Himbara’s advice on Rwanda is unwanted as plastic bags in the country.
In one way or the other, almost every Rwandan is a spokesperson for the President of this country. It is you Mr. David Himbara I am addressing. I know like Michela Wrong, the woman disturbed by the death of her sweetheart Patrick – RIP, that you are aware without appreciating President Kagame scooped 98.79% during his re-election on 4 August 2017. These people who gave him their vote continue to approve of his leadership (babyumva kimwe kugeza ubu), and it will only get better. He has not put a foot wrong. They do not blame him for COVID-19 like we expect the neighbor north to do sometime in future. Actually they give his government full credit for managing the pandemic in the most efficient way possible within Rwanda’s means.
Being one among this overwhelming Rwandan majority quite contented with President Paul Kagame’s performance, and being a communicator by training, I regularly cheer him up through various media platforms, doing so with aplomb to the anguish of haters. Therefore call me spokesman unofficial or otherwise, it makes little difference. By design or default I promote him vigorously with enthusiasm, and I wish I could do it even more effectively. And speaking for innumerable other people that I know so well and frequently talk to, he deserves much more than we are able to give back in support of his highly distinguished service to Rwanda and Africa.
So what about you Mr. David Himbara – how different are you? How come you prefer to give back contaminated water to a person and country which gave you good milk? Should you be making a living out of trying to undo the good your fellow countrymen have for so long worked so hard for? To a country you still call homeland, with a leader this outstanding not only for Rwanda and Africa as a whole, but in your own personal career as well, is that the best you have to offer? Why are you addicted only to the bad things nowadays Mr. David Himbara? (Kandi so wakubyaye Byabagamba yari umutoza w’intore). Waking up every morning with nothing else to do apart from trolling President Kagame, making up stuff about him is not what a professor of international development like you should be preoccupied with. Either lately you have come up with the idea to teach a course on ‘lies about his presidency’ at the Contennial College, or you are clearly pursuing the most personalized vendetta in Rwanda’s history against the country’s head of state.
What is surprising for me Mr. David Himbara is that as you do that, without shame you expect me and other Rwandans to look on idly or wink at you. Get it from me if you like or leave it if you do not, that we are joined at the hip with President Kagame. If I put this message in a statement featuring one word which defines what your heart is filled with, I will say our love for him runs as deep as your hatred towards him. As well and for that reason, our commitment to supporting the policies and programs of the government he leads is undivided. So to return the favour in form of advice from you to me that I considered but out-rightly rejected, rest assured that for as long as you insist on making President Kagame your menu for breakfast every morning, I will always have you on my own menu for lunch as often as necessary. Plainly put, you will become the mainstay of my writing work for as long as we both live, unless you reconsider your life purpose politically. You may want to from now onwards do away with the strange and unhelpful assumption that you can contemptuously loathe President Kagame but somehow remain unscathed on the very media platforms you use to damage good. Surely how do you expect to successfully fool anybody, least of all those who revere their leader, into taking you lightly as an adversary, when your paid job is to tarnish an image that serves a noble cause? Tell us how.
In your open letter to me you said “meaningful and impactful debate is persuading the public with compelling and succinct logic backed with evidence…” Good you mention logic. Tell the world which logic is in being opposed to former U.S. President Barack Obama joining NBA Africa as a strategic partner. Please narrate to Africa which logic is in being against Rwanda sending its troops to Mozambique at the request of President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, to go help pacify its northern province of Cabo Delgado by rescuing it from the claws of ISIS. Simply look inside you to rediscover self as you currently sound like one with a mind quite disconnected from the heart. When you do, it will appear to you to which extent your soul has become a true enemy of Rwanda so you may stop questioning naively how.
By your own definition of the term enemy, it “refers to someone antagonistic to another, especially a person seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent.” And how on earth Mr. David Himbara are you not all this to President Kagame and by extension to Rwanda? You are an enemy since one; you are antagonistic to both the person and work of the President as shown by your consistent unprincipled opposition to and hostility towards his office. Two, you are an enemy because by your relentless concocted scathing criticisms you seek in a calculated way to injure, impair and harm his personal as well as presidential reputation. Three, you are an enemy as it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that your concerted effort together with others of your ilk is aimed at nothing else other than overthrowing the President by any means, whether ballot or gun. Sadly that is how highly qualified you are as an enemy to Rwanda Mr. David Himbara. (Ntakundi byemere unabyihanganire ubwo ari byo wiyemeje).
Lastly on your advice that I need to be careful with what I say for “the internet never forgets,” well, let me assure you of how good it feels to be reminded of the internet. If this which I am saying to you will be remembered during the times ahead, glory to God. As for you, please rethink, because how fortunate the remembrance turns out to be or not depends on what one says and therefore internet records. One Paul Rusesabagina certainly regrets the video clip recorded of him at a press conference claiming the deadly attacks on Rwandan soil in Nyabimata. Had he known, he would never have done it that way. Be careful elder. People see little difference between you and him at the moment.
