We had the pleasure of meeting Godwin in Gisenyi, the Rwandan town on the border with Congo - just across from Goma. Godwin was born in a refugee camp in Uganda, and leads the lonely life of a local journalist, working for the leading English language newspaper in Rwanda, covering the goings on in Congo. No big expense accounts, no laptops and no satellite internet connections like the BBC and Al Jazira boys. Instead his phones and emails are tapped by the government, and when we met he was awaiting his paper to send him money so he could continue his work and go back to the Congo. And he has the misfortune of covering the absolute misery of Congo, a tragedy that not only are most in the West going out of their way to ignore but a story most Rwandans don't want to hear about either.
Godwin revealed some home truths about what was going on in the Congo, and told some rip roaring stories about meeting war lords and spotting bare-footed Chinese miners wandering about in small villages in Congo, (I have asked him to write a guest blog, so keep your eyes peeled) but his greatest wisdom came in a few choice comments he made during the day we spent with him.
- On the Congolese government
- " The Congo Government, that is not a serious government. They only control Kinshasa and a few other towns. There are generals who control areas bigger than Rwanda, they run markets, they even impose taxes"
- On the Congolese farmer
- "In Congo the only job they have is to dance...the soil is so fertile that food grows everywhere, even if you walk in the jungle there are bananas and cassava"
- On corruption, or the lack thereof, in Rwanda
- "If he (public official) eats even one dollar, he will be in jail for a very long time. Everywhere there is someone watching"
- In response to my question as to why local Rwandans chase after the most rickety looking buses (that are the most expensive) arriving at the bus terminal and form long queues
- "Ahh, you know, locals are ...., locals"
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