Amb. Willy Nyamitwe, Burundi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has strongly rejected claims that the ruling party in his country had ordered 4 containers of machetes to distribute to members of the party’s youth wing.
The Minister said the story circulating on social media is not true and is a concoction by “Le Mandat”, a newspaper he claims is operated by a journalist from Radio Publique Africaine (RPA).
“It is not surprising and clearly shows the aims of all those who participate in the propagation of the rumour, as well as the reason for this campaign of slander and lies,” Nyamitwe said in a lengthy statement posted on his Platform X handle.
Rwanda on April 7, marked the 30th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi which claimed over a million lives as the international community looked on.
However, neighbouring Burundi did not send any delegation to Kigali for the commemoration. Surprisingly Burundi government preferred to hold the commemoration event on Saturday, April,6 which is a direct negation of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda.
President Ndayishimiye who has recently openly allied with his DRC counterpart Felix Tshisekedi and created a military coalition with FDLR have reportedly targeted ethnic Tutsi Congolese.
Tshisekedi on Saturday flew to France and did not send any delegation to Kigali to attend the Kwibuka30 event.
Nyamitwe who posted a statement written in French language does not mention anywhere the Imbonerakure a youth wing of the ruling CNDD-FDD commonly seen on the streets wielding machetes as they search for their targets.
“Some people have been circulating messages through social networks that send shivers down the spine. These identified individuals speak, in fact, of “four containers of machetes in Burundi”, which have been imported from China and have transited through Tanzania,” he said.
He said that the propagation of hate messages of an alleged “distribution of machetes in Burundi” always precedes the commemoration of a Genocide perpetrated in Rwanda in April 1994.
“What are you looking for? are we to make people believe in opinion? Why talk about machetes? And who is financing this campaign and for what purpose? I will not answer these questions but I will let everyone form their opinion,” he added in the statement.
Nyamitwe in a negation mode wrote, “Burundi has always faced this kind of rumours, particularly between March and April of each year, with particular emphasis on the years marking the 10th, 20th and 30th anniversary of this Rwandan Genocide. I encourage readers to do their own research.”
“Rwandans will never understand why any country would remain intentionally vague about who was targeted in the genocide. I don’t understand that,” President Kagame said during Kwibuka30.
Kagame rejected such ambiguous statements on a serious matter like Genocide against the Tutsi.
“Such ambiguity is, in fact, a form of denial, which is a crime in and of itself, and Rwanda will always challenge it,” President Kagame said.
