September 29, 2017 NEWS
The New Times deleted this article after David Himbara reminded them that the US Congress is not for SALE!
How much is the US Congress worth?
By: Gatete Nyiringabo
Published: September 29, 2017
By: Gatete Nyiringabo
Published: September 29, 2017
'Africa doesn't need strong men, it needs strong institutions!' Barack Obama declared in an epic speech at the University of Alexandria in Egypt, amid cheers of young Africans, NGOs and activists who have been repeating the catch phrase ever since..
If he says this, one would think, it means in his country institutions are 'Strong'. Imagine my shock then, when I learned that Rwandan dissidents paid $440,000 in order to appear before the US Congress, to profane Rwanda and it's leaders at wish.
'It's easy!' someone said to me: 'you pay money; you get to meet and sway the American congress' opinion about any country…'
Was Obama an impostor? Are they all? Saying one thing to us, practicing the exact opposite? How do the American people feel, when the actions of their country towards other nations are driven by interests of cartels and syndicates'?
Do they even know who David Himbara is? Who his sponsor Tribert Rujugiro is? Or to rephrase the questions; do they know who their congressmen hang out with?
Is the American Congress like the FIFA executive committee, a club of old cutthroat crooks, auctioning away the future of young talents?
As I watched the hearing, I felt pity for the American people. You see, being victims is something we Rwandans have gone through, but at least we were well aware of what was happening to us and why, which is how we managed to come out of it.
Being a blissful oxymoron to one's betrayal and exploitation; that's a terrifying thought!
In Rwanda we have a word: Agaciro! It means self-worth. It is a historical concept, enshrined within the Rwandan culture. A fund created recently to facilitate the gradual phase-out of foreign aid was given the same name, to signal that within our little means, we believe that our dignity is not for sale.
How much is the US Congress worth? How much money does one pay to spend the evening with an American Congressman? Or two of them, and that regardless if the client is a cigarette, drug dealer or a terrorist? How many foreign policy decisions has the United States of America taken, because an evil person paid off their politicians?
Many do not know this, but Himbara comes from a long line of masters of intrigues.
His great-grandfather, Nzigiye, was a famous wine handler for Rwandan King Kigeli Rwabugiri; what we call in Kinyarwanda: ''Umunyenzoga', who used his skills to calumniate the entire king's circle and got them executed one by one, until he was left alone next to the old, drunk king.
True to his legacy, the progeny must have pulled the same tricks when he worked for President Kagame, whom, unfortunately doesn't drink; so it didn't work.
For 440,000 American Dollars, Himbara has bought a Member of the American House of Representatives, before whom he and his acolyte Higiro have appeared twice now..
In this post I have not commented on their allegations towards the Rwandan government, because the hearing was simply inconsequential.
For one, unlike the US Senate, the US Congress is one of the least trusted of any US public institutions: about 16%; Second, as a friend remarked, 'they brought the same two guys, two years later, to say the same things, as they continue to pay 150.000 USD per year to a top flight Washington lobbying firm… taints the whole process and discredits it.'
The firm in question is Podesta – a name, as Americans would know, is associated with humiliating failure.
Thirdly, all those allegations were extensively rebutted in the same hearing last time, by the testimony of Mzee Willis Shalita, who appeared alongside them before the US congress.
As for the 'flavor of the month', Diane Rwigara, their new hero, I went on a debate with Himbara on Al-Jazeera and had the opportunity to debunk all his sheer nonsense.
The debate was moderated by Mehdi Hassan and it is airing this Friday evening at 7:30 GMT; don't miss it!
Few hours after being exposed by David Himbara, this article was removed for unknown reasons.
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----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Amakuru k'u Rwanda <collectifcres@gmail.com>
To: "collectifcres@googlegroups.com" <collectifcres@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2017 2:45 AM
Subject: [Collectif CRES], KT Press, The New Times, Yolande Makolo, And Mauro De Lorenzo – Stop Falsehoods About "Buying" The US Congress
KT Press, The New Times, Yolande Makolo, And Mauro De Lorenzo – Stop Falsehoods About "Buying" The US Congress. If You Want To Genuinely Examine Who Among Rwandans Has Spent A Fortune On Lobbyists, Look No Further Than Kagame.
President Paul Kagame owes Chairman Chris Smith and the United States Congress an apology. The President's senior officials and his media have slundered the US Congress and Congressman Smith – that he was "bought" to hold hearings on Rwanda. These are crude and false utterances aimed at drawing attention away from the real issues – atrocities in Kagame's Rwanda.
Kagame has spent a fortune on lobbyistsLet me begin this story with Mauro De Lorenzo. In 2012, I asked Mauro if he knew a good lobbying/legal firm. The reason I was looking for such firm was that my friend Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa had a challenge that we wanted to sort out.Back in 2002, the United Nations had included Ayabatwa, along with the the Rwanda government, on the list of plunderers of DR Congo's natural resources. We wanted to hire a firm that would argue our case that Ayabatwa had nothing to with the exploitation of Congo's wealth. On the contrary, Ayabatwa was and remains the only manufacturer/employer still operating a sizeable business in Eastern Congo.Mauro recommended his friend, Steve Rademaker, who was with the Podesta Group. And that is how Ayabatwa and I started working with Podesta Group. The details of this relationship are available if anyone is interested. I will even happily arrange an interview between Rademaker with whoever wants to engage the truth.We continued to work with Podesta on other assignments. The largest and most costly assignment to Podesta involved making documentaries. The Podesta team included senior writers and film crew that traveled across Africa where Ayabatwa's businesses operated.. They even visited Rwanda and Burundi. The Podesta team made promotional films about Ayabatwa's businesses and philanthropy – materials that were used to launch his corporate and personal websites.Now let us look at how KT Press, the New Times, Mauro, and Makolo from Kagame office maliciously cooked a story to "prove" that Himbara and Ayabatwa "bought" the US Congress to "tarnish" Kagame.
Yolande Makolo: US Congress for hireYolande Makolo wrote: "Did you know that hearings at the US Congress are for sale? $220,000 a pop."
KT Press then screamed:"the hearing was the result of cash payments totalling $440,000 to the Podesta Group, a PR and lobbying firm. The firm arranged access for Himbara and team to Congressman Chris Smith."
Mauro's contribution was that the "This story gets more and more sordid."
Mauro in Kagame's Urugwiro?Then came the New Times with a title, "How much is the US Congress worth:""For 440,000 American Dollars, Himbara has bought a Member of the American House of Representatives, before whom he and his acolyte Higiro have appeared twice now."
Shame on you Mauro! Shame on you Makolo.. Shame on you KT Press. Shame on you the New Times.And let me advise you – those who live in a glass house should not throw stones. The real culprit who has spent a fortune of taxpayers' money on lobbyists in the United States is no other than Kagame.Kagame began spending big bucks on lobbyists as far back as in 2003. That is when he hired Jefferson Waterman International at a fee of US$300,000.00 "for each twelve month term." If they worked for two years, they made US$600,000.00.
Kagame's deal with Jefferson Waterman InternationalThen came Racepoint in 2009, which cost Kagame US$50,000.00 monthly professional services fee and US$2,500-$3,500/month out of pocket costs to cover other costs such as travel.
Larry Weber, Chairman, RacepointWe know that Racepoint was still in Rwanda in 2011. It embarked on the assignment in August 2009. Which would mean that Racepoint may have accumulated 26 months x US$53,500.00 which makes it a cool US$1,378,000.00.So what was Racepoint performing to earn such large sums of money? Among its responsibilities was to build Kagame as a "visionary leader" and a "democrat:""We will launch a story highlighting President Kagame and his visionary leadership, including his adoption of democratic principle and free markets as a means of elevating Rwanda."
After Racepoint came Winning Strategies Washington in 2014, for US$180,000.00 a year. Winning Strategies was "to engage DC officials on 'issues related to US-Africa policy/trade matters' and to further its political relationship with this country."Dear KT Press, The New Times, Mauro, and Makolo. Stop spreading your cheap lies. Congressional leaders in the United States hold hearings all the time in line with the work of their committees.
Chairperson Chris Smith, champion of human rightsWe approached Congressman Chris Smith on human rights issues in Rwanda because, firstly, because he is the Chairperson responsible for human rights sub-committee which is also responsible for Africa in the House. Secondly, Chairman Smith is a passionate human rights activist in his own right. Smith's latest accomplishment is his introduction of legislation to hold the Azerbaijani regime accountable for human rights abuses.I have news for you the propagandists. You cannot buy a person like Chairman Smith. And Mauro, as an American, ought to know this.
Update: The New Times has since deleted its story "How much is the US Congress worth" from its Website. But the article is found here.Show your supportClapping shows how much you appreciated David Himbara's story.
President Paul Kagame owes Chairman Chris Smith and the United States Congress an apology. The President's senior officials and his media have slundered the US Congress and Congressman Smith – that he was "bought" to hold hearings on Rwanda. These are crude and false utterances aimed at drawing attention away from the real issues – atrocities in Kagame's Rwanda.
Let me begin this story with Mauro De Lorenzo. In 2012, I asked Mauro if he knew a good lobbying/legal firm. The reason I was looking for such firm was that my friend Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa had a challenge that we wanted to sort out.
Back in 2002, the United Nations had included Ayabatwa, along with the the Rwanda government, on the list of plunderers of DR Congo's natural resources. We wanted to hire a firm that would argue our case that Ayabatwa had nothing to with the exploitation of Congo's wealth. On the contrary, Ayabatwa was and remains the only manufacturer/employer still operating a sizeable business in Eastern Congo.
Mauro recommended his friend, Steve Rademaker, who was with the Podesta Group. And that is how Ayabatwa and I started working with Podesta Group. The details of this relationship are available if anyone is interested. I will even happily arrange an interview between Rademaker with whoever wants to engage the truth.
We continued to work with Podesta on other assignments. The largest and most costly assignment to Podesta involved making documentaries. The Podesta team included senior writers and film crew that traveled across Africa where Ayabatwa's businesses operated.. They even visited Rwanda and Burundi. The Podesta team made promotional films about Ayabatwa's businesses and philanthropy – materials that were used to launch his corporate and personal websites.
Now let us look at how KT Press, the New Times, Mauro, and Makolo from Kagame office maliciously cooked a story to "prove" that Himbara and Ayabatwa "bought" the US Congress to "tarnish" Kagame.
Yolande Makolo wrote: "Did you know that hearings at the US Congress are for sale? $220,000 a pop."
KT Press then screamed:
"the hearing was the result of cash payments totalling $440,000 to the Podesta Group, a PR and lobbying firm. The firm arranged access for Himbara and team to Congressman Chris Smith."
Mauro's contribution was that the "This story gets more and more sordid."
Then came the New Times with a title, "How much is the US Congress worth:"
"For 440,000 American Dollars, Himbara has bought a Member of the American House of Representatives, before whom he and his acolyte Higiro have appeared twice now."
Shame on you Mauro! Shame on you Makolo.. Shame on you KT Press. Shame on you the New Times.
And let me advise you – those who live in a glass house should not throw stones. The real culprit who has spent a fortune of taxpayers' money on lobbyists in the United States is no other than Kagame.
Kagame began spending big bucks on lobbyists as far back as in 2003. That is when he hired Jefferson Waterman International at a fee of US$300,000.00 "for each twelve month term." If they worked for two years, they made US$600,000.00.
Then came Racepoint in 2009, which cost Kagame US$50,000.00 monthly professional services fee and US$2,500-$3,500/month out of pocket costs to cover other costs such as travel.
We know that Racepoint was still in Rwanda in 2011. It embarked on the assignment in August 2009. Which would mean that Racepoint may have accumulated 26 months x US$53,500.00 which makes it a cool US$1,378,000.00.
So what was Racepoint performing to earn such large sums of money? Among its responsibilities was to build Kagame as a "visionary leader" and a "democrat:"
"We will launch a story highlighting President Kagame and his visionary leadership, including his adoption of democratic principle and free markets as a means of elevating Rwanda."
After Racepoint came Winning Strategies Washington in 2014, for US$180,000.00 a year. Winning Strategies was "to engage DC officials on 'issues related to US-Africa policy/trade matters' and to further its political relationship with this country."
Dear KT Press, The New Times, Mauro, and Makolo. Stop spreading your cheap lies. Congressional leaders in the United States hold hearings all the time in line with the work of their committees.
We approached Congressman Chris Smith on human rights issues in Rwanda because, firstly, because he is the Chairperson responsible for human rights sub-committee which is also responsible for Africa in the House. Secondly, Chairman Smith is a passionate human rights activist in his own right. Smith's latest accomplishment is his introduction of legislation to hold the Azerbaijani regime accountable for human rights abuses.
I have news for you the propagandists. You cannot buy a person like Chairman Smith. And Mauro, as an American, ought to know this.
Update: The New Times has since deleted its story "How much is the US Congress worth" from its Website. But the article is found here.
Show your support
Clapping shows how much you appreciated David Himbara's story.
David Himbara
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-Ce dont jai le plus peur, cest des gens qui croient que, du jour au lendemain, on peut prendre une société, lui tordre le cou et en faire une autre.
- The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
- I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
- The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
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https://www.facebook.com/haguruka
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http://www.musabe.com/
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