Image via WikipediaRecently a British journalist, Ian Birrell, was using Twitter to criticize some of the acts in the regime of Rwanda's president, claiming that he has kept his "despotic and deluded" government for too long. Surprisingly enough, the president himself, responded from his official twitter account leading to an extraordinary conversation and somewhat a clash between the critical reporter and the president of a country. The President of Rawanda, Paul Kagame, responded with almost 14 fierce tweets, to the courageous journalist, Ian Birrell, one of which simply implying that: "Wrong u r."
In the middle of the conversation, the foreign minister, Even, also intervened and referred to Birrel, saying: "wld u care 2 know what 11.000.000 Rwandans think of Paul Kagame b4 u spread ur formed opinion? 2 big a challenge 4 u?"
Ian Birrell is actually an ex-editor of The Independent newspaper and has also worked as a speechwriter for the British P.M., David Cameron. In one of his critical tweets, he also mentioned that "No-one in media, UN or human rights groups has the moral right to criticise me, says despotic & deluded (Kagame)." Replying to which abruptly, the President posted from his official account himself, saying "Not you either...no moral right!"
Birrell confessed that the direct and quick replies of Kagame were "somewhat astonishing!" It seems like Kagame is keeping a very close eye on his Twitter feed and spends time to see what people are mentioning about himself and Rwanda. The Twitter feed of his account always seems flooded with thank you tweets to the users who have appreciated his efforts and developments of Rwanda.
Kagame is always highly regarded for his efforts for helping in the time of need, when the 1994 Rwandan genocide occurred, killing almost around 500,000 people. He has just been re-elected for a new tenure last year, even after the strong allegations from the opposition parties. His opposition parties in the election accused Kagame’s government to be evidently biased, as it was blamed that the voters of the opposition weren’t allowed to vote and several journalists were killed. Some of the leaders of the opponent political party were also beaten by police, as they were placed in detention during the elections.
After the conversation was over, Birrell also wrote on his Twitter account that "It is great (Kagame) engaging with a critic like me on Twitter." However, soon he also snapped a minute later, writing "Just shame he doesn't allow such debate in Rwanda with his own people."
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