The public has expressed its dismay at a publication accusing President Jakaya Kikwete of supporting and holding meetings with rebel groups opposed to the government of Rwanda.
Dr Benson Bana
A cross section of people interviewed by the ‘Sunday News’ on Sunday termed the allegations as malicious and aimed at tarnishing the image of President Kikwete, his government and all Tanzanians.
A senior lecturer in Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam, Dr Benson Bana told this newspaper that the report that appeared in last week’s publication in a Rwandan newspaper, The News of Rwanda was nothing short of distasteful. “It is the expectation of many people including myself to see the Kigali administration disowning the report.
The article is damaging to the East African Community (EAC), it is fuelling mistrust among the two nations, it is irresponsible journalism and a dent to diplomacy,” he said.
Dr Bana said that Tanzanians believe that President Kikwete is a mature leader and a diplomat and therefore cannot go against his own efforts of fostering more cordial ties with Kigali.
Ambassador Dr Ahmed Kiwanuka, a seasoned diplomat, said that while the publications have ill intentions, they were not to be ignored and needed to be dealt with seriously. Dr Kiwanuka said that the Kigali administration needed to understand that both Rwanda and Tanzania as nations cannot shift and go elsewhere because we are all East Africans.
“The doggedness that the leaders are showing is surprising. I would like Tanzanians to know that it isn’t the people of Rwanda who are the cause of these ill intentions utterances, but rather some of the leaders who are visionless,” he said.
He reminded Rwanda that history will prove to be the most gullible of people that Tanzania has never had any ill intentions with its neighbours and that with Rwanda, tracing back as far as 1958, refugees have been welcomed and that putting aside the boundaries placed by the colonial powers, the people in the region are literally brothers and sisters.
A retired seasoned diplomat who preferred anonymity said that he was shocked when he read the paper and feels President Kikwete and Tanzanians at large deserve an apology, because Tanzania has always been in the forefront in ensuring peace prevailed in Rwanda and neighbouring countries.
Mr Richard Chacha, a resident of Oyster Bay and a student of international relations, said that common sense requires the Rwandan government to instruct the newspaper to retract the article and make an apology for the sake of the EAC, bilateral relations and humanity.
On Thursday, the Tanzanian mission in Rwanda expressed shock anddispleasure over reports published by the ‘News of Rwanda’ that accused President Kikwete of supporting and holding meetings with members of rebel groups opposed to the administration in Kigali.
It has described the reports as ‘untrue and malicious.’ A statement issued by the Tanzania Embassy in Rwanda through the Directorate of Presidential Communications in Dar es Salaam said the reports are “nothing but a bunch of dangerous lies fabricated with obvious malicious intent to create an impression that Tanzania is working with enemies and groups opposed to the government of Rwanda.”
The statement said that the report and other similar reports published in recent weeks by the ‘News of Rwanda’ were not only untrue, baseless and mere fabrication but also dangerous and threatening the diplomatic and social relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Source Tanzania Daily News
