Opposition

This is the current news in Rwanda.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8635890.stm

If you don't have time to read the article on BBC or CNN, I'll sum it up for you...

Ingabire is a Hutu-ethnic lady who is set to challenge Kagame in the Presidential elctions this August. She has lived in the Netherlands since the genocide ended, and just recently came back to Rwanda in January to try and win the presidency. She's been very vocal lately about how there was a "double" genocide, and the Hutu people who are refugees in Congo and other neighboring countries are being mistreated. She was just arrested yesterday for collaborating with a terroist organization (i.e, the Congolese Hutu rebels), and also for denying the genocide. Many say her group is responsible for the recent grenade attacks. Most Rwandans don't see her as a threat, and some are wondering why Kagame had her arrested, as this almost makes him look like "the bad guy." But others aren't so sure, and wonder if there's so much more to the story that we aren't hearing.

Ingabire was released on bail today and ordered not to leave Kigali. What makes this even more interesting for us is that she lives in our neighborhood, on our street! So for the last 2 days, theres been armed guards and soldiers out in front of everyones homes, lining the streets. It was weird yesterday when I was running, to run in between two lines of soldiers with guns looking at me running along and singing whatever song was in my head.

School starts back in August, at the same time as the elections. Most people think things will be ok, because Rwanda is still a heavily military-controlled state and the soldiers are the ones in charge! But you just never can tell. I keep learning things every day. I had no idea that even though Kagame is in power and was a former Tutsi rebel leader, the Tutsis are now the minority here in a big way. People love Kagame and he's made great strides in Rwanda in so many ways. But most also say he is a dictator...albeit a good one, if there is such a thing, and I think there is. I think Kagame is exactly what Rwanda needed after the events of 94. But I still hate to hear my Rwandan friends say things like, "You know, if something ever happened to Kagame, it could happen again. It would happen again." And I shudder, cause I know what "it" means. By "it" they are referring to the genocide where one million Tutsi Rwandans were slaughtered in 100 days back in 1994. I can't even wrap my brain around how something that horrible could have happened in so little time. I can't get around the sheer size and numbers of it. So how could I possibly try to think about it happening again. I don't. We all feel very safe here, Rwandans do too. Please join me and others in praying for the continued peace and contentment of all people here in this beautiful country!