Why opposition is suspicious of Uwizeyimana
The recent return to Rwanda of a former critic of President Paul
Kagame's government is being viewed with suspicion by opposition
politicians, who claim it is part of the ruling party's plot to weaken
opposition groups in exile.
However, Evode Uwizeyimana dismissed as untrue allegations that his
return from Canada, where he has been living in self-imposed exile for
seven years, had been influenced by the state.
Mr Uwizeyimana, who has since been hired as a consultant in Rwanda's
Ministry of Justice, had become a household name from his appearances
on a popular Saturday radio talk show programme, Imvo n'Imvano, hosted
by Gahuza Miryango, the Kinyarwanda- Kirundi service of the British
Broadcasting Corporation, during which he routinely accused the Rwanda
government of flouting the law. He also appeared regularly on Voice of
America.
"I realised what I was involved in was a lie and was not sustainable.
It was my own resolve to come and work for my country. I think I still
reserved the right to return as a citizen," Mr Uwizeyimana said at a
press conference held in Kigali recently.
He apologised for his utterances on radio, claiming he had been paid
to criticise the government. However, he did not elaborate on this.
READ: Politics of convenience and hardball political games live in harmony
One of his first assignments as legal adviser in the Ministry of
Justice is to "punch holes" in a recent report by the United Nations
Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai, which accuses Rwanda of muzzling
freedoms of expression, association and dissent.
Members of the Rwanda's opposition abroad took to social media to
criticise the legal expert for abandoning the principles he had
earlier claimed to stand for.
Dr Theoneste Rudasingwa, a founding member of the Rwanda National
Congress (RNC), one of the most prominent of the opposition groups in
exile, dismissed as inconsequential Mr Uwizeyimana's move, saying his
political party would continue to challenge the Kigali government.
"That is his business. For us, we are in a struggle, and we shall
build the future together, however difficult that is," Mr Rudasingwa
said.
Mr Uwizeyimana, who fled Rwanda in 2007, has previously been linked to
the exiled Faustin Twagiramungu, Rwanda's prime minister from 1994
until his resignation in 1995.
Mr Twagiramungu's political party, RDI-Rwanda Rwiza, remains active
abroad and most recently formed a coalition with a faction of Parti
Sociale (PS) Imberakuri loyal to jailed opposition member Bernard
Ntaganda and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
(FDLR), the remnant Rwandan Hutu rebel group accused of committing the
1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
Mr Uwizeyimana is not the first exiled politician to return to Rwanda
to a "good job." Upon his return in 2012, former premier Pierre
Celestin Rwigema was rewarded with a seat at the East African
Legislative Assembly where he is still serving to date.
Major Gerard Ntashamaje, who was, until February 2009, the president
of Rally of the Rwandan People (RPR-Inkeragutabara), returned from
self-imposed exile in 2011 and is reportedly working with the Rwanda
Demobilisation and Re-integration Commission where he is involved in
persuading exiled former military and rebel combatants to return home.
The most recent returnee is Gerard Karangwa Semushi, who returned to
Rwanda in June 2013.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Uwizeyimana-s-return-to-Rwanda--suspicious--/-/2558/2227006/-/daeouk/-/index.html&q=Why+opposition+is+suspicious+of+Uwizeyimana&sa=X&ei=2yESU5f3HcbT0wGLloBA&ved=0CCAQFjAA
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SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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