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Tuesday 24 September 2013

Fw: *DHR* WIKILEAKS Confidential Cable: ETHNICITY IN RWANDA -- WHO GOVERNS THE COUNTRY?




 

Viewing cable 08KIGALI525, ETHNICITY IN RWANDA -- WHO GOVERNS THE COUNTRY?

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Reference ID Created Classification Origin
08KIGALI525 2008-08-05 16:34 SECRET//NOFORN Embassy Kigali
VZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB  DE RUEHLGB #0525/01 2181634 ZNY SSSSS ZZH P 051634Z AUG 08 FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5505
S E C R E T KIGALI 000525    NOFORN  SIPDIS    E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2028  TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS RW SUBJECT: ETHNICITY IN RWANDA -- WHO GOVERNS THE COUNTRY?    REF: KIGALI 480    Classified By: CDA Cheryl Sim for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)    Summary  -------    1.  (C/NF) An analysis of the ethnic breakdown of the current  Rwandan government shows Tutsis hold a preponderant  percentage of senior positions.  Hutus in very senior  positions often hold relatively little real authority, and  are commonly "twinned" with senior Tutsis who exercise real  power.  The military and security agencies are controlled by  Tutsis, generally English speakers who grew up as refugees  with President Kagame in Uganda.  The 28-member cabinet is  evenly split among Tutsis and Hutus, but most key ministries  are in the hands of Tutsis (Hutu ministers do head Health and  Agriculture, ministries which affect the lives of most  Rwandans).  While the Rwandan government (GOR) presents  itself as a champion of national unity and equal opportunity,  de-emphasizing ethnic identity and ostensibly opening  positions throughout society to those of skill and merit,  political authority in the country does not yet reflect this  ideal.  Ethnic identity is still keenly felt and lived, and  ordinary Rwandans are well aware of who holds the levers of  power.  The long-term stability of Rwanda depends upon a  government and ruling party that eventually shares real  authority with the majority population.   End summary.    Tutsis Dominate Senior Positions  --------------------------------    2.  (C/NF) Post analyzed 118 senior positions in the  government, from ministries to parastatals to independent  regulatory bodies, as well as the defense and security  establishments to assess the ethnic composition of the  current Rwandan government (GOR).  Post's review of ethnic  membership showed two thirds of the senior positions are  occupied by Tutsis -- including ministers, ministers of state  and secretaries general in the various ministries, the heads  of the armed services and security services, and the heads of  dozens of government offices.  This according of senior  positions has held steady over time -- Post has reviewed  internal embassy surveys of ethnic breakdowns of senior  positions from several years ago and found a similar  two-thirds/one-third breakdown.  These percentages are far  different from the ethnic breakdown commonly accepted for the  two groups, at 15 percent Tutsi and 85 percent Hutu (Twas are  normally accorded one percent or less of the population).  Some senior Tutsi officials privately assert that the Tutsi  population, whose official size was suppressed during the  Hutu-power Habryarimana era, is growing as a percentage of  the population, but there is no statistical analysis to  support this.    It Starts at the Top: Powerful Tutsis, Secondary Hutus  --------------------------------------------- ---------    3.  (C/NF) President Kagame is a Tutsi.  So, too are the  important Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice,  Infrastructure, Local Government, and Information.  Close  Kagame confidant, Chief of Defense Staff General James  Kabarebe, is Tutsi, as are the chiefs of the army and air  force, the military district commanders. and the heads of the  Rwanda National Police and the National Security Service  (although some Rwandans joke that short-statured Air Force  Chief Muhire is Twa).  Indeed, all are English speakers who  grew up in Uganda.  Some major positions are held by Hutus,  but their actual authority often appears limited, and they  are widely perceived to be "twinned" with more powerful Tutsi  colleagues.    4.  (S/NF) First Twin: Prime Minister Bernard Makuza:  A  Hutu, he ostensibly occupies the second-most powerful  position in the Rwandan government.  Affable but ineffectual,  he defers in all matters great and small to President Kagame.  Qhe defers in all matters great and small to President Kagame.   Second Twin:  Defense Minister General Marcel Gatsinzi.  A  Hutu, he is entirely eclipsed by Chief of Defense Staff James  Kabarebe.  Third Twin:  Minister of Internal Security Sheik  Musa Fazil Harerimana (in charge of police and prisons).  A  Muslim Hutu, and head of the PDI political party, he defers  to his ministry's Secretary General Joseph Mutaboba, a Tutsi  and former ambassador to the U.S.  Fourth Twin:  Supreme  Court President Aloysia Cyanzayire.  Although she is  reputedly a competent and hard-working judge, Supreme Court  Vice President Sam Rugege, a Tutsi, is very much the public  face of the court, and appears to hold administrative  authority as well.  Fifth Twin: Long-serving Central Bank  Governor Francois Kanimba, whose Deputy was Tutsi Consolate  Rusagara, influential in economic circles, recently replaced  by equally important regime insider and formerly head of  Tristar (a business entity controlled by the Rwandan  Patriotic Front) Ephrem Twahirwa, also a Tutsi.    5.  (C/NF) This is not to say that all Hutus are devoid of  any authority within the government.  Hutus hold some key  ministries that impact the lives of average Rwandans:  --  Health Minister Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo is energetic  and well-regarded (although a very energetic and  internationally renowned physician, Agnes Binagwaho, a Tutsi,  heads the high-profile HIV/AIDS portfolio); -- New  Agriculture Minister Christophe Bazivamo has held senior  positions within the RPF (although he is far from the inner  circles); his training as agricultural engineer may bring new  life to a badly-managed ministry (he has, however, a  well-connected Tutsi deputy minister, Agnes Kalibata); --  Minister of Trade and Industry, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the  respected number two at Finance in the previous cabinet, has  moved up to her own ministry.  But Hutus often serve in  second-tier positions, such as the Ministries of Gender,  Sports and Culture, and the new East African Community.  The  very active Sports and Culture Minister Joseph Habineza  appears frequently at major public events, for example, but  his influence within senior circles is small.    Other Balancing Does Occur  --------------------------    6.  (C/NF)  Ethnicity is not the only factor in how the  government apportions its positions.  The government and  ruling RPF vet candidates closely for every senior position,  and appointments reflect the need to carefully balance  gender, language group, home province/district, country of  residence if raised as a refugee outside Rwanda, and  political affiliation (given Rwanda's nine political parties  and the formal need under the constitution to share political  authority).  There are regular stories of splits between  francophone and anglophone Tutsis, as well as among the  "Ugandans," those English-speakers raised in refugee camps in  Uganda.  For example, Finance Minister James Musoni and  Director General of the National Security Services Emmanuel  Ndahiro, both raised in Uganda, are reputedly engaged in a  long-standing "cold war" as they struggle to place their  respective loyalists in various government positions.  Minister of Information Louise Mushikiwabo, Minister of  Foreign Affairs Rosemary Museminali, Minister of  Infrastructure Linda Bihire, all Tutsis, head important  ministries (by law, 30 percent of the cabinet must go to  women).    Ethnic Identity -- Used as a Shield?  ------------------------------------    7.  (C/NF)  As Ambassador Arietti noted in his departing  message (reftel), Rwanda remains a deeply divided society,  and average Rwandans still identify closely with their ethnic  origins.  Some Hutus argue that the massive gacaca program,  now completing the judgment of over one million (Hutu)  genocide cases, like the nationwide campaign against  "genocide ideology," which by definition only Hutus could  manifest, particularly now that the 1994 genocide has been  renamed "the Tutsi genocide," are secondarily intended to  keep Hutus off balance, unwilling to serve in high places  (for fear of being brought low) and generally out of office.  For example, new Minister of State for Education Theoneste  Mutsindashyaka recently addressed 750 secondary school  headmasters, and, according to the pro-government New Times,  angrily told them that 80 percent of them were "masterminds  of genocide ideology."  Assuming that headmasters match the  general ethnic breakdown in society, the Minister essentially  accused every Hutu in the room being a genocide ideologist.    Comment  -------    8.  (C/NF)  For all the government's exhortations to Rwandans  to abandon ethnic identities and work in common on national  goals, a policy that in fact has much to recommend it, the  Qgoals, a policy that in fact has much to recommend it, the  political reality is self-evidently otherwise.  People remain  keenly committed to their ethnic identities, and everyone is  aware of which person holds which position and to which group  he belongs.  While the practical end-point for such a project  may be years away. if this government is ever to surmount the  challenges and divides of Rwandan society, it must begin to  share real authority with Hutus to a much greater degree than  it does now.  End comment.    9.  (S/NF)  Below is a listing of cabinet positions and  ethnic identity:    Prime Minister Bernard Makuza: Hutu  Minister of Local Government Protais Musoni: Tutsi  Minister of Agriculture Christophe Bazivamo: Huti  Minister of Foreign Affairs Rosemary Museminali: Tutsi  Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Mussa Fazil Harerimana:  Hutu  Minister of Finance James Musoni: Tutsi  Minister of Defense Marcel Gatsinzi: Hutu  Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama: Tutsi  Minister in the Office of the President Solina Nyirahabimana:  Hutu  Minister for Cabinet Affairs Charles Murigande: Tutsi  Minister of Trade and Industry: Monique Nsanzabaganwa: Hutu  Minister of Health Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo: Hutu  Minister of Education: Daphrose Gahakwa: Tutsi  Minister in the Presidency for Science and Technology Romain  Murenzi: Hutu  Minister of Infrastructure Linda Bihire: Tutsi  Minister of Natural Resources Stanislas Kamanzi: Hutu  Minister of Sports and Culture: Joseph Habineza: Hutu  Minister of Youth Protais Mitali: Tutsi  Minister of Information Louise Mushikiwabo: Tutsi  Minister of Gender and Family Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya: Hutu  Minister of State for Community Development and Social  Affairs Christine Nyatanyi: Hutu  Minister of State for Energy Albert Butare: Tutsi  Minister of State for Environment, Water and Mines  Munyanganizi Bikoro: Tutsi  Minister of State for Industry and Investment Vincent Karega:  Tutsi  Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education  Theoneste Mutsindashyaka: Tutsi  Minister of State for Agriculture Agnes Kalibata: Tutsi    SIM

http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/08/08KIGALI525.html


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