The following is the letter Theogene Rudasingwa wrote to Paul Kagame on July 7th, 2013 in reaction to Kagame’s speech of June 30th, 2013 in which he compelled all Hutus to ask forgiveness for genocide against Tutsi. It is independently translated by the blog admin.

 Theogene Rudasingwa in the picture

Mr Paul Kagame
Village Urugwiro
Kigali- Rwanda

After listening to your recent speeches, I decided to write you this letter and make it public. Every Rwandan who followed your words asked themselves many questions, and especially are wondering where Rwanda is going.
Briefly, your speech was long but important things you wanted to point out are the following:

1. All Hutus from all corners are genocidaires
2. Tutsi who oppose you are working for genocidaires(Hutus)
3. President Kikwete of Tanzania who advised you to talk with FDLR , you will hit him because he is working for genocidaires(Hutus).

What scares and aggrieve Rwandans is that such words are the follow up of your renowned actions (killings, jailing, dictatorship, wealth self centeredness, provocation and instigation of wars among neighbors, etc) and were addressed the youth of Rwanda. You addressed them to say that Hutus contracted the original sin of murder, and that they must ask forgiveness for their parents. To the Tutsis among that youth, you were saying: “protect yourselves from Hutus because they killed your people”.
Mr Kagame, if your thoughts are not emanating from a genocidaire, how else can we identify them? If they (your thoughts) are not divisive among ethnics, what could we say was your intention? Have you ever learnt anything from the history of Rwanda? Kings have existed and lasted hundreds of years. Colonization came and ended. The first and second Republics came and ended. The fate of RPF and your clique is in its last days. It will undoubtedly end. When? How?
Let me not delay reminding you about your duties as a leader Rwandans need in times such as these because it could be too late.
Rwanda is in a crossroad, you must choose the pathway you want and so you must assume consequences of any choice.

The first pathway: Life

This pathway is very tough but contains the solution of Rwandans’ problems. It involves destroying evils your administration added to others inherited from the history of Rwanda. We must abolish the regimes of ethnic, regional and otherwise cliques. We must eradicate the culture of impunity. We must uproot refuge problem and the problem of killings.

Besides destroying those evils, we must build Goods based on good examples from the history. We must heal Rwandans of fear, share the little and a lot like brethren without marginalizing anybody. We must look after all the survivors, Hutus, Tutsis or Twas. We must take care of war casualties. We must repatriate Rwandans who are scattered all over and in Arusha, those who have no known address. We must repatriate the King in his respect and pay tribute to other former leaders of Rwanda. We must edify the security institutions in which all Rwandans feel involved, which protect everybody Rwandan without discrimination and which strengthen democracy and human rights of every Rwandan. We must reconcile Rwandans because all of us have wounds. We must set a good example for the youth of Rwanda.

This first pathway requires that all of us have talks peacefully. Especially it requires you Paul Kagame to negotiate with FDLR and political parties in Opposition. That is what Rwandans have spent many years asking you. That is what President Kikwete and his colleagues in the SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) are asking you. Leaders who love Rwanda, who love all Rwandans; this is what they are asked in times of ours.

Once you accept this pathway, it is your survival and ours too. Once we sit down in true Gacaca telling the truth, which aims at reconciliation, all Rwandans we will talk about all killings committed by the Hutus, the Tutsis and by the Twas in Rwanda and abroad, and we will make a choice. It is not easy but I believe that Rwandans in general will decide that you and the clique you used for murdering added to other Rwandans who were implicated in killings, be forgiven but not be allowed to occupy administrative positions. This requires all Rwandans to not forget but also to extraordinarily forgive if we have to start anew.
Now that you have made all Hutus genocidaires, all Tutsis ibigarasha , all neighbors enemies to fight and kill if you can, how are you ready to salute this Cross way but which provides life?

The Second Pathway: Death

This is the pathway of War. In all your speeches, you like arrogantly cheering, and blackmailing with the war. You seem like somebody who did not experience wars. Do you forget the wars you lived in or you caused in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo? If today you were asked to provide the number of Rwandans who have succumbed to the wars since 1990, would you say it (we could have lost about two and a half million between 1990 and 2013)? Now that you have killed RPF and made it a tool what will you fight with? Now that those who were Inkotanyi are laid off and some are planted in positions like sign posts, others made criminals, with who will you fight? Will you win with that Tutsi clique led by Jack Nziza? Now that that you hate Rwandans and they hate you back, that you are against neighbors, Africans are disgusted with you, other foreigners took measures against you, what will spare you from that war you engage?

Kagame Paul (in the picture) has fell out with many of his war comrades including his former chief of Staff  General Nyamwasa(with yellow belt).

I am not a foreteller. I know that you no longer take advice. Nobody from your family dares to tell you the truth. Your spouse, in spite of advising you to stop, this time she is assisting you to cause peril and to perish. Tito Rutaremara, James Musoni, Manasse Nshuti, Bazivamo, Ngarambe, Mushikiwabo and Jack Nziza are they the ones who deceive you that it is good that you should keep it up? However you know better what you used to tell me about them between me and you. Except those who want bread, those who despise you in private are rather many. They clap for you in public and they curse you when they get home.

But I would like to tell you that if you chose this pathway, your end would be very miserable. If you ever dare to engage another war, you will lose it. The reason you will lose it is that your ideas and modus operandi are old and are genocidaire’s. And, if you engage another war, all Rwandans will fight it together (Hutus Tutsis and Twas). It will have so many sacrifices among Rwandans but it will be the last war in Rwanda and the region because Rwandans will cooperate with other victims in the region to liberate themselves from the sword, dictatorship and wars of yours.

Mr Paul Kagame, the time for choice has come. Join Rwandans to choose life because Rwandans are tired of death. If you choose death, you will be accountable for its consequences.

Theogene Rudasingwa
Washington DC
USA

Theogere Rudasingwa is a medical doctor by training and has the rank of Major in the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF). He has grown up in Tutsi refugee camps in Uganda and joined the RPF rebellion in 1990 along with Kagame. He has held numerous positions in the RPF, the president office and was Ambassador of Rwanda to the US. In 2010, he was tired of Kagame’s dictatorship and with other two key senior officers (a General and a Colonel) of RDF and the former general prosecutor of Rwanda started an opposition political party, the Rwanda National Congress (RNC).