abaturage, Byiringiro Emile yashimiye abaturage b’umurenge wa Gatare kuba baza ku isonga mu gushyira gahunda za Leta zinyuranye mu bikorwa nko gutanga umusanzu w’ubwisungane mu kwivuza aho ukwezi kwa mbere 2014 kwasize bageze kuri 95%.

Abaturage b’umurenge wa Gatare kandi ngo ni nabo baje ku isonga mu kurangiza kubaka ibyumba by’amashuri y’uburezi bw’ibanze bw’imyaka 12, amacumbi y’abarimu n’ibindi.

Umurenge wa Gatare kandi uza mu mirenge ikize kurusha indi kuko abaturage bawo bahinga bakeza dore ko baturiye pariki y’igihugu ya Nyungwe bityo bagahorana imvura.

Ukwezi kw’imiyoborere myiza kwatangiye tariki ya 14/01/2014 bikaba biteganyijwe ko kuzarangira mu kwezi kwa gatatu 2014.

Ubuyobozi bw’akarere ka Burera burakomeza gukangurira abaturage bo muri ako karere kwitabira kurara amarondo kugira ngo bakomeze gufatanya n’inzego zishinzwe umutekano kuwubungabunga.

Mu nama y’umuteka yaguye y’akarere ka Burera yabaye tariki ya 10/02/2014 hagaragajwe ko umutekano wifashe neza  muri rusange muri ako karere.

Gusa ariko bakangurira abanyaburera kutirara ahubwo bagakomeza kurara irondo kugira ngo hatazagira uhungabanya umutekano bari bafite. Abayobozi bo ku rwego rw’imirenge kandi basabwa gupanga ndetse no kugenzura neza amarondo.

Zaraduhaye Joseph, umuyobozi wungirije w’akarere ka Burera, ushinzwe ubukungu n’iterambere, avuga ko ibitabo by’abinjira n’abasohora biri ku midugudu bigomba kuzuzwa uko bikwiye kugira ngo hamenyekane abaraye mu mu dugudu.

Ibi bije nyuma y’igihe gito hasohotse amabwiriza mashya ku bijayenye no kurara amarondo ndetse no kuyapanga.

Mu rwego rwo kugenzura niba amarondo yarawe uko bikwiye, buri muyobozi w’umurenge azajya akoresha inama y’umutekano y’isaha imwe buri gitondo.

Muri iyo nama ngo umuyobozi w’umurenge azajya afatanya n’abandi bayobozi bo mu murenge ayobora ubundi bapange amarondo barebe aho ari bukorerwe ndetse n’abari buyakore. Mu nama ikurikiyeho ngo nibwo bazajya bicara bakareba uko amarondo bapanze yagenze.

Ikindi kandi ngo amarondo agomba kurarwa ahantu hose aho kwibanda gusa ahantu hamwe nko ku mashuri, ku bigo nderabuzima cyangwa ku masantere y’ubucuruzi.

Abaturage bo mu karere ka Burera muri rusange bakomeza gushishikarizwa kurara irondo kuko ako karere gaturiye umupaka uhuza u Rwanda na Repubulika Iharanira Demokrasi ya Kongo, ndetse na Uganda.

Muri ako gace hakunze kugaragara urujya n’uruza rw’abantu bajya cyangwa bava muri ibyo bihugu rimwe na rimwe bakaba nta n’ibyangombwa bafite.

Abanyaburera basabwa kuba ijisho rya bagenzi babo kugira ngo muri urwo rujya n’uruza hatazaziramo n’umwanzi akaba yahungabanya umutekano w’u Rwanda.

Inama y’umutekano yaguye yo ku rwego rw’akarere ka Rutsiro yateranye tariki 11/02/2014, abayitabiriye barebera hamwe uko umutekano uhagaze n’uko bawubungabunga kurushaho, baganira no ku zindi gahunda zitandukanye zigamije kwihutisha iterambere ry’akarere ka Rutsiro.

Iyo nama y’umutekano yabaye n’umwanya mwiza wo kugeza ku bagize inama y’umutekano yaguye harimo n’abanyamabanga nshingwabikorwa b’imirenge imyanzuro yafashwe mu nama nkuru y’igihugu yavugaga ku birebana n’umutekano.

Imwe muri iyo myanzuro ni ijyanye no kubungabunga umutekano, kunoza imikorere y’amarondo, kuyagenzura, kuvugurura urutonde rw’abarara amarondo, ndetse no gutanga raporo y’abaraye irondo buri gitondo. Undi mwanzuro wafashwe ni ujyanye no gutanga raporo ya buri kwezi igaragaza ibyaha byabonetse muri buri murenge, kandi noneho umurenge wagaragaje ko wabereyemo ibyaha byinshi ukabibazwa.

Biyemeje no kunoza imitangire ya serivisi kuko iyo serivisi zidatanzwe neza na byo ngo bihungabanya umutekano. Ni muri urwo rwego gahunda yari isanzwe ibera ku karere ku munsi wa kabiri wa buri cyumweru ijyanye no gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage yahindutse. Ubusanzwe abaturage bafite ibibazo bahageraga kuri uwo munsi bagahura na komite irwanya akarengane iyobowe n’umuyobozi w’akarere, ariko noneho abitabiriye iyo nama bumvikanye ko umunsi wo gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage uzajya uba ku wa kane wa buri cyumweru, aho umunyamabanga nshingwabikorwa w’umurenge afatanyije n’izindi nzego basanzwe bafatanya mu gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage no kurwanya akarengane bazajya bakira ibibazo by’abaturage, bikabera ku rwego rwa buri murenge.

Muri iyo nama bafashe n’ingamba zo gutunganya bimwe mu bikenewe hirya no hino birimo nk’imihanda ihuza utugari n’imirenge. Bafashe n’ingamba zo gukomeza gahunda y’ukwezi kwa mituweli, aho inzego zose zigomba guhagurukira rimwe zigashishikariza abaturage gutanga mituweli.

Biyemeje no kongera ingufu mu mihigo bigaragara ko itarimo kwihuta, ndetse bafata n’ingamba zigamije kugira ngo imihigo itaragerwaho izarangirane n’igihe gisigaye. Imwe mu mihigo igiye kongerwamo imbaraga ni ijyanye n’ubuhinzi cyane cyane ubwa kawa n’icyayi, dore ko hasigaye  ibyumweru bibiri cyangwa bitatu kugira ngo igihe cy’ihinga kibe kirangiye.

Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Rutsiro, Byukusenge Gaspard yagize ati “twagombaga rero gufata ingamba kugira ngo ubuso busigaye buboneke muri iyi minsi isigaye kugira ngo igihe cy’ihinga kitazaducika.”

Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Burera, Sembagare Samuel

Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Burera, Sembagare Samuel, abwira abaturage bo muri ako karere ko imiyoborere myiza atari amagambo meza gusa ngo ahubwo ni n’ibikorwa bituma abaturage bava mu bukene bagatera imbere.

Sembagare yatangaje ibi tariki ya 13/02/2014 ubwo abaturage bo mu mirenge ya Gahunga na Rugarama batishoboye, bibumbiye mu mashyihamwe, bagabirwaga inka 24 zo kubafasha kwivana mu bukene.

Ku bufatanye bw’akarere ka Burera ndetse n’umuryango ATEDEC (Action Technique pour un Dévéloppement  Communautaire) nibo bahaye izo nka abo batishoboye.

Iyo gahunda yahuriranye n’uko mu Rwanda hose bari mu kwezi kwahariwe imiyoborere myiza. Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Burera avuga ko icyo gikorwa kijyanye n’imiyoborere myiza ngo kuko imiyoborere myiza ijyana n’ibikorwa.

Agira ati “Imiyoborere myiza ntabwo ari amagambo meza, ni ibikorwa. Kugerageza guca akarengane, kurwanya ihohoterwa! Ariko nanone ni ugutekereza ku mishinga yabateza imbere kugira ngo mwongere mutere agatambwe mukire, mugire ubukungu.”

Akomeza abwira abo baturage ko leta y’u Rwanda icyo iharanira mu miyoborere ari uko buri munyarwanda wese yagera ku iterambere kugira ngo gahunda ya EDPRS II, u Rwanda rwihaye, izagerweho uko byifuzwa.

Ukwezi kwahariwe imiyoborere myiza kwatangiye tariki ya 20/01/2014, kuzasozwa tariki ya 14/03/2014. Muri icyo gihe cyose hazakorwa ibintu bitandukanye birimo gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage.

Ukwezi kwaharimwe imiyoborere myiza kwashyizwe ho kugira ngo hibutswe uko Abanyarwanda bakwiye kuba babana, bayobowe, uko bakwiye kuba batanga ibitekerezo ndetse n’uko bakwiye kuba bitwara hamwe n’abayobozi babo.

Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Burera, Sembagare Samuel

Umuyobozi w’akarere ka Burera, Sembagare Samuel, arasaba abaturage bo muri ako karere kwima amatwi ibihuha ngo kuko ibyo bihuha ni byo umwanzi asigaye akoresha atera abaturage ubwoba kugira ngo ntibashishikarire gukora. 

Si ubwa mbere Sembagare asaba abanyaburera kwima amatwi ibihuha. Gusa ariko anababwira ko u Rwanda rufite umutekano usesuye. Ngo ariko “intambara y’umwanzi igenda ihindura isura.”

Agira ati “Hari usebya igihugu kuri ariya maradiyo ya rutwitsi, hari uzana ibihuha byo kugira ngo bababikemo ibihuha mwoye gukora! Iyo umuntu yakuzanyemo igihuha ntukore igikurikiyeho urakena.

“Umukene wese rero ntiyishima. Umukene wese ntiyishima. Byumvikane ko rero mugomba kwima akatwi ibyo bihuha.”

Uyu muyobozi akomeza abwira abanyaburera gukomeza gufatanya n’abashinzwe umutekano kuwubungabunga batanga amakuru y’ibibera byose mu midugudu batuyemo kugira ngo hatazagira uwuhungabanya.

Agira ati “N’ahandi mwakeka haba hari intwaro, haba gerenade, haba umuntu uza mu mudugudu wanyu, mutamuzi mukwiye kumumenya.  Ntabwo twanze abashyitsi. Ariko aze aracumbikirwa nande? Azanywe n’iki?”

Akomeza asaba abayobozi b’imidugudu kumenya abantu bose baraye mu midugudu bayobora, bakabandika mu kayi y’abinjira n’abasohoka kugira ngo hamenyekane abaraye mu mudugudu ari abashyitsi.

Ikindi ni uko mu rwego rwo gukomeza kubungabunga umutekano hagiyeho amabwiriza mashya yo kurara irondo aho buri muyobozi w’umurenge akoresha inama y’umutekano y’isaha imwe buri gitondo.

Muri iyo nama umuyobozi w’umurenge afatanya n’abandi bayobozi bo mu murenge ayobora ubundi bagapanga amarondo bareba aho ari bukorerwe ndetse n’abari buyakore. Mu nama ikurikiyeho nibwo bicara bakareba uko amarondo bapanze yagenze.

Ikindi kandi abarara irondo basabwa kurirara ahantu hose aho kwibanda gusa ahantu hamwe nko ku mashuri, ku bigo nderabuzima cyangwa ku masantere y’ubucuruzi.

Perezida wa njyanama, asinyira ko ingengo y’imari yuzuye

Inama Njyanama idasanzwe y’Akarere ka Kirehe kuri uyu wa 12/02/2014 yarateranye yemeza ingengo y’imari ivuguruye y’umwaka wa 2013-2014 ingana na miliyari 8,780.

Muri iyi nama yize ku ngingo imwe rukumbi ariyo yo kwemeza ingengo y’imari y’umwaka wa 2013-2014. Kwemeza iyi ngengo y’imari muri aka Karere byabanjirijwe no gutanga ibitekerezo binyuranye kuri iyi ngengo y’imari, buri mujyanama yagiraga igitekerezo atanga.

Muri rusange iyi ngengo y’imari hashimwe uburyo yateguwe, n’uburyo izibanda ku bibazo by’ingenzi biganisha  ku mibereho myiza y’abaturage, n’iterambere muri rusange nk’uko byatangajwe na Perezida w’iyi nama Njyanama Rwagasana Erneste.

Igishya kigaragara muri iyi ngengo y’imari y’Akarere ka Kirehe  ingana na miliyari  8 zisaga  ni uruhare runini Akarere gafitemo, ngo amafaranga aturuka mu Karere ubwayo  aragenda yiyongera.

Mu nama yo kwemeza ingengo y’imari y’Akarere ka Kirehe hari n’abakozi batandukanye bakorera mu karere ka Kirehe hamwe n’abanyamabanga Nshingwabikorwa b’imirenge igize ako karere.

Perezida w’inama Njyanama yemeza ko iyi ngengo y’imari y’Akarere yizwe neza hakurikije amategeko,   akaba avuga ko ku bijyanye n’iterambere ry’Akarere  usanga ingengo y’imari y’uyu mwaka hari ibyazamutseho ugereranyije n’izayibanjirije  kikaba ari gishya  kandi gishimishije kigaragara muri iyi ngengo y’imari.

Iyi nama Njyanama idasanzwe y’Akarere ka Kirehe iyobowe n’umuyobozi wayo imaze gukorera ubugororangingo ingengo y’imari ivuguruye y’ umwaka wa 2013-2014 abajyanama bose bayitoye 100% umuyobozi wa Njyanama akaba  avuga ko kuba barateranye bakemeza iyi ngengo y’imari biri mu nshingano zabo, aboneraho gusaba abajyanama kuba aba mbere mu kureba ishyirwa mu bikorwa ry’iyi ngengo y’imari.

Minisitiri Musoni James ushinzwe ubutegetsi bw’igihugu mu Rwanda arasaba urubyiruko ruri ku rugerero kuba imbarutso y’iterambere mu midugudu iwabo, bakahageza impinduka mu myumvire n’imikorere abandi Banyarwanda bazazamukiraho bagatera imbere.

Ibi minisitiri Musoni yabisabye urubyiruko 129 ruri mu bikorwa by’Urugerero mu murenge wa Kigabiro mu karere ka Rwamagana, uyu munsi kuwa 14/02/2014 aho yabasuye mu bikorwa barimo byo gutanga umusanzu wo kubaka igihugu.

Minisitiri Musoni yafatanije nabo imirimo yo kubaka inyubako y’akagari ka Nyarusange muri Kigabiro ndetse no gutera ubusitani bwo kugeza isura nziza ku mihanda no kubungabunga ibidukikije.

Nyuma y’aha, bwana James Musoni yagiranye ibiganiro n’aba bari ku rugerero, aho baganiriye ku musaruro bari gutanga mu bikorwa barimo by’urugerero ndetse n’umusaruro bategerejweho n’igihugu, ndetse Intore ziri ku rugerero nazo zimugezaho ibyifuzo ngo ibikorwa barimo bizakomeze kugenda neza no gutanga umusaruro.

Minisitiri James Musoni yabwiye abari ku rugerero ko nta mpinduka zijya zibaho ku isi yose urubyiruko rutazibaye ku isonga, aho yagize ati “Nta mpinduka isi ijya igeraho urubyiruko rutazitabiriye. Mukwiye kumenya ko n’aho u Rwanda rugeze iki gihe ruhacyesha amaboko, imbaraga n’amaraso y’urubyiruko nkamwe kuko aribo bitanze mu rugamba rwo kubohora igihugu no guhagarika Jenoside yari igamije kurimbura Abatutsi.”

Minisitiri Musoni yabasabye gukomeza kuba ku isonga ry’ibikorwa byose by’iterambere igihugu gifite, kandi bakajya bakora neza, bakajijura bamwe mu baturage bagitseta ibirenge muri gahunda nziza za leta kandi aho banyuze hose bakahakora igikorwa cyiza abasigaye bazajya bareba bakibuka ko babicyesha amaboko n’ubumenyi bw’abakiri bato.

Uyu muminisitiri ushinzwe ubutegetsi bw’igihugu mu Rwanda yatubwiye ko intore ziri ku rugerero zahawe ubumenyi kuri gahunda nyinshi z’iterambere, zikaba zaroherejwe mu giturage muri buri murenge na buri kagari ngo zizasangize abahatuye ubumenyi n’imyumvire myiza bijyana ku iterambere.

Ubu mu Rwanda hari urubyiruko ibihumbi 45 na 738 ruri mu bikorwa by’urugerero, rukaba rugizwe n’abarangije amashuri yisumbuye mu mwaka ushize. Ubu ariko kuva leta yatangaza amanota y’abatsinze ibizamini bisoza amashuri yisumbuye bamwe muri bo bashobora kudakomeza ibyo bikorwa mu gihe baba batatsinze neza, bagahitamo gusubira ku mashuri ngo babanze babone amanota meza mu bizamini bisoza amashuri yisumbuye.

Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete speaks to Rev Christopher Mtikila at an event in Dar es Salaam

After hosting former premier Faustin Twagiramungu, then the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) the Tanzania’s elite establishment has linked up the FDLR rebels with convicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) including ex-army commander Brig Gen Gratien Kabiligi.

News of Rwanda has obtained more intriguing details of different meetings hosted in Dar es Salaam involving the Democratic forces for the liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia group based in DR Congo with their former commanders in Europe and Tanzania. The meetings are not hosted by the State of Tanzania, but a network of political elites with vested interests in the FDLR.

While Faustin Twagiramungu had left Tanzania for Lyon, France on the 23^rd January, two FDLR senior leaders were in Dar es Salaam and stayed there during the days which followed. As News of Rwanda has reported before, the men who were in Tanzania are FDLR executive secretary Lt Col Wilson Irategeka and Col Hamadi, the operations commander.

Our investigations team is yet to find out when Brig Gen Gratien Kabiligi arrived in Tanzania, but have established that he had meetings at secret locations in Dar es Salaam with the above FDLR commanders. The meetings took place on Friday 24^th January, then Saturday and the days of the following week.

God’s man of carnage

Brig Gen Kabiligi was arrested in 1997 and his trial before the ICTR started in 2002. He was acquitted on December 18, 2008 by the controversial judge Theodor Meron who has been accused of deliberately releasing genocide suspects at ICTR and ICTY. Since then, Kabiligi lived in a safe house in Arusha, Tanzania, waiting for resettlement in another country. He eventually did however get allowed in by France.

The meetings between Kabiligi and the FDLR men were brokered, planned and hosted by Reverend Christophe Mtikila with the full blessing of the Tanzanian elite establishment. Brig Gen Kabiligi was the Chief of Military Operations within the High Command of the ex-Rwandan army which metamorphosised into the current FDLR.

Reverend Mtikila is no stranger to Rwandan affairs. He is a vocal Tanzanian evangelist-politician who has hosted FDLR commanders on several occasions. Rev Mtikila is the Chairman of Democratic Party (DP), a small political grouping with representation in parliament. News of Rwanda has established that he is the figure who facilitates the acquisition of Tanzanian passports for FDLR commanders to travel out of DR Congo jungles.

Major opposition parties have charged that the virulently vocal Mtikila is used by the ruling elite to disorganize them.  (News of Rwanda is preparing a separate investigation about Rev Mtikila’s network that has been hosting and facilitating FDLR and genocide suspects on the run).

ICTR convicts in Tanzania safe houses

These latest meetings are not isolated events, according to our investigation. The Tanzanian ruling elite has provided new homes with full police protection at the expense of the Tanzanian taxpayer, to about 6 Rwandan men who slaughtered Tutsis back home. What the ordinary Tanzanians have not been told is that all countries have declared these men persona non grata.

The man include: Andre Ntagerura, a member of the Interim government in 1994, as well as Justin Mugenzi and Prosper Mugiraneza – who were all ministers in the brief government which rolled out the genocide against Tutsis across the country as they themselves fled to Zaire.

The other men who have been provided safe houses by the Tanzanian ruling elite are Andre Rwamakuba, a minister in the same government, as well as Casmir Bizimungu and Jerome Bicamumpaka.

All these men were controversially acquitted by the ICTR at different times. As show of displeasure with the acquittals, the men have asked for visa from different countries, but have all been turned down. They are now famously known as the “unwanted” in the news media.

Who is Brig Gen Gratien Kabiligi?

Before the full-scale genocide against Tutsis was launched across the Rwanda, Brig Gen Gratien Kabiligi was the commanding general of military operations of the entire army. Units in Kigali and across all the hills of Rwanda, as well as the elite commandos were under his direct command. Kabiligi worked with Col Theoneste Bagosora, the man convicted and branded by the ICTR as the “brand of the genocide”.

Kabiligi had actual knowledge of the security situation in the whole country from weekly meetings which he attended, with convicted Aloys Ntabakuze, the para-military commander. As stated in the indictment, both Gratien Kabiligi and Aloys Ntabakuze described Tutsis as “the enemy”.

Kabiligi was given constant briefings by Aloys Ntabakuze whenever he ordered his units to reinforce units of the Presidential Guard involved in the systematic elimination of the main leaders of the political opposition and prominent figures of the Tutsi population. Among men who reported to Kabiligi is Maj Protais Mpiranya, who is yet to be apprehended.

On 28 January 1994, Kabiligi and André Ntagerura arrived by helicopter in Bugarama sector, Cyangugu prefecture and with Emmanuel Bagambiki distributed weapons to 2 000 Interahamwe militia at a rally held on a football field. In a speech, Kabiligi encouraged the youth to be vigilant and to fight “the enemy”, whom he identified as the Tutsis, wherever they were found. Many of such operations would happen over the coming months to different interahamwe training camps.

At a meeting held at Ruhengeri Military Camp on 15 February 1994 chaired by Gen Kabiligi, the high command set final touches to a plan to massacre Tutsis. Kabiligi ordered that each sector’s commander should organise clandestine commando operations. When speaking about killings of “the enemy”, Kabiligi used the French term “déraciner” (uproot). Many such meetings were held before and next months.

As the Arusha peace deal was being discussed, Gen kabiligi was preparing for war. In the recorded high command meetings, Kabiligi ordered all army units to “understand the situation and assume their responsibilities”. Kabiligi categorically ordered the units to be ready for war to resume resume on 23 February.

Simeon Manirakiza (left) with a fellow FDLR ex-combatant after returning to Rwanda

 Former members of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have revealed that  a section of International Non-governmental Organisations operating in the Democratic Republic of (DRC) are secretly  providing logistical and financial support to FDLR fighters.

Last year, the United Nations Security Council declared FDLR a group under UN sanctions because its leaders and members are perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

The Security Council also accused FDLR fighters of killings in Rwanda and democratic Republic of Congo.

In an exclusive interview with this website, a section of former FDLR fighters, now reintegrated at Mutobo camp in Musanze District, Northern Province, revealed some NGOs operating in DRC have continued to provide financial and logistical support to FDLR leaders and fighters.

“They fund FDLR operations and provide logistics when FDLR leaders want them,” Simeon Maniranzi a former FDLR combatant told Kigali Today.

Manirakiza who lived in Rubaya refugee camp in Masisi, Eastern DRC, returned back to Rwanda this Month. He revealed that the camp accommodates 200 FDLR fighters, and they are catered for by these NGOs. He says that the NGOs provide food and transport means to FDLR fighters in order to survive.

He reveals that Partnership for Change-an NGO operating in DRC is the key provider of all financial and logistical support needed by FDLR fighters.

“All these FDLR fighters cannot dream of returning back to Rwanda. They get everything they want from Partnership for Change which funds all FDLR operations in the area. The NGO provides food and vehicles that transport FDLR fighters,” said the 21-year-old Maniranzi.

According to Maniranzi, they camped at Rubaya refugee camp after defecting from FDLR base in Mufuro, Kibowa in Masisi after being moved out of Katoyi in 2013. He said that they all arrived at Rubaya refugee camp to start working in mining sites.

“There are over 200 Rwandans at this refugee camp. They work in mineral sites but get all financial support and food from Partners for Change,” he says.

According to Maniranzi, all FDLR fighters camped at Rubaya refugee camp were under the command of Cpt. Bobe Kije, a military assistant to Col.Kome.

The Ex-combatant, who acknowledges to have worked in FDLR’s Mangeri military base in Masisi, in Northern Kivu Province said that Capt. Bobe’s fighters are charged with controlling and maintaining security of the refugee camp since there is no Congolese army in the area.

“All control and command of the area is done by FDLR’s Capt. Bobe. You cannot find Congolese army (FARDC) in the area. It’s only Capt. Bobe who leads and organizes security operations in this place while the NGO (Partners for Change) provides other needed support,” he said.

Other NGOs implicated

Newsofrwanda.com further obtained information from its sources implicating other NGOs in the support of FDLR militias in DRC. According to those sources, different NGOs have continued to facilitate deployment of FDLR fighters near Rwandan borders with DRC.

The new deployments are mostly carried out in areas of Nyiragongo and Rutchuro, formerly occupied by M23 fights. Most of FDLR fighters deployed in these areas are reportedly intelligence operatives under the ‘CRAP’ acronym.

Sources further revealed that FDLR vice President, Lt. Gen. Sylvestre Mudacumura has relocated his base to Rumangabo, 60 kilometres from Goma which is under the control of FDLR fighters. Among these FDLR fighters is Capt. Abdul, who hails from Bugeshyi sector in Rwanda.

According to sources, another NGO operating in DRC-The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund (TEARFUND) facilitated Mudacumura with a vehicle to be used in his operations.

According to other FDLR ex-combatants who spoke us, the NGO provided its vehicle to Mudacumura to help him move freely around Goma without being recognized since the NGOs is neutral in the area. However, according to ex-combatants, Mudacumura has relocated to Nyabikeri for the fear of any arrest heavy security at the Rwandan border with DRC.

TEARFUND commenced its operations in DRC in 1986. The NGO currently operates in a consortium with other NGOs such as; Programme de Promotion des Soins de Santé Primaires (PPSSP), Centre Résolution des Conflits (CRC) as well as Communauté Evangélique Chrétienne en Afrique (CECA-20) another NGO operating in DRC. Most of TEARFUND branches are located in areas of Kivu Province and Maniena in DRC.

FDLR accused of rape, looting and killing civilians

Local residents living in Luofu village, just metres away from FDLR territory, accuse rebels of mass killings, rape and looting. The village has been dominated by FDLR for the past decade.

Residents told the BBC that FDLR rebels extort money from locals, pillage the farmers’ harvest and set up road blocks, demanding money or goods from anyone travelling through.

The residents also accuse the Congolese army (FARDC) of collaborating with FDLR, leaving locals to fend for themselves.

“At one point, they [FDLR] came to burn the villages… more than 200 houses,” Eric Kambale, a trainee priest at Luofu parish told BBC.

“People burned inside, can you imagine? It terrified people. The Congolese army was one kilometre away when that happened.” He added

The 2000 civilians were rescued by the humanitarian and commercial goods convoy escorted by RDF peacekeepers

Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) peacekeepers in Central African Republic, on Sunday, rescued 2,000 Muslim civilians after being attacked by Christian anti-balaka militia group.

The civilians were rescued by RDF peacekeepers after a humanitarian and commercial goods convoy escorted by Rwanda peacekeepers came under attack on the way to the CAR- Cameroon border.

The cowardly attack on the humanitarian convoy left three innocent civilians dead. They were among the 2000 rescued civilians along the way. Three civilians were also injured and rushed to a Hospital in Cameroon.

According to RDF officials, the convoy of seventy vehicles escorted by Rwanda Mechanized Infantry Battalion (RwaMechBatt1) serving in the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) was attacked in Beloko, a village near the CAR-Cameroon border by armed Anti-Balaka militias.

“The criminals, in disregard of human life, opened fire on the humanitarian convoy immediately killing three innocent civilians.

The killed civilians were among 2000 fleeing civilians rescued along the way that were under attack from Anti-Baraka.

The peacekeepers, in protecting civilians and the humanitarian convoy fought the assailants in several attacks and killed at least seven of them. Two sub-machine guns and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from them,” RDF said in a statement.

Rwanda Defence Forces spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Joseph Nzabamwita condemned the attack and called on all armed groups in CAR to lay down weapons and stop the violence.

“We condemn in the strongest terms this cowardly attack on the humanitarian convoy. We call upon all armed groups in CAR to lay down their arms and stop violence that is killing innocent people.”

The humanitarian convoy escort, for the third time, had started the 700 km long journey from Bangui to CAR-Cameroon border on 15 February 2014 and is expected in Bangui early this week.

Rwanda Defence Force peacekeepers first opened the 700 km humanitarian Corridor on 27 January 2014. Bangui and CAR had been cut off from supplies by armed groups controlling the Bangui-Cameroon main supply road that connects it to the sea port of Douala in Cameroon.

Umuyobozi wungirije wa JADF I Nyabihu Mukaminani Angela w’ibumoso, aganira n’abagize JADF mu mirenge yabasabye kuvugurura imikorere

Nyuma yo gushyira ingufu muri JADF y’akarere kuri ubu abagize  JADF bo mu mirenge barasabwa kongera ingufu mu kazi kabo kugira ngo barusheho kugirira akamaro abaturage n’akarere muri rusange mu iterambere. Ibi bikaba bitangazwa n’umuyobozi wungirije wa JADF y’akarere ka Nyabihu akaba n’umuyobozi w’akarere wungirije ushinzwe iterambere ry’ubukungu n’imari Mukaminani Angela.

Ni nyuma y’aho bigaragariye ko muri JADF mu mirenge hari hakiri ibibazo mu mikorere yabo nk’uko Angela yabigarutseho. Ibi kandi bikaba byanemejwe na bamwe mu bayobora JADF z’imirenge twagiranye ikiganiro, batangaje ko hari hagiye hari ibibazo mu mikorere yabo yaba mu ireme ryayo,mu nshingano,yewe no mu bagize JADF ubwabo ku buryo hari inzego batashyiragamo ingufu nyinshi.

Twizerimana Alphonse, umwe mu ba perezida ba JADF mu mirenge,avuga ko nyuma y’amabwiriza mashya ya Minisitiri w’intebe ku bijyanye na JADF, babonye bakanayaganiraho bihagije bari kumwe na bamwe mu bagize JADF y’akarere, ibyababeraga imbogamizi ngo noneho bisobanutse neza hakurikijwe amabwiriza mashya ya Minisitiri w’intebe .

Bakaba basanga bagiye kunoza imikorere n’imikoranire yabo, kugira ngo hagati y’abafatanyabikorwa, imirenge, utugari n’akarere, harangwe imikoranire myiza ,bose buzuzanye baharanira iterambere ry’abaturage n’akarere muri rusange.

Ibi bikaba nk’uko bisanzwe binyura ahanini mu mikoranire myiza izarushaho kubaho binyuze muri JADF,izajya ifasha akarere kumenya ibyo abafatanyabikorwa bagakoreramo  bateganya. Ibyo bikazajya binashyirwa mu mihigo y’iterambere ry’akarere kandi bikazajya byoroha gukurikirana ishyirwa mu bikorwa ryabyo,mu buryo bunoze no ku gihe hirya no hino mu mirenge n’utugari bikorerwamo.

Kugira ngo akarere gatere imbere kandi ibikorwa bigateza imbere bikorwe neza,bikorwe aho bikwiriye,bikorerwe muri gahunda kandi bigirire akamaro abo bigenewe,ni ngombwa ko ihuriro ry’abafatanyabikorwa mu mirenge no mu karere JADF,rigira imbaraga kandi bakungurana ibitekerezo mu ishyirwamubikorwa ry’ibiba biteganijwe n’abafatanyabikorwa mu karere runaka.

Iyi akaba ariyo mpamvu abagize JADF y’akarere ka Nyabihu bahura kenshi bakungurana ibitekerezo kugira ngo  ibikorwa bigamije iterambere ry’akarere n’abaturage bikorwe neza kandi birusheho kuzamura iterambere ry’abaturage n’akarere aho kudindira cyangwa ngo bikorwe aho bidakenewe.

Abatuye akarere ka Gisagara baratangaza ko imiyoborere myiza bayibona muri gahunda zinyuranye zibagenewe bagezwaho n’ubuyobozi ariko kandi bakavuga ko hakirimo urugendo kuko hari n’ibyo bifuza kugeraho bitaragerwaho ndetse n’ibibazo bitarakemuka ahanini bijyanye n’ubutaka.

Kimwe n’ahandi mu gihugu, mu karere ka Gisagara ukwezi kw’imiyoborere myiza gukorwamo ibikorwa bitandukanye biba bisanzwe n’ubundi bikorwa, ariko muri uku kwezi bikagarukwaho ku buryo bwihariye. Hakemurwa ibibazo by’abaturage, hakabaho guhugurwa no gukangurirwa gahunda zinyuranye ku baturage n’ibindi.

Yozefina Kamanzi utuye mu murenge wa Kibirizi muri aka karere avuga ko kugera ubu ibyo ubuyobozi bubagezaho ari byiza kandi babona bayoborwa neza kuko iyo bagannye ubuyobozi bafite ibibazo hageragezwa gushaka umuti wabyo, ariko kandi bakavuga ko hari ibitarakemuka bigendanye n’amasambu, ndetse hakaba hari n’ahakenewe iterambere ritaragezwa.

Ati “Ni byiza ko batwitaho rwose ariko kandi bagerageze banaduhe amashanyarazi hari henshi ataragera cyane cyane mu ngo z’abaturage nkatwe tudafite ubushobozi, n’ibibazo by’amasambu kandi biracyahari mu baturage, urumva ko rero hakiri urugendo”

Abaturage barafashwa mu bikorwa bigamije kuzamura imibereho yabo

Bangamwabo Emmanuel nawe utuye muri aka karere ka Gisagara aravuga ko abona hari intambwe igikenewe guterwa mu gufasha abaturage kwivana mu bukene kuko ngo bikigaragara ko hari abakennye kurusha abandi. Avuga ko gahunda yo koroza abaturage yakomeza igashyirwamo imbaraga maze n’abari hasi bakazamuka.

Muri aka karere ka Gisagara muri uku kwezi kw’imiyoborere myiza hari gukorwamo ibikorwa binyuranye nk’uko bitangazwa n’ubuyobozi bw’akarere, muri byo hakaba harimo gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage, gukomeza kwigisha abaturage gahunda ya Ndi umunyarwanda, hanateganyijwe amarushanwa y’Umurenge Kagame Cup, indirimbo n’imivugo n’ibindi.

Haranakemurwa ibibazo by’abaturage

Mvukiyehe Innocent umunyabanga nshingwabikorwa w’akarere ka Gisagara, avuga ko ibi bikorwa byo mu kwezi kw’imiyoborere myiza bidahagarara na nyuma yaho bikomeza, ariko kandi akanavuga ko hanabaho imbogamizi y’amikoro make ariyo ituma rimwe na rimwe ibikorwa byose bitagenda uko biba byifujwe, ariko bakagerageza gukoresha ubushobozi bafite.

Ati “gukemura ibibazo by’abaturage, gahunda ya Ndi umunyarwanda, gushishikariza abaturage ibikorwa by’iterambere n’ibindi ni gahunda zakozweho zinakomeza, n’ubwo akenshi tutagera aho twifuza kubera amikoro ariko buri gihe tugerageza gukora iby’ingenzi mu bushobozi tuba dufite kandi tubona bigenda neza, tuzakomeza kuko ni urugendo”

Uku kwezi kw’imiyoborere myiza kwatangiye ku itariki ya 20/01/2014 biteganyijwe ko kuzasozwa tariki ya 14/03/2014 2014 ariko amarushanwa y’ Umurenge Kagame Cup, indirimbo n’imivugo bikazasozwa ku itariki ya 23/06/2014, abatsinze bakazahembwa ku itariki 04/07/2014, ku munsi mukuru wo Kwibohora.

The utility-scale solar power project to be built at Agahozo Shalom village will
be the largest in East Africa

Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, a model village located in Rubona Sector, Rwamagana District in Rwanda’s Eastern Province, is set to host the first utility large-scale solar power field in East Africa.

The model village, founded by the late Anne Heyman, is both a home and an education institution for hundreds of children, most of them orphans whose parents were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The first utility-scale solar power project in East Africa, worth about $24 million, was announced Monday by Yosef Abramowitz, the president of Gigawatt Global Cooperatief-a Dutch solar developer company that is partnering with Israel’s Energiya Global Capital to finance the building of an 8.5 megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant in Rwanda.

The plant is set to not only facilitate Agahozo Shalom Youth village but also increase Rwanda’s power generation capacity by about 8 percent.

Israel’s Energiya Global Capital provided the initial funding and strategic consultation to Dutch company Gigawatt Global Coöperatief, which has closed on $23.7 million in financing for the plant.

Other investors and funders include Norwegian development finance institution (Norfund), Norwegian-headquartered Scatec Solar, Dutch development bank (FMO), and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.

The plant will be built at Agahozo Shalom youth village facilities in Rwamagana District. It is expected that the country will receive electricity from the plant through its national grid, Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA). Construction on the plant has started, and the plant is expected to begin operating late this year.

“It takes a global village to raise a solar revolution,” said American-Israeli entrepreneur and human rights activist Yosef Abramowitz, who is the president of Gigawatt Global and CEO of Energiya Global Capital.

“There are 550 million people in Africa without electricity. Economic growth in developing markets depends on access to affordable, green power. Environmentally-friendly solar energy is far less expensive than diesel-generated power.

This first-ever utility-scale solar field in Rwanda and all of East Africa represent the future of energy for developing countries and for island nations. It is a game-changer for humanity and the environment,” he added.

Israeli solar power is considered world class. American and Israeli universities have collaborated on renewable energy. In addition to launching Energiya Global, Abramowitz is a three-time Nobel Prize nominee and the co-founder of Arava Power Company.

“They are rolling out the red carpet for us in Africa,” says Abramowitz. “We looked at 75 markets around the world, which is half the planet that doesn’t yet have commercial solar power. There are 1.6 billion people on the planet today without electricity. Look at the hungriest people on the planet. Look at the ones who don’t have clean water. It’s the same people. It’s all preventable.”

The Agahozo Shalom youth village facilities in Rwamagana District

Israel President backs the mega project

As the government of Rwanda works to maintain access to electricity for 50 percent of the country’s population by 2017, Israel President, Shimon Peres said the new mega solar project will boost the country’s energy sector.

“As a pioneer in its sector and region, the solar field to be established in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is an important stride in our mission for Tikkun Olam—making the world a better place.

This wonderful initiative will serve as a shining beacon of hope and progress for humanity, and as an example of what Israel can contribute to the developing world. In the hope that Israeli renewable energy expertise can continue to serve developing communities around the world, I wish the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village much success on behalf of the State of Israel,” he said.

Rwanda- Israel relations

President Paul Kagame has personally built friend friendship with the state of Israel. According to the President, Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village symbolizes the wonderful relationship that exists between the Jewish state and the Rwandan people.

“In Rwanda we feel very much closely associated with Israel. We are happy to build on this, on these symbols of togetherness,” President Kagame said during one of his visits to Israel.

The President noted that there are similarities between the Tutsi and Jewish peoples since they were both the victims of racist dehumanisation by enemies possessing genocidal intentions.

President Kagame has visited Israel on more than one occasion. He was in Israel when the Jewish state celebrated its 60th birthday, as well as for the Presidential Conference marking Israeli President Shimon Peres’ 90th birthday.

While in Israel for Peres’ 90th birthday, Kagame visited Kibbutz Shfayim to meet with 30 Rwandan students presently in Israel to study agriculture as part of a special training program run by the Rwandan and Israeli agriculture ministries.

Anne Heyman’s legacy praised

Laurie Toll Franz, Agahozo Shalom Youth village’s newly elected board chair said of Anne Heyman that: “Anne Heyman, our founder of blessed memory, held to a vision in which the village practiced tikkun olam, the Jewish teaching to help heal the world.

In addition to our work with Rwanda’s most vulnerable children, we’re now helping to improve the lives of thousands of people through sustainable electricity generation.”

About Anne Heyman

Heyman who founded Agahozo Shalom Youth village with her husband in 2006, died earlier last month in a horse-riding accident in Florida, United States of America.

A native of South Africa, Heyman was once Manhattan’s Assistant District Attorney. She defended the rights of New Yorkers.

She was dedicated to helping children orphaned in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Motivated by Israeli youth villages that took in Holocaust orphans, Heyman and her husband Merrin, set out to build a place where Rwandan orphans could go to live, study and help rebuild their country.

The couple raised $12 million through personal donations and contributions from friends, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Agahozo Shalom, a combination of Kinyarwanda and Hebrew (meaning a place to dry tears and live in peace) has 500 students. A least 250 students have since graduated from the school.

Heyman is survived by three children: Jason, Jenna and Jonathan and husband Merrin.

Agahozo Village has almost all amenities and facilities a school needs, such as library, gymnasium, resource centre, amphitheater, computer labs, science centre, playground, green houses, community centre among others. In addition, the village has land for farming and vocational training.