Rusesabagina caught in politics

As the nation of Rwanda struggles with its future, Paul Rusesabagina is apparently becoming a political threat. The former hotel manager, whose story was told in the film Hotel Rwanda (and recently released his autobiography — An Ordinary Man), has been raising the ire of President Kagame and his followers, as he adds his voice to others who want to see more democratic freedoms in Rwanda.

As Shyaka Kanuma of the independent newspaper Focus stated:

“This is a dictatorship for sure. But that’s good for the moment. You can’t have a Western-style democracy in a country where 80 percent of people vote on ethnic lines.”

Even as Kagame and Rusesabagina take opposing sides in the political debate, many others are worried that this clash of idiologies might be driving the country toward more ethnic violence. Paul Mugiraneza of the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace, put it simply, “both sides are using the genocide as a tool of politics.”

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