Theodore Ngoy

At the following day of the festival, Theodore Ngoy spoke about his belief that Rwanda should be held responsible for backing Laurent Nkunda. He described Nkunda’s recent arrest as a sham, saying that in his Rwandan jail, Nkunda “is not fasting, but feasting!”

Ngoy is a Congolese MP, lawyer and pastor, and was a candidate in the presidential election in 2006. He was arrested on charges of insulting the head of state after he criticised Joseph Kabila in the lead-up to a constitutional referendum, but he later escaped and sought custody in the South African embassy. He was visiting Britain when President Kabila’s guards burnt down his home and Church, forcing him to seek political asylum here.

He spoke passionately about his belief that the old colonial powers still control much of the Congo’s resources, describing recent Congolese presidents as “guard dogs for the Europeans and Americans”. He argued that Nkunda was only arrested because he had begun to “embarrass” Kagame, and called on other nations to follow the lead of the Netherlands and Sweden in ending financial support for Rwanda. Ngoy’s current project is the establishment of a pressure group, ‘Congo for Justice’, which he hopes will raise awareness of the outside forces he sees as tearing his country apart.