rwanda Archives - Armoured & Luxury

France pulls out of Rwanda genocide commemorations

April 7, 2014 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The French government has announced that it is pulling out of the 20th anniversary commemorations on Monday for the Rwandan genocide.

The decision follows an accusation by the Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, that France participated in the mass killings in 1994.

Mr Kagame has previously made similar allegations, which France has denied.

The French foreign ministry said the remarks went against reconciliation efforts between the two countries.

French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has cancelled her plans to attend the events in Kigali on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal says.

UN ashamed over Rwandan genocide says Ban Ki-moon

April 7, 2014 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The UN is still ashamed over its failure to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said.

He was addressing thousands of people in the capital, Kigali, as Rwanda began a week of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide.

Many people were overcome by emotion during the ceremony, with some suffering fits.

At least 800,000 people – mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus – died at the hands of Hutu extremists.

The killings ended ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel movement, marched into Kigali and seized control of the country.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Mr Ban lit a torch which will burn for 100 days – the length of time the genocide lasted.

South Africa expels Rwandan diplomats

March 11, 2014 / By Armoured Cars / In security

South Africa has expelled three Rwandan diplomats in connection with an attack on the home of an exiled Rwandan dissident, diplomatic sources say.

Rwanda responded by ordering out six South African envoys, officials said.

The moves come after armed men raided the Johannesburg home of Kayumba Nyamwasa, a Rwandan former chief of staff, earlier this week.

Lt Gen Nyamwasa, an exiled critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, was not at home.

However, the property was ransacked and a computer and some documents were taken.

The child refugee who built business empire – Ashish Thakkar

March 11, 2014 / By Armoured Cars / In security

While many successful entrepreneurs have come from difficult backgrounds, few have faced the horrors that Ashish Thakkar and his family went through.

Mr Thakkar, who today is the founder and boss of the pan-African Mara Group conglomerate, was 12 years old when he and his parents and sister fled the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

After sheltering with more than 1,200 other terrified people at a hotel in Rwanda’s capital (the one at the centre of the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, the Hollywood movie about the genocide), they were able to get on a flight out of the country.

“Fortunately we came out alive,” says Mr Thakkar, now 32. “But unfortunately my parents lost everything they’d built up between 1972 and 1993.”