Assurances by South African or Rwandan ministers that the arms sold to Rwanda would not be used outside that country, do nothing to dispel the fear that ordinary people will suffer. This is so irrespective of whether the weapons are used on them by security forces or whether they find their way into the hands of those bent on war. Besides, it is a well-known fact that the borders of countries are porous when it comes to trading in nefarious products such as arms or drugs. The resumption of the sale of arms to Rwanda is thus deplorable. Sooner or later it will almost certainly lead to the destabilisation of not only Rwanda, but of nearby countries.
Violence begets violence.
History shows that. Yet we forget it. The announcement of the resumption of the sale is the more shocking given the good news brought last week by representatives of the Anglican Church in Rwanda, when they met Archbishops of the Anglican Church in Africa at a meeting inJohannesburg. They shared the news that things had returned to normal in their country. It is even more difficult to comprehend why Rwanda requires arms now that it has returned to normal, and why South Africa is so keen to peddle these products of poison.