An article from The Wind of Change blog about Bishop John Rucyahana came to my attention. The article makes some very serious accusations about Bishop Rucyahana, which American Anglicans should take notice of. The original article is located here, and an English translation follows:
The Ill Heart, Conspiracy, Plots, Disrepute and Shame of Bishop John Rucyahana
Who is Bishop Rucyahana? Rucyahana is known to call himself a true ‘Tutsi’, but to many this is questionable and that is why he hates Hutus and works tirelessly to make the Hutus suffer, because he wants to prove that he is a Tutsi. However, it is known that one of his grandfathers was a pure Hutu.
According to those who know him, Rucyahana, was born in the Kideho commune, [on] which he agrees. In 1959, he fled into exile with his mother to Zaire (the DRC), after a few years, he left Zaire and moved to Uganda where he studied and continued to the United States where he completed his studies. This is the reason why Rucyahana calls himself a Rwandan, a Congolese and a Ugandan and it is also alleged that he has an American citizenship. This is another reason: Rucyahana is always involved in the conflicts of the great lakes region.
Rucyahana is in the inner circle of the Rwanda ruling Party (the RPF), Rucyahana and a few other blue eyed boys of the RPF include: Gen. James Kabarebe (Minister of Defense), Senator Karangwa Chrysologue, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba all work very closely with His Excellency President Paul Kagame and the Chairman of the RPF. The above mentioned names are the Rwandan government and RPF decision makers especially when it comes to sensitive matters. For nominations to government positions the above personnel are the ones who vet the selected names and approve them, including drafting the bills to parliament and ordering the MPs to pass the bills without wasting more time debating on the bills in Parliament – to pass them immediately. Everyone named above heads a secret department in the RPF Secretariat. Rucyahana governs the Northern Province and he is the one who endorses and authorizes new churches to operate in Rwanda. On the other hand, Rucyahana authorizes and gives permission to all NGOs to officially operate their duties within Rwanda or revokes them.
The Specialties of Rucyahana:
The above named people are all ill hearted but for Bishop Rucyahana it is exceptional, for he conspires, plots and brings disrepute on the name of the Church. Rucyahana promotes divisionism, hatred among the Rwandan people, he promotes tribalism and he always calls the Hutus the enemy of the state everywhere he goes. In all the Church projects and other projects he is heading, Rucyahana has tried his level best to marginalize the Hutus but he has failed due to the fact they are the majority, at times he finds it difficult because he cannot progress or set up a project without the Hutus due to their numbers.
Rucyahana does not want to work with people who are literate in Church projects. The reason is that when the financiers or the donors for the Church projects who are mainly whites come to visit, he will be the only one who will remain explaining things to the whites, and the whites (Americans) will not get a chance to communicate with other people, because there could be the chance of revealing the scandals that are involved in the Anglican Church projects. If one is educated, Rucyahana will try his level best to see that he is transferred to a distant place where donors will never have a chance of meeting him.
There is a scandal where Rucyahana recruits youth from the Adventist Church and they are given scholarships. Mainly these youth are Tutsis and this is done at the arrangement of the RPF. After studies, these youth become Anglican pastors without even following the procedures of the Anglican process to become a priest. This issue of scholarships has strongly divided the Rwandan Anglican Church and a good number of Christians have stopped attending services.
Rucyahana’s Shame:
Rucyahana has become a disgrace to the Anglican Church and this has made a section of Christians call him a “Snake”, they all see in him disloyalty and have no respect for him and the Church. Many say there is nothing like the work of God here, it is the work of Kagame instead that Bishop Rucyahana is offering.
Rucyahana’s Embezzlement in the Construction Shema Hotel:
According to Bishop Mbanda who replaced Rucyahana, he told the Christians that Shema hotel was constructed by the Americans’ donor money through the organization called Compassion.
But in few days, Bishop Mbanda was shocked to receive letters from the Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) notifying him that that Shema Hotel will be auctioned for the BRD’s loan they acquired when it was under construction, and Bishop Rucyahana claims that Shema Hotel belongs to him he takes it as his personal asset. Shema Hotel was constructed on the land of and borders with the former EER (Eglise Episcopale au Rwanda) which is now called EAR (Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda).
And to the surprise of many, it is Bishop Rucyahana who is looking for the buyers and bargaining for the price. It is alleged that the hotel was leased by Americans for thirty years, and Rucyahana doesn’t want the hotel to be auctioned as was supposed to be done.Christians have on many occasions demanded explanations and details of the hotel: who is the owner, who constructed it and Bishop Mbanda has kept quiet after knowing that Rucyahana is well connected and if Mbanda gets involved and he reveals the truth about Shema Hotel, he is likely to lose his life.
Every Christian is supposed to pay 1500 Rwanda Francs per month to reimburse the RDB bank loan.
Since the hotel started operating, it has never employed a Hutu and when it was under construction, the Hutus were the ones who were the porters and builders.
What is sadder is that Rucyahana employs people from Restoration Church, Zion Temple and Adventist churches due to the fact that they are Tutsis. And in the records that are sent to donors the names of the Hutus are also included as beneficiaries of the hotel.
Some Christians are pushing Bishop Mbanda to lodge this complaint in court and have Rucyahana’s properties confiscated.
Here is the List of Bishop Rucyahana’s assets:
- Former Police School called EGENA (Ecole de la gendarmerie nationale) which he acquired without any tendering procedure or auction.
- Former Ruhengeri Airstrip, former Ruhengeri regional Stadium and former Muhoza Army barracks which he acquired in the name of the Anglican Church. He was to set up a Christian University but now the land belongs to Bishop Rucyahana. He acquired all these due to the influence he has in the RPF and many say these plots are written in his name but he shares them with senior people in government.
- Sonrise boarding school, which was constructed to help the orphans, especially genocide survivors. It became a home and a school for sons and daughter of the government ministers and other senior government officials.
- Haki Construction Company
- A house under construction located in Kagogo in the district of Burera.
In all the cases mentioned above, no Hutu has a chance to be employed and those who work there (who are Tutsi), have no employment interviews conducted, they are all sent by the RPF secretariat.
Rucyahana’s Conspiracy:
1. Rucyahana used his influence and ordered the Police in Northern Province to ban bicycles riders, saying that these riders are causing accidents on the roads and they give him a hard time for driving his car and those of other important people in the province.These bicycles riders are mainly Hutu youth who have nobody, no organization that caters to them. They are mainly the sons of those who lost their parents in the war. Even FARG (the Government Assistance Fund for Survivors) is not allowed to assist them to go back to school or do any other business, because FARG helps only Tutsi orphans.
2. Rucyahana betrayed very many people during the invasion of 1997 and they were killed, including pastors, calling them collaborators with FDLR. Many were doing the work of God and he knew they would not have allowed him to obtain what he owns today.
3. He caused many to be languishing in prisons today as he gave their names to RPF agents and they whisked them away.
4. He introduced the campaign of bringing down the houses that were constructed with mud bricks, they were all destroyed. Some are constructing their houses today with them, but no Hutu can dare to use mud bricks.
5. He started the gospel congregation to bring together worshipers from the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda but his aim was for this to be the easiest way to transport recruits to destabilize the Congo and act as Kagame’s agents for espionage in the region .
6. In another scandal he betrayed an American called Caleb and he allowed the police sniffer dogs to be used in church and they sniffed the worshippers because Kagame was coming for services. It was suspected that some had grenades.
Rucyahana uses an armored vehicle when he is going to baptismal services and is escorted with a machine gun.
All these have made the Anglican Church lose worshipers because they are confused about which direction the Church is heading.
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