Yaache, who was part of the African UN peacekeepers deployed to Rwanda, recalled that when the UN Security Council voted to reduce the peacekeeping force to just 270 soldiers in 1994, both Gen. Roméo Dallaire and Ghanaian Gen. Henry Anyidoho opposed the decision, fearing the atrocities against the Tutsi. Despite the downsizing, some Ghanaian troops refused to withdraw and under Gen. Anyidoho's leadership, they remained to protect civilians.
During the 100 days of the genocide against the Tutsi, Ghanaian troops managed to rescue an estimated 30,000 people.
Speaking to the media in Kigali, Yaache strongly rejected the hero narrative surrounding Rusesabagina, popularised by the film Hotel Rwanda.
'I haven't watched the film, but I've heard many times, and to the effect that an individual was mainly responsible for rescuing people from the hotel. And the propaganda, I would call it, went far and near. I would say that the attitude and that statement are a fallacy. It's ingenious, it is very, very unhelpful, and it's not the truth,' Yaache said.
He stressed that it was UN peacekeepers, not hotel management, who were responsible for the safety of those sheltering at Mille Collines.
'The truth is, we had a shelter in the hotel. That's the truth. We had UNAMIR troops stationed in the hotel. That's the truth. And we had protection for the people who were there. It wasn't the management that provided protection. It was UNAMIR. The movement, the planning, the meetings, everything was done by the UN force, not an individual,' he emphasised.
Survivors and several former UNAMIR officers, including Maj. (Rtd) Peter Sosi, have also criticised the film for spreading falsehoods. Sosi recalled once telling an instructor in Ireland that the movie was 'riddled with inaccuracies' and should not be used as a teaching resource.
In reality, Rusesabagina only assumed management of the hotel on April 16, 1994 â€" nine days after the genocide began. Testimonies suggest he often exercised selective control over admissions, favouring those who could pay or those he knew, while disregarding instructions from Sabena Hotels, the Belgian company that owned Mille Collines, which had ordered that all refugees be sheltered free of charge.
Some survivors further accuse him of obstructing arrangements for refugees who sought safe passage abroad.
Yaache concluded that the protection and survival of those at the hotel were due to the sacrifice of Ghanaian peacekeepers and UNAMIR personnel, not one man.
IGIHE
