Arusha Notes 1

Opulence of ICTR employees and the envy of locals

BY GEORGE KAGAME

My impressions of Arusha have been limited to the International conference centre so far.
This is because the AICC has a special place in the history of Rwanda, it is here that the ICTR sits and deliberates on what to do for the architects of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.

It’s a large white painted building and the building has a rather peculiar design, it was built in the 1978, but it till today the building maintains the grandeur and class of many modern designs.

The centre is located on the right on the outskirts of Arusha town and is also hosts the offices and parliament East African Community.

As a result of being the major conference facility in Tanzania and EAC, the AICC is an interesting place, for Rwanda in particular, it was the venue where the Rwanda Patriotic Front and Juvenal Habyarimana were holding negotiations during the liberation struggle between 1990-93, unfortunately as the RPF attended the negotiations, Habyarimana’s MRND was busy planning the Genocide and sending delegates to the peace talks just for political showmanship.

It is ironical therefore, that the centre is also the same venue where the justice to the masterminds of the genocide is being sought.
The conference room in which President Paul Kagame and his RPF sat to discuss peace with Habyarimana is right below the four chambers where genocide suspects are being tried.

The AICC has four wings, but the ICTR is a large presence here and even if it occupies just one of the wings, its presence is felt right through Arusha.
The huge presence of the ICTR here is not just limited to the four wheel drive vehicles packed around the building with specialized number plates for ICTR staff, there are various political conundrums that play themselves between journalists, witnesses, lawyers, freed genocide suspects, suspects still in custody, Tanzanians and foreign residents especially from other African countries.

Tanzanians here are a very slippery lot if they suspect you are a foreigner, it is understandable, they are jealous of the many employees of the ICTR who-with their large four wheel vehicles and large dollar accounts kept in the safety of the Standard Chartered bank branch in the town have made everything expensive in the area.

But you cannot blame the ICTR staff for causing inflation in the area, Arusha is a huge tourist destination for many, the town is in the centre of three national parks, namely Serengeti national park, which is the biggest game park in the world, Ngorongoro and Kilimanjaro.

The three wings of the AICC are named after those game parks.
However upon entering the wing that is occupied by the ICTR, it is easy to understand the envy of many local residents in Arusha.

The opulent lifestyle of the ICTR staff employees hits you right from first lift in the building, inside the lifts are adverts calling upon readers to attend the Arusha spouses association, welcoming you to some exotic dinners that cost a ‘friendly’ fee of TSH 30,000.

The ICTR detainees are also an interesting lot, there’s a story of one former Rwandan minister that is in detention with her son, the son cannot have his food one plate, so he cries to the mother who in turn wants to carry the food to the court room so the judge can decide how her son should have his food served!

There’s a former minister that was acquitted recently, he spends his time in the library or walking about the streets waiting for the court to decide which country he will go to.
He does not want to come back to Rwanda!

He is not alone, there are several Rwandans here (freed genocide suspects or ordinary employees of the ICTR, many working as translators and other offices who have been here for over 10 years, they are working for the ICTR but are reported not to have stepped in Rwanda that entire time or made any particular investments back home.

To be continued