Rwanda: Purely Beneficial or Contributing to War?

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source:
Leonard.Uwiringiyimana at notes.udayton.edu
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Rwanda: Purely Beneficial or Contributing to War?
(Candidate Dissertation 22 October 2001)



It is with the utmost pleasure that I can inform you that I have this week
handed in my dissertation on the role of foreign aid to Rwanda in relation
to the Congo War for the Candidate Degree in Political Science at the
University of Copenhagen. I enclose a summary of my findings in case you
should have any interest in downloading the dissertation from my web page.

 With the very best regards,

 Bjørn Willum

 Copenhagen, October 2001

 Archive of selected articles at www.willum.com

Foreign Aid to Rwanda: Purely Beneficial or Contributing to War?

 The dissertation documents how precious commodities are plundered by the
Rwandan Army under cover of the Congo War, first and foremost a mineral
known as 'coltan' that is used throughout the western IT industry and the
price of which peaked at more than US$ 600 per kilogram in January 2001.
The Rwandan Government has constantly denied that Congolese resources are
being plundered, but a letter from the National Bank of Rwanda sent to the
author shows that Rwanda last year exported seven times more coltan than it
produced. The same is true for diamonds and gold, and the author estimates
that Rwandan forces last year earned at least US$ ¼ billion from the
exploitation of Congolese minerals.

 Moreover, the author argues that a clan-based mafia called the Akazu
systematically dominates all important aspects of political, military, and
business life in Rwanda as well as all aspects of the war campaign in the
Congo.

 It is argued that there is in fact no Rwandan state; that the 'Government
of Rwanda' is not a government but rather a euphemism meant to attract
foreign aid to the benefit of the Akazu; and that the Army to a great
extent wages its campaign in the Congo with a view to the financial gain of
the Akazu, of which the Army forms a central part. As most criminal
networks, the Akazu is however not a coherent force. Infighting and
struggles between different factions of the Akazu occur frequently and show
that the only one thing keeps the Akazu afloat: access to wealth.

 These findings have profound consequences for the impact of aid provided
to the 'Government of Rwanda' and the private sector in Rwanda. I argue
that the Akazu so pervades political and business life in Rwanda that the
aid flows directly benefit Akazu members and thereby help stabilize the
Akazu; a stability that is crucial to the Rwandan war effort in the Congo.
In reverse, this means that by keeping the aid flowing, donors ensure the
stability of the Akazu and thereby also the continuation of the war.

 The dissertation 'Foreign Aid to Rwanda: Purely Beneficial or Contributing
to War?' can be downloaded ? in full or in part ? from the author's web
page www.willum.com

 Bjørn Willum is a freelance journalist specializing in international
affairs and has written extensively on African issues. He holds a Master of
Arts in War Studies from Kings College London and earned his Bachelor
Degree at the University of Copenhagen. His Bachelor thesis on the role of
the UN Secretariat in the Rwanda Genocide was published in the
International Peacekeeping journal.

 His web page archive, www.willum.com, has almost 1,000 visitors per month.
In addition, about 170 people subscribe to an e-mail list that is used to
distribute his articles on Africa in English translation.






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