deniers , such as Victoire Ingabire , the former leader of the RDR movement that was formed in Zaire refugee camps administered by genocidaires – perpetuate France ’ s decades-long strategy to impose the reintegration of African Neo-Nazis of “ new figures , untarnished , credible in the eyes of partners ” into Rwanda ’ s political space as a means to regain its spheres of influence . These pursuits , then and now , are contemptuous of Rwandan lives . They conceive Africans as pawns in western geopolitical games .
On the 7th of April , President Kagame was unequivocal about this attitude in his address to the nation . “ It is as though this simple recognition of what the word [ the exact terminology around the genocide ] should be was a reward bestowed on Rwandans in exchange for good behaviour in their view . We cannot respond to blackmail on such matters of principle ,” President Kagame said .
The Americans and the British , like the French before them , are involved in blackmail to achieve geostrategic interests . Perhaps Africans were too hopeful to expect the very governments that refused to acknowledge that the tragic event of 1994 in Rwanda was a genocide would suddenly take a principled stance on the threat posed by genocide denial . More often than not , threats that our countries face are leveraged to advance western geopolitical and economic interests , notwithstanding those as serious as the resurgence of the Hutu Power Movement .
In their games , genocide is not off limits .
Lionel Manzi is a Burundian freelance writer .
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