Businessmen urged to cut ties with Rwandan president after threats against exiles in Britain
Marc Horne, Mike Wade
March 15 2018, 12:01am, The Times
Sir Tom Hunter with President Kagame in 2008
Two of Scotland's wealthiest men have been urged to distance themselves from an autocratic African leader after a critic of his regime living in the UK said he was warned by police that he was at risk of state-sponsored assassination.
Sir Tom Hunter and Sir Ian Wood have forged relationships with President Kagame of Rwanda while carrying out philanthropic work in the African state.
Yesterday The Times revealed that opponents of Mr Kagame were warned by British police at the weekend of an "imminent threat" to their lives.
Amnesty International has claimed that the Kagame regime has overseen the killing, torture and imprisonment of political dissidents.
<img class="Media-img" src="//www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fab6e9d3e-27da-11e8-acc5-262aff1ca7a6.jpg?crop=3000%2C2000%2C0%2C0" alt="Sir Ian Wood was hosted by Mr Kagame when he visited Rwanda in 2016">
Sir Ian Wood was hosted by Mr Kagame when he visited Rwanda in 2016
JAMES GLOSSOP/THE TIMES
Sir Tom, 56, who made his fortune in retail with the Sports Division chain, is a supporter of Mr Kagame and serves on his presidential advisory council.
Sir Ian, 75, a billionaire who is estimated to have given £142 million to philanthropic schemes, was hosted by Mr Kagame when he visited Rwanda in 2016.
Ross Greer, the Green Party's external affairs spokesman, urged them to cut their ties with the Rwandan leader.
He said: "It is one thing to engage with a regime in order to robustly challenge its actions and another thing entirely to legitimise it by association through sitting on the president's advisory council as Mr Hunter does.
"For too long Kagame has been protected by western endorsements and support. In that time the brutality has not abated and those who have supported him must bear their responsibility for that," he added,
Mr Kagame, a strong supporter of free market capitalism, has presided over rising economic growth and has been fêted by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. However, in recent years his reputation has been tarnished after the disappearance or imprisonment of political opponents.
Ian Birrell, a freelance journalist who has exposed the increasingly repressive nature of Mr Kagame's regime, called on Sir Tom and Sir Ian to distance themselves. He said: "These naive business people are providing a tattered fig leaf of credibility to a ruler who kills, kidnaps and jails those opposing him, while aiding a regime responsible for atrocities and human right abuses. They should step aside instantly." Mr Birrell suggested Rwanda deserved to be condemned as much as Russia.
Noble Marara, Mr Kagame's former bodyguard now living in exile in Kent, claimed he was warned by British police of an "imminent threat". Mr Marara, who is due to publish an account about working with Mr Kagame, said: "The police wanted to know why my home government would want to kill me."
Rene Mugenzi, another UK-based critic of the regime, confirmed he had received a similar warning.
A spokesman for Sir Tom said: "Sir Tom serves on President Kagame's advisory council and is proud to continue to do so. As to allegations, we do not comment on them, only ever on facts."
Sir Tom formed the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative, a joint venture with the former US president which funds coffee-roasting and food oil factories in Rwanda, in 2006.
Sir Ian declined to comment. His personal assistant said: "I've spoken with Sir Ian [about] this and he doesn't want to make any comment."
The Rwandan government strongly denies the allegations.
Profile
Softly spoken, an adept social media user and an outspoken champion of Thatcherite economics, Paul Kagame, 60, was hailed by the West as an African reformer (Marc Horne writes).
A refugee in Uganda since childhood, he received military training abroad before the launch of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a movement made up of members of the Tutsi ethnic minority, which in 1994 seized control of the capital Kigali, ending the Rwandan genocide. He oversaw the "Rwandan miracle" during which its economy grew by 8 per cent every year. Infrastructure was rebuilt, investment rose and Rwanda became prosperous.
At the same time his opponents and former allies were imprisoned, driven into exile and murdered. Critical journalists also disappeared.
Mr Kagame has not distanced himself from the killings, stating: "You can't betray Rwanda and not get punished for it. Anyone, even those still alive, will reap the consequences."
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