On this March 15, 2020, Pastor Gregg Schoof hold a press conference in Kampala and appealed to the president of Uganda Yoweri Museveni and Donald Trump the president of United States where he comes from, in order to seek their help in getting his belongings he left behind in Rwanda when he was deported from Rwanda last year. Before starting the press conference, Pastor schoof distributed the press statement to journalists who were present, and we decided to publish it in its integrity here below:
History in Rwanda: We first went to Rwanda in 2003 as missionaries. Immediately we started Cornerstone Baptist Church which continued until 2018. We started Amazing Grace Christian Radio in 2009 which continued until 2018 also.
Thank you all for coming today. I will try to be fast and to the point about what has happened to me in Rwanda. If you don’t know, I am the pastor that was arrested and deported from Rwanda last year.
Since then, I have not spoken out at all. I have been simply trying to get resettled here. But once again, Rwanda has pushed me to have a press conference.
I would like to speak directly to President Kagame today through all of you. I have 4 simple points to discuss today.
So, President Kagame:
1. I came to Rwanda as a missionary to preach the Gospel. To preach holiness, righteousness, and truth. To preach that all people must repent and turn to Jesus. That is all. Also, I hope you got the Bible I sent to you in 2003 with your name printed in gold on the cover.
So, I hope you know that I did not get involved in politics in Rwanda. I never criticized you. I never criticized the RPF. If you are president for the rest of your life – I don’t care. I came to preach – not to do politics.
Also, I will not judge you for this situation – maybe you just don’t know what is going on. Maybe your people are just telling you lies. But I do ask you to step in and fix these problems that your people have caused.
- On October 7, 2019, The Rwanda Investigation Bureau, RIB, arrested me for no reason – except to stop freedom of the press. I rented a room to hold a press conference. But your police showed up early and forced the doors to be locked. Police stopped journalists from entering the building. Then they arrested my son and I for holding an unapproved outdoor meeting. On purpose, your police shut down freedom of speech in Rwanda! You complain that people criticize Rwanda for human rights violations. Well, maybe you are not aware, but the police are violating people’s rights in Rwanda. Those police ignored the constitution of Rwanda. If you want to fix this, then you should fire all of the leaders at RIB – and maybe even arrest them for their abuse of power. Also, I ask you to clear my name. I did nothing wrong. Please investigate and tell me what law I broke. You will only find that RIB wanted to muzzle the voice of journalists.
- Power of Attorney. Your people are stopping me from appointing a representative to handle my business in Kigali. Power of Attorney is the most basic, simple, legal procedure that ALL countries allow – except for Rwanda. Why? Why is Rwanda stopping me from appointing a man to handle my business in Kigali? Why?
- So, how do I get my things with no one to represent me? President Kagame, I need my clothes. My children need their school books and they want their toys. My wife wants her pots and pans and kitchen things. It is a shame I had to call a press conference just to ask for my things.
President Kagame, your people started this problem. They trampled on the constitution of Rwanda. Today, I am not asking you to follow American law. The Rwandan constitution is actually pretty good. Could you please force your people to follow the law?
Again, I don’t condemn you because you may not know what is going on. But now you do.
The Editorial