kevin Njitimana

Proud Christian and Political Scientist

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@MrCharlesky Yes I can

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@KonstantinKisin @christopherrufo This is a solid argument and a good take. Saying that "Israel has a right to exist" is not working and will never work.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@VeeKativhu Congrats 🔥

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@ScholarshipfPhd Hi

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@ChinasaTOkolo Congratulations Dr 👏.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@ThePhDPlace That's not a bad idea!

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@amutambara It was indeed a success event. It was incredibly informative. Cannot wait for the next book.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@amutambara Fantastic. Cannot wait for this day.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

Couldn't agree more.

[African School of Governance (ASG) @ASG_Africa]

"In Africa, the focus is often on politics, not governance. While related, they are not the same. Politics is about gaining power; governance is about using it well." - Professor @MoghaluKingsley

Do you agree?

[Future Stacked @FutureStacked]

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[Prof. Paul Mavima @ProfPMavima]

Fellow Zimbabweans, don't miss out on the insightful discussions from the first session of the Global AI Summit on Africa! Catch up by clicking the link below and let's collectively embrace lifelong learning, driving our nation's competitiveness in the 4th Industrial Revolution #GAISAfrica2025 #AIForAfrica #LifelongLearning

Watch it here: https://t.co/3aVeWaWhso via @YouTube

🗓: 3–4 April 2025
📍: Kigali, Rwanda

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@ProfPMavima Thank you Professor. Will be tuning in to listen and learn. As someone passionate about AI governance in Africa, this will be an insightful summit.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@zimbabweyauya Indeed that's true. Zimbabwe has remarkable talent and is truly blessed. One day all of thy talent will be used to build our beautiful nation to greater heights.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@AdewuyiRoseline Congratulations Dr Ade 👏

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

Excellent analysis as always.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

I'm seeing many terrible takes on Le Pen by people who obviously don't know the first thing about what happened, so here's a summary that's as neutral as I could make it.

Consider reading it first before arguing one way or another.

After a legal saga that dragged on since 2015, a French court finally delivered its verdict in what's known as the "European Parliament Assistants Case" against Marine Le Pen and her Rassemblement National colleagues.

They found Le Pen guilty of misappropriation of public funds and handed her what can only be described as a political death sentence: 4 years prison (2 years suspended, 2 years at home under electronic monitoring), a €100,000 fine, and most devastatingly, 5 years of ineligibility for public office with immediate execution.

That last part is absolutely crucial because it means she can't run for president in 2027, appeal or no appeal.

The whole case centers on the fact that between 2004 and 2016, FN members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were using their EU parliamentary assistant allowances to pay people who were actually working for the party rather than on EU business.

At the European parliament, each MEP gets around €23,392 monthly to hire assistants, and the FN/RN created a system to funnel that money into party operations, which is illegal.

Tellingly, many of these "assistants" were on both the European Parliament payroll AND the party's organizational chart, and some never even met the MEPs they supposedly worked for.

The court determined the amount diverted totaled €2.9 million.

The investigation began all the way back in 2015 when European Parliament president Martin Schulz referred the matter to the European Anti-Fraud Office after noticing that 20 of the 24 FN parliamentary assistants appeared on the party's organizational chart.

The French justice system opened their formal investigation in 2016, and the case involved 27 defendants - nine former FN/RN MEPs including Le Pen herself, twelve parliamentary assistants, four other FN/RN officials, and the party itself as a legal entity.

Le Pen wasn't the only one who got convicted. The Rassemblement National party itself got hit with a €2 million fine. Eight other former MEPs were all convicted, alongside twelve parliamentary assistants and three RN officials.

The prosecution's case was pretty straightforward: the party created a systematic scheme to divest EU funds for party benefit. They had mountains of evidence showing assistants working primarily or exclusively for the party while being paid by the European Parliament.

The operation wasn't just a one-off - it was a years-long scheme that was centrally managed by the party leadership.

On the defense side, they insist all assistants performed "real work" (which is true, just not the work they were paid for, which is the whole point), claim political persecution and argue there was no personal enrichment (which is correct).

They also compare the way they're treated to that of the MoDem party—the party of current Prime Minister François Bayrou—which faced similar charges. They argue their case demonstrates a double standard in French justice, since MoDem officials received much lighter sentences for similar offenses.

This is somewhat correct given that members of both parties were found guilty of essentially the same crime—using European Parliament funds to pay for party work.

However, the scale and nature of the operations were quite different. The RN operation involved €2.9 million compared to MoDem's €204,000. The RN maintained their system for 12 years across 46 contracts, while MoDem's operation lasted for a shorter period with 10 contracts. Perhaps most importantly, MoDem officials stopped the practice voluntarily without legal intervention, while the RN only ceased when the European Parliament started investigating.

Still, the stark difference in sentencing, particularly regarding immediate ineligibility, has become a big controversy, with many questioning whether the punishment truly fits the crime or reflects political considerations about keeping Le Pen out of the 2027 presidential race.

Because that's what the sentence means: Le Pen can't run for office during 5 years, which blocks her from the 2027 presidential election unless her appeal succeeds - and French appeals can take years.

Worth mentioning, according to French law, for the offense of misappropriation of public funds, ineligibility is actually mandatory. Judges only have discretion to make exceptions with a specially motivated decision.

However, whether to make that ineligibility immediately enforceable during appeals is a separate decision, and judges have complete discretion on this. This is the truly controversial part, the judges in Le Pen's case could have decided to not apply the ineligibility immediately and wait for the appeal process to conclude before enforcing it.

The timing of this verdict, coming after Le Pen's strong showing in recent elections and just two years before a presidential contest she was widely favored to win, inevitably raises questions about political motivation.

Yet we shouldn't ignore the substance either: a systematic scheme to divert public funds did occur. The French justice system has determined that such actions render someone unfit for public office, at least temporarily.

Whether voters would have reached the same conclusion if Le Pen had been allowed to run in 2027 is a question we'll probably never get an answer for—and therein lies perhaps the most profound controversy of all.

At heart this case is a question of who's sovereign in France: judges interpreting laws, or voters who may be willing to overlook certain transgressions.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@BMutebuka Excellent analysis as always. This is just the beginning of a gruesome political contest.

[Kingsley Moghalu OON @MoghaluKingsley]

The China-Africa relationship is complicated by the fact that a few African countries have reaped concrete benefits, but for most it’s the usual old game in which African countries owe China far more than the latter has invested in them, and there is a $70 billion deficit in favour of China from its $300 billion trade with the continent. African leaders need to realize that no relationships with foreign powers can fix the lack of internal governance in most of our countries. That’s a job for Africans, not the Chinese, the Russians or the Americans.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@MoghaluKingsley @BBCAfrica Looking forward to the highly insightful interview.

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

This is an interesting discussion to have.

[Kingsley Moghalu OON @MoghaluKingsley]

Is Africa’s essential liberation first economic, political, societal, or mental?

[kevin Njitimana @kevinnjitz]

@patrickbetdavid @realDonaldTrump What a great interview it was. Have always wanted Trump to be on the PBD Podcast. It was worth it.