No regrets for Ugandan journalists dismissed from Rwanda newspaper

In 2006 or thereabouts, a friend working at Rwanda’s Embassy in Kampala was appointed as the managing director of Rwanda’s The New Times newspaper. My friend had no newsroom experience and so he sought me out for advice on what the work entails.

In spite of being a close relative of someone very big in Kigali, my friend was actually very Ugandan. He was, after all, born and raised in Uganda. And my assessment was that Rwanda was a bit distant to him.

‘One of the questions he asked was: Who are the owners The New Times? And my response was: Who gave you the job of managing editor of The New Times? He didn’t answer my question neither did he consider my response as an answer to his question.

To the best of my recollections, the Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), is always (or likely to be) the board chair of The New Times. Please don’t raise your eyebrows.

But The New Times was started by senior RPF cadres in 1995 or thereabouts (in their individual capacities). I still remember Claude Dusaidi (RIP), Joseph Bideri, Lt Col Shaban Rutayisire (RIP) and others.

The New Times was supposed to be modelled on The New Vision of Uganda: Independent yet promote the ideals of ‘the new times for Rwanda’ ushered in by the RPF.

I must add that I was honoured with writing a column in The New Times flagged off as ‘The Other Side of Kigali’. I wrote under the penname Rwanda Rugari (and up to now, some old friends still call me Rwanda Rugari). This column tag may have inspired Charles Onyango-Obbo’s ‘The Other Side of Rwanda’ serials in The Monitor in 1997.

I have been asked to recommend or endorse Ugandan talent to go work at The New Times. Many Ugandans at The New Times have had the courtesy of sharing with me their new-found job opportunities.

Most of them express undying support for Paul Kagame and his government to annoying levels. And being the eternal oppositionist, I even challenged some about their loyalty. But I don’t regret their sacking.

If we didn’t regret the recent (mis)treatment of ‘suspected Rwandan spies’ in Kampala, why should we be concerned or regret that Ugandans have lost jobs in Kigali? How do we think the Rwandan citizenry felt when some Banyarwanda (suspected Rwandan spies) were mistreated in Kampala?

Ugandans should know that revelling in what Ugandan intelligence was doing to ‘suspected Rwandan spies’ was not helpful to us as a country. And now these Ugandan journalists are paying the price.

I have been an actor, beneficiary and victim of the dynamics of the Uganda-Rwanda relationship. I am familiar with the games.
You may not appreciate that Kinyarwanda speakers in Kampala feel a sense of marginalisation and identity profiling. You may not appreciate how businesses run by Kinyarwanda speakers were affected by ‘Operation Romeo Wine’.

I know the dismissal of Ugandan journalists from The New Times does not stop them from seeking jobs elsewhere in Rwanda (for they are not a declared persona non grata). But if it were up to me, I would advise them to return home. And I invite you to trust my advice because I can smell trouble one hundred kilometres away.

Just come back home. And I would also like to advise that our dear journalists stop the idea of asking Uganda’s Ambassador in Kigali to intervene in their case. Do not even appeal to the East African Community thingie… Even appealing to the media in Uganda won’t be of any help. No regrets; just come back.

Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of East African Flagpost.
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