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13 June-5 July 2016

Media Monitoring Report for Rwanda
Posted on July 11, 2016

Compiled by Berta Fürstová

  1. Rwanda National Congress split up in two factions
1. Rwanda National Congress split up in two factions
Private but pro-government newspapers

“Infighting tears RNC apart” by Times Reporter. New Times, 5th July 2016

  • The Rwanda National Congress (RNC), an exile-based political group, split up in two factions.
  • According to a statement released by Theogene Rudasingwa, who leads a breakaway faction, which calls itself the New Rwandan National Congress (New-RNC), the decision to part ways with Kayumba Nyamwasa was prompted by the latter’s desire for power.
  • “Kayumba Nyamwasa has now crowned himself the Chairman of the Electoral Commission so that he can decide on the outcomes of the August 2016 elections which, among other things, are intended to expel those with dissenting views and install puppet subordinates over whom he has absolute control,” reads the statement.
  • In a bid to win over members, Rudasingwa promised to retain regional heads of RNC affiliates, but they have seven days during which they have to decide on their affiliation with New-RNC.
  • New Times also reminds that both RNC and FDLR militia had been linked to a spate of grenade attacks in Kigali in 2014 and that both Kayumba Nyamwasa and Theogene Rudasingwa were sentenced to 24 years in prison for multiple charges, including forming a terrorist group and threatening state security.
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