Rwanda: what lies behind the fake news campaign against President Paul Kagame?
By spreading fake news, it is hoped to trigger a social revolt with the hope that it will turn into an ethnic revolt. According to some investigations, the author would be the Burundian regime of the CNDD-FDD
On 24 August, Congolese internet users from Bukavu and Goma (South and North Kivu provinces, eastern Congo) spread the news on Whatsapp that President Paul Kagame had been seriously affected by the Covid-19 virus and was dying. The news was accompanied by a photo showing the Rwandan head of state hospitalized in an intensive care ward and assisted by medical personnel in protective suits. In a matter of hours the news goes viral on web to the point of creating serious doubts among a part of the Rwandan population.
Upon careful examination, the news turned out to be a fake news already circulated last April on other social networks: Twitter, Facebook. Even at that time the news had gone viral to the point of prompting ‘France24’ to publish an official denial. An image search using the specialized search engine ‘TinEye’ allowed to find the original photo alongside the news of Paul Kagame’s serious health conditions. The photo (taken on March 6, 2020, showed an Australian patient (Tim McLean) hospitalized in the intensive care ward of a Wuhan hospital in China. Mr. McLean’s hospitalization in critical condition was reported by the ‘DailyMail’ newspaper.
On August 30, another fake news on the health of the Rwandan president goes viral. This time Paul Kagame is admitted to an intensive care unit at a UK hospital, still dying following a second failed brain surgery due to cancer. This fake news was supported by an article that goes into ‘secret’ details for his succession. The name of Louise Mushikiwabo, former Foreign Minister and current Secretary General of the International Organization of the Francophonie, appears. The alleged journalist claims that Mushikiwabo would be the favorite of Western countries to replace Kagame in anticipation of his imminent death.
The article continues by describing an alleged power struggle within the Rwandan armed forces apparatus. “A large percentage of the RDF (Rwandan Defense Forces) are unwilling to accept that the West imposes anyone on them. Army generals see themselves as a legitimate constituency to produce the next leading leader of the country. Generals Kabarebe and Kazura who are at the forefront of the competition ». The information site author of this fake news is the ‘Great Lake Post’
Paul Kagame’s dying hospitalization is a recurring theme. Last March, Fakenews circulated that the Rwandan President had been evacuated to the UK for medical treatment due to the infection from Covid-19 and that his Prime Minister was acting in the meantime as Interim President without officially declaring it. To make it credible, the authors of this false news had reproduced the web page of TV5 Monde.
Last June, a series of articles shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter claimed that President Paul Kagame had censored the World Health Organization (WHO) for refusing to approve a herbal tonic touted by the government of Madagascar as a cure. for Covid-19. In April, Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina launched a herbal blend that he advertises as a remedy for Covid-19. The drink was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) from native herbs containing mugwort, a plant that has been proven effective in treating malaria.
However, WHO warned against ‘adopting a product that has not been tested for effectiveness’, while the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the infusion should be ‘rigorously tested’.
The Rwandan president has never taken sides against the WHO. In reverse. When US President Donald Trump criticized WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s handling of the pandemic in April, Kagame said WHO “has the full trust and support of Africa.”
How do you explain this incredible series of fake news against the Rwandan Head of State in less than seven months? Who are the authors? What are their goals? To answer these questions, great caution is required as any investigation runs the risk of entering the dark and nebulous world of conspiracy.
Most people think that the fake news phenomenon originates from mentally disturbed people or people looking for notoriety. On the contrary, fake news is a modern weapon of disinformation that governments, parties, lobbies, terrorist groups and even various companies use to discredit competitors, adversaries or to create doubts and chaos in a specific sector of society or in a nation.
In the case of Rwanda it is clear that all these fake news have the specific objective of confusing and frightening the Rwandan public opinion already experienced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest data from the pandemic development in Rwanda record 4,043 cases of contagion and 16 deaths. The low percentage of spread of Covid-19 is due to the excellent and timely containment management implemented by the Rwandan authorities.
Unfortunately, this victory over the pandemic was achieved by paying a high price among the population. The most precarious groups, employees, farmers and small and medium-sized traders see their standard of living seriously compromised. The majority of these social sectors are dominated by the Hutus.
There is widespread social nervousness in the country that could lead to open revolts against containment measures that risk throwing hundreds of thousands of people into poverty. This nervousness can also be found in the urban middle class. This nervousness is the goal of the authors of the incredible fake news series.
By spreading them, it is hoped to trigger a social revolt with the hope that it will turn into an ethnic revolt. At the same time, the false news is spreading on social media that the Rwandan Tutsi minority is not affected by the negative economic effects of containment. In order to exasperate spirits, the false rumor is also spreading that the draconian lockdown measures imposed by the government are a plan to physically reduce the Hutu population.
Who are the authors? The ongoing investigations have not yet been able to identify them. There are some hypotheses. Among them: the Nazi Burundian racial regime of the CNDD-FDD. Hypotheses that must be taken with a grain of salt as at the moment there are no certain elements to blame the Gitega regime, even if it has no end of motives.
Only the geographical sources of spread of fake news are known: the Congolese cities of Bukavu (South Kivu) and Goma (North Kivu). In the case of the latest fake news that sees Kagame dying in Great Britain, the ‘Great Lake Post’ website is said to be a propaganda organ of the Rwandan terrorist group FDLR responsible for the 1994 genocide.
To worsen the tense social climate come a series of measures decided by the government of Kigali without providing the slightest explanation. The border of Giseni leading to the city of Goma (Congo) has been closed to the transit of people for no apparent reason. The night curfew as a containment measure Covid-19 has been extended and travel to and from the western Rusizi region which borders Burundi and Congo is now prohibited. Measures justified by a sudden increase in cases in the area according to information provided by the Ministry of Health. Impossible not to notice that the new outbreaks of contagion are on the border with two problematic countries for Rwanda and not in the major urban centers, Kigali, Butare, etc.
Local sources also report great nervousness on the part of the police and army in charge of enforcing the pandemic containment measures. Apparently unjustified nervousness given that until now the Rwandan population has shown a great responsibility in following all preventive health measures to the letter. Is it possible to identify unknown political or national security reasons behind these decisions? At the moment, not unless you accept the risk of going down a slippery path that could lead to conspiracy drifts.
Fake news and decisions taken by the Rwandan authorities without warning are part of an increasingly chaotic regional framework. The cold war between Rwanda and Uganda continues. The latter in a very mixed election period. For the first time Museveni could lose the elections. In neighboring Congo, President Felix Tshisekedi is defending himself from destabilization attempts carried out by former dictator Joseph Kabila (his political ally).
In Burundi, after the death of the dictator Pierre Nkurunziza, the new CNDD-FDD regime shows a total inability to manage the country in total bankruptcy. Also in Burundi, the massacres on civilians have tripled and for the first time since 2015 there has been coordinated action by armed opposition groups throughout the country. In Tanzania the electoral period is approaching and President Magufuli is adopting a series of anti-democratic measures that risk leading the country towards an authoritarian regime.
The latent regional chaos is flanked by an imminent post-pandemic economic crisis which for the first time in the last 15 years risks reducing annual growth rates and slowing the regional economy. Finally, there are rumors of new preparations for the invasion of Rwanda by the FDLR terrorist forces, other anti-Rwandan groups supported by the Burundian regime and the Ugandan government.
Rumors partially confirmed by two police and military blitzes that in a three-day span inflicted a severe blow on the leadership of three Rwandan terrorist groups: FLDLR, MRCD (Mouvement Rwandais pour le Changement Democratique) and PDR-Ihumure (Parti Démocratique auRwanda).
The terrorist Paul Rusesabagina (hero of the film ‘Hotel Rwanda’) at the head of the MRCD and PDR was arrested by foreign powers and handed over to the Rwandan authorities. He will be tried for various crimes including: terrorism, arson, kidnapping and murder, perpetrated against unarmed and innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory, including in Nyabimata — Nyaruguru district in June 2018 and Nyungwe — Nyamagabe district in December 2018.
Leo Cyprien alias General Kagoma, one of the best strategists of the Rwandan terrorist group FDLR, was killed during violent clashes between terrorists and units of the Congolese army at the locations of Bokombo and Nyabanira in the territory of Rutshuru, North Kivu, Congo. The military operation may have been attended by elite troops of the Rwandan army. “The arrest of Rusesabagina and the extrajudicial execution of General Kagoma, are not causal strokes of luck, but two well-studied victories by the Congolese and Rwandan allied armed forces in order to weaken the coalition of armed groups that is preparing to invade Rwanda with the support of regional powers. The situation in the Great Lakes is very tense and something irreparable could come to the great surprise of the international community, ”says a regional military expert under anonymity.
A statement that is partially confirmed by the decision of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi to hold an extraordinary meeting on 1 September at the presidential palace Kinshasa where the governors of the eastern provinces: Ituri North and South Kivu were called with 24 hours notice. The President gave them instructions for a special military security plan to stabilize the east of the country. Prime Minister Ilunga Ilunkamba was also present at the meeting. At the moment, the details of this plan are not known, only Tshisekedi’s promise to inject huge sources in order to prevent any problems and solve once and for all the cycle of violence caused by armed gangs in the region.
President Paul Kagame, true to his political style, has chosen to (officially) ignore this series of fake news, carefully analyzed by its experts. On Tuesday 1 September, the Rwandan Head of State gave a video conference speech on the Covid-19 pandemic. His health is excellent as evidenced by the video of his intervention posted on YouTube
Verification Sources
Cet homme n’est pas Paul Kagame “entre la vie et la mort à Londres” à cause du Covid-19 — Observes France24
https://observers.france24.com/fr/20200428-intox-paul-kagame-entre-vie-mort-londres-cause-covid-19
Aussie trapped in coronavirus epicentre in China says he’s SAFER in Wuhan than he would be back home — and says Scott Morrison’s government should adopt extreme measures — Daily Mirror
PRESIDENT KAGAME ADMITTED IN A YET TO BE KNOWN HOSPITAL IN UK FOLLOWING BRAIN SURGERY. — Great Lake Post
Rwandan government rejects claim leader Paul Kagame opposed WHO over virus tonic — AFP
Paul Rusesabagina: Let justice prevail — Editorial — The New Times
https://www.newtimes.co.rw/opinions/editorial-paul-rusesabagina-let-justice-prevail
Rwandan Rebel Leader Col. Mpiranya Shot Dead In DRC — Taarifa
https://taarifa.rw/rwandan-rebel-leader-col-mpiranya-shot-dead-in-drc/
Generation Unlimited High-Level Meeting | Remarks by President Kagame. — YouTube
