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Kagame says his visit only a trade mission

Visiting Rwandese President Paul Kagame has many things he would like to see done, changed or tried in his country and in the East African region. Here are excerps of what he told writer GITAU WARIGI in an interview.

By GITAU WARIGI

QUESTION: Since 1994, your relations with Kenya have been chilly. In recent months, however, they have improved dramatically, with President Moi visiting Rwanda and yourself coming to Kenya twice. Looked at the timing, some observers think the rapidly improving ties are not unrelated to the problems Rwanda has been having with Uganda in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ANSWER:Friendship or no friendship is not something that is permanent. It can be nurtured, worked on. Rwanda and Kenya have had a history of good relations. There were hiccups here and there, which have been overcome by reaching an understanding that the most important thing is to retain the friendship. As far as our government is concerned, the warm relationship between Rwanda and Kenya started before our problems with Uganda began. Remember I visited this country in 1998 when Kenya handed over the genocide suspects to the Arusha Tribunal. That was way before any problems had cropped up between us and Uganda. Whatever is happening in the Congo might not be related.

QUESTION: What exactly were your differences with Uganda in Kisangani? Have they been resolved?

ANSWER:Well, I wouldn't want to dwell on that because some of the problems that developed in the eastern parts [of DRC] have been resolved. I think we should now be looking forward rather than backward.

QUESTION: What is the status of your application for membership in the East Africa Co-operation? What is holding it up?

ANSWER:We have lodged our application. Over a year has passed now. Indications are that we might be accepted. I think a lot will depend on how the question of new applicants is handled, alongside the process of consolidating the East African Co-operation.

QUESTION: Mombasa port is naturally a major priority for Rwanda. Beyond that, what other areas of cooperation are you seeking with Kenya?

ANSWER: There are many things a country like ours can do with Kenya in areas of trade, business and more specifically, within the framework of regional cooperation.

QUESTION: Have you managed to put behind you the quarrel over Interahamwe sympathisers said to be still resident in Kenya? Did you raise the matter with your Kenyan hosts?

ANSWER:It is important to note that the government of Kenya cooperated with the International Tribunal in Arusha. Some of those people who were in this country were handed over to the Tribunal [in 1998]. There are other countries that have done the same. But there are some people still at large who have managed to escape the hand of justice.

QUESTION: Restitution for the genocide victims remains a central issue in your country. Countless numbers of ordinary Rwandese are known to have participated in one way or another. Are you concerned about inadvertently leaving a permanent guilt complex on a particular segment of the population?

ANSWER:First of all, we have to resolve problems with due regard to realities. Trying to ignore things as they have taken place can drive you into making even more serious mistakes. The fact is, the genocide took place. It was not accidental. It was planned. All the same, we are being very careful. We have not generalised guilt. We have tended to single out the people responsible. That has enabled us to come out with a categorisation of responsibility; starting with the authors of the genocide, the perpetrators, and others with lesser crimes. The aim is to be able to focus on specific characteristics in terms of those who committed genocide.

QUESTION: Then there is the problem of the huge judicial backlog over which the RPF has been occasionally criticised. How are you resolving this matter?

ANSWER:We have instituted a number of measures. There is no way out; if we don't process all the cases properly it can lead to other serious problems, including people taking the law into their own hands. There is a judicial process that has been taking place. Evidently, we have not been able to carry it out more quickly. The persons being tried are representative of a very small number.

Secondly, we have been releasing the old people, children, an those with terminal illnesses. Others whose case files are not concrete to the extent of putting up a case in court, have also been released.

The third measure we are taking is to carry out justice at community level. It is not the classic form of the judicial process. It is an improvisation, where people with lesser cases can be taken to their home Communes and have their cases handled there. It will work along the lines of our traditional system of justice in Rwanda called Gacaca. This is a justice system at the community level overseen by village leaders. The formal justice system will, however, be close by to monitor, take appeals and ensure nobody is unjustly convicted.

QUESTION: From outside, the problem in Rwanda is often looked at in ethnic terms, as a Hutu-Tutsi divide. How are you tackling that perception?

ANSWER:We have people who think we are condemned to that divide, unlike other countries. Maybe we have to look at why this divide has caused us so many problems. In our case, you have to recognise certain realities, especially to do with our history, with our heritage, which have made the divide such a serious one. We have to go back and examine what happened so as to build a society based on equality and respect for human rights.

QUESTION: Ultimately, you have promised a new constitution which all the players in Rwanda are confident with. What features would you want to see in this constitution?

ANSWER: Democratisation should be seen in terms of a process, not an event. Deliberate steps have been taken to make sure that we take into account our history that has caused so many divisions. We have recognised the existence of various political parties and these have been brought to play in terms of a broad-based system. At the same time, we are aware of the problems associated with ethnic divides, parties and so forth.

We have been moving systematically and deliberately, making sure we lay a firm foundation. We have started on grassroots elections but these have not been on party lines because political party operations have been suspended during the transition period. We have five parties in a power-sharing arrangement within the transitional government. We have parties represented in the transitional national assembly.

We've also started a grassroots process of constitution-making. This new constitution should be built on a good understanding of all our problems. All concerns and political opinions will be taken into account. We hope that once the constitution is drafted, it will be debated and go through a referendum. It should embrace all the people's concerns and interests.

© The Government of Rwanda.