Those threatening us don't know what they are talking about, says Rwanda's Kagame

The government of Rwanda will never wait nor seek permission from anyone to protect its people from any form of physical harm.

This was the assertion of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame in Kigali on Sunday, during his address at the national ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary (Kwibuka 30) of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi tribe.

In a hard-hitting speech before 37 current and former heads of states and leaders of multilateral institutions, Kagame told the audience attending the sombre occasion that prioritising the safety of his citizens was one of the important lessons learnt from the 1994 mass killing.

The strongman of the landlocked East African country warned that tribalist politics was “rearing its ugly head” on the continent.

Kagame sounded the warning amid escalating tensions in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo where the rebel groups M23 and the FDLR are embroiled in a violent conflict.

The FDLR, who include some of the remaining factions of the Hutu militia that committed genocide against the Tutsis, are said to enjoy the support the DRC government led by President Felix Tshisekedi.

The M23, which is on the side of the Congolese Tutsis in the east of DRC, is said to be backed by the Kagame administration, but he has rejected this.

Without mentioning names, Kagame said he was not intimidated by those threatening his people.

Never wait for rescue or ask for permission to do what is right to protect people.

—  Rwandan President Paul Kagame 

“Never wait for rescue or ask for permission to do what is right to protect people,” he said to applause from a section of those seated inside Kigali’s BK Arena.

“That is why some people must be joking when they threaten us with all kinds of things, they don’t know what they are talking about. In any case, that is why Rwanda participates proudly in peacekeeping operations today, and also extends assistance to African brothers and sisters bilaterally when asked.”

Kagame said it was concerning that even in 2024, signs of genocidal violence were recurring in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

“The life of my generation has been a recurring cycle of genocidal violence in 30-year intervals, from the early 1960s, to 1994, to the signs we see in our region today in 2024,” he said.

It was regrettable, Kagame said, that scores of Congolese Tutsis remained exiled in his country and other parts of the world because of the remnants of those who had vowed to continue carrying out the genocide when they fled to what was then Zaire in 1994 (now DRC).

“The remnants of those forces are still in eastern Congo today, where they enjoy state support, in full view of the UN peacekeepers. Their objectives have not changed, and the only reason this group, today known as FDLR, has not been disbanded, is because their continued existence serves some unspoken interest. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Congolese Tutsi refugees live here in our country in Rwanda, and beyond, completely forgotten, with no programme of action for their safe return.”

Kagame then took a moment to tell the packed audience that included statesmen, diplomats, genocide survivors and ordinary Rwandans, “a personal story which I usually keep to myself”.

It was a harrowing tale of his cousin Florence, whom he regards as a sister, who had worked for the UN in Rwanda for 15 years before the genocide, only for her to be sold out by one of her UN colleagues.

Kagame said despite repeatedly asking leaders of the UN peacekeeping mission in Kigali back then to help rescue Florence, she and some of her family members were eventually killed after months of torture.

“It later emerged that a Rwandan working at the UNDP betrayed his Tutsi colleagues to the killers. Witnesses remember him celebrating Florence’s murder the night after the attack. He continued his career with the UN for many years, even after evidence implicating him emerged.”

Kagame did not name the man who betrayed Florence, but made it clear he knows him and his whereabouts.

“He is still a free man, now living in France.”

Kwibuka 30 was attended by prominent leaders including former president Thabo Mbeki, President Cyril Ramaphosa and former US president Bill Clinton.