Blair and kagameOn the 18th/May/2013 His Excellency Paul Kagame is expected to address a regional and international audience on a range of issues as indicated on Said Business School Oxford University website. President Kagame will be addressing issues including African development, leadership and the potential of ICT as an enabler for Africa socioeconomic transformation.

President Paul Kagame is known to Rwandans as an autocratic leader who fails to tolerate the political opposition with a large number of opposition leaders in prison. Members of the local communities are silenced and no one is allowed to speak about politics unless and only if they are praising the ruling party Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF).

It is so embarrassing when I see some westerners talk about the development of Rwanda. Yes, I agree there is some development like building roads, some new houses in the heart of Kigali, Information Technology invested by Americans and some other but this leaves 80% of the population in poverty. Kagame pockets millions of dollars each and every year but his people cannot even afford to eat three meals per day.

The economy of the country is held within Kagame’s hands and a few of his government employees. This is very common in many African countries however the only difference to President Kagame’s system is that he managed to face lift the city of Kigali into an unsustainable business center that few can actually afford thus requiring him to solicit high profile individuals from the west who continue to sell his image to the whole world. An example is the ex-prime minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair who has been serving Kagame more than he even served his own country. President Kagame believes it is more important to convince the west then concentrating on his own citizens because they must accept what he says in his autocratic way.

Sometimes I wonder how Kagame is able to fool his western backers with the realities on the ground in Rwanda for 19 years; I can sort of understand because they do not care about the Rwandese anyway. If their own leader doesn’t care, as most of these western leaders only care about investments, trading and plan the future for themselves, like President Kagame said at some point, that even invading DRC was planned together with the west.

At his speech in May President Kagame will be addressing issues on development and business. Yet, who is he anyway and where did he gain such knowledge?

After leaving Rwanda to seek asylum in Uganda President Kagame’s family moved to the north of Rwanda and settled in the Nshungerezi refugee camp in 1962.

Kagame’s early years in primary school were spent with other Rwandan refugees in a school near the refugee camp where they learned English, Mathematics, Civics, History, Geography and Social Studies, he also began to integrate into Ugandan culture. At the age of nine he moved to the respected Rwengoro Primary School, around 16 kilometres (10 miles) away. He subsequently attended Ntare School.

our presidentThe death of Kagame’s father in the early 1970s, and the departure of friend Fred Rwigyema to an unknown location, led to a decline in his academic performance and an increased tendency to fight those who belittled the Rwandan population. He would become paranoid to any comment either negative or positive. He was eventually suspended from Ntare School and completed his studies without distinction at Old Kampala Secondary School. He spent a number of years commuting from Kampala to Nairobi as a money changer, dealing in deals such as changing Kenyan shillings to Uganda shillings as well as western money, this also contributed to poor performance. All of those deals he participated in Nshuti Manasseh, who served a number of years in Kagame’s government, was by his side.

After finishing his schooling Kagame made two visits to Rwanda, in 1977 and 1978. He was initially hosted by family members of Rwandan classmates in Uganda, but upon arrival in Kigali he made contact with members of his own family. He kept a low profile on these visits, believing that his status as a well connected Tutsi exile could lead to arrest. On his second visit he entered the country through Zaire rather than Uganda to avoid suspicion, In 1980 Kagame visited Fred Rwigema who was part of the soldiers who had captured Uganda and later went to the bush war to liberate Uganda in 1986.

As an intelligence officer who was trusted by both President Museveni and Fred Rwigema, Paul Kagame was sent on a number of intelligence trainings to such places as Cuba, Libya and the USA, where he was sent to train as the rest were at the front line.

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 When Rwanda was captured in 1994 Paul Kagame immediately enrolled in the Germany College studying Business administration through correspondence. I remember most nights I would drive to collect the bank governor of the time Dr. Rutaisire to assist President Kagame with his home work, and return the bank governor to his house early in the morning. I remember when we travelled to a graduation at the Butare University; President Kagame had no higher qualifications, so one of the students asked him what his standard of education was. Kagame was still a minister of defence and a vice president; he presented a grumpy face but managed to handle the situation by promising that he only needed one year to announce his standard of education. President Kagame has had a long way in every way, and now has got something to present in terms of business at Oxford University very surprising.

While in his entourage I used to be surprised especially with his behaviours; he would come up with advice on everything, something that caused the departure of many ministers from his government because they could not cope with his unknowing arrogance. I remember once he wanted to advise an engineer, after asking how that same task is done. Then he would go to the hospital where Kagame would want to advice the doctors on how care should be delivered. I remember when he visited the Kigali Central Hospital; he ordered that the name of the surgical ward should be changed because the name sounded too harsh in our mother tongue, (INZU YIMBAGWA) Kagame believed that it sounded as if it was a butcher.

After this long time of Kagame educating himself, it’s time for him to address the west like many dictators of Africa of the past. The difference from other dictators of Africa is that Paul Kagame is intolerant and dominant, capable of shedding blood, imprisoning at will, inflicting poison and he is able to convince the west with the help of his mercenaries that he is an educated diplomat. What sensible people in this country Rwanda struggle to understand is the same question, how such a leader is accepted in our society for this wrong? What causes President Kagame to behave this way?  Research indicates that some of the symptoms of ‘’Narcissistic personality disorder’’ first proposed by Heinz Kohut in 1968, best suits President Kagame’s behavioural problems.

Symptoms of this disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR include.

  • Reacting to criticism with anger, shame, or humiliation
  • Taking advantage of others to reach own goals
  • Exaggerating own importance, achievements, and talents
  • Imagining unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, power, intelligence, or romance
  • Requiring constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
  • Becoming jealous easily
  • Lacking empathy and disregarding the feelings of others
  • Being obsessed with self
  • Pursuing mainly selfish goals
  • Trouble keeping healthy relationships
  • Becoming easily hurt and rejected
  • Setting goals that are unrealistic
  • Wanting “the best” of everything
  • Appearing unemotional

In addition to these symptoms, the person may also display dominance, arrogance, show superiority, and seek power. The symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder can be similar to the traits of individuals with strong self-esteem and confidence; differentiation occurs when the underlying psychological structures of these traits are considered pathological. Narcissists have such an elevated sense of self-worth that they value themselves as inherently better than others. However, they have a fragile self-esteem and cannot handle criticism, and will often try to compensate for this inner fragility by belittling or disparaging others in an attempt to validate their own self-worth. It is this sadistic tendency that is characteristic of narcissism as opposed to other psychological conditions affecting level of self-worth.

Is this the kind of business man Oxford wants teaching it graduates of tomorrow?

President Kagame is married to Jeanette Nyiramongi their were blessed with four children, Ivan Cyomoro, Angel Kagame, Ian Kagame Ian, Brian and Angel behindand Brian Kagame.kagame kids Like their father the kids are struggling in school and none of them at the moment is officially qualified or graduated in higher education. One of them Ivan was under investigations for plagiarism which lead to absconding from the military academy. Kagame forced him into Harvard university but again the young man left school and declined to return.

Written Noble Marara

Edited by: Jennifer Fierberg