Obama talking about democracy Kagame and other dictators sleeping.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power while addressing the Young African Leadership Initiative said that the endemic problem for Africa is democracy and conflict.  “The first challenge is to grow African democracy—to grow it wider, to grow it deeper.” She argued that democracy does not end in holding elections but accountability, rule of law and political tolerance with those you don’t share the same political views.

“Now democracy, as you all know, is about way more than just holding an occasional election. Democracy means government that respects the will and the rights of its people—like the right to speak one’s mind without fear; or the right to gather with others to share ideas. Democracy means building the capable, independent institutions that can help defend human rights when they are threatened—such as impartial courts, accountable police forces, and strong parliaments”

Kagame with his God Rick Warren

There is no doubt that President Kagame confuses democracy with development “Ese iterambere ry’ u Rwanda risobanuye iki ku gitutu gishyirwaho n’amahanga kuri politiki ya Perezida Kagame?   The Rwandan president has been running around the West and United States through his lobbyist empire like Pastor Rick Warren, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton deceiving the world that as long as Rwanda is developing, he should not be asked about human Rights and Democracy.  It is now certain that The Rwandan head of state is now seeking ways of extending his rule beyond 2017, which would require changing the constitution.

 

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Clinton,  Blair all we have to do is praise Kagame for stopping Genocide and how he has developed Rwanda in just 24 years then we get some of the aid money back.

I think at some point we need to leave countries and people to decide their own affairs,” Kagame told students and faculty staff after a speech at Tufts University near Boston, in the US. “Why I’m saying that is because I’m asked when and whether I plan to leave office – right from the start of my first political term in office. It is as if I am here just to leave. I’m here to do business on behalf of Rwandans.”

Kagame has not betrayed his predecessor’s instincts of greed and overstaying in power in the same mask of state sovereignty and the people deciding for their own fate. Indeed, He would hardly be the first African leader to have term limits removed:  His mentor in the neighbouring Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power since 1986, had limits removed in 2005 so that he could run for office in 2006.

As deceptive as Kagame has been in his political history, the Rwandan leader has toured many universities around the US to speak about Rwanda’s recovery from the genocide 20 years ago this month, in which 800,000 people were killed. He always preaches his gospel of blame game in order to stay in power by accusing European powers especially France that they played a role in triggering the mass slaughter, and that the international community failed to intervene to stop it. This is one of the Kagame’s tools of intimidation to the West and US who always demand accountability, democracy and human rights from the Rwandan dictator.

“What we learned is that people must be responsible for their own fate,” Kagame told the Tufts audience. “If you wait for outsiders you will just perish.”

Unfortunately Rwanda has not transformed under Kagame beyond what his predecessors did, in fact despite the writing off of foreign debt by international lenders in sympathy after genocide, Rwanda’s debt is now more than the previous government’s combined. Kagame’s predecessors started from the scratch building a new nation. In fact none of his predecessor owned a posh house. Kayibanda’s house is a small house on the Gitarama, Butare Road yet he built some of the government houses in Kiyovu which have been taken by Kagame or his immediate cronies.

President Habyarimana transformed Rwanda we know and see today. Most of the roads, the shining buildings including the magnificent Stadium Amahoro were built under his regime. Interestingly when RPF captured power some of the government buildings were auctioned in the so called private sector privatization and ended up in the hands of the RPF Crystal ventures business empire.

It is unfortunate and misleading for people like Pastor Rick Warren to say that Rwanda is developing. It is on record that Kagame masks development for gross violations of human rights. Rwanda was one of the first countries to test Warren’s PEACE Plan. The plan addresses five “global giant” problems – spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, and illiteracy and lack of education.’

On the contrary Rwanda has been the most repressive regime since RPF captured power in 1994, extra judicial killings, political prisoners, media suffocation, and freedom of assembly all under the leadership of Kagame.  The Rwandan economy is owned by Kagame and his cronies; it is not clear why pastor Rick Warren would turnish his good name by being indifferent or accomplice in the dirty games of president kagame. Pastor Rick Warren refers to the verse Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision, the people perish. You see, this is only the first part of the verse; here’s the rest, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he”. Does really Kagame keep the law?  Does he have vision?   Rwanda is under a dictatorship that controls all the aspects of the state that Kagame uses to ban or suppress peaceful assembly or kill his political opponents.

The Kagame regime disregards human rights not only for Rwandan Citizens but beyond its borders, the state uses its laws to control every part of life of its citizens, the security forces are personalized, and used to enforce the regime’s totalitarian policies. Therefore Kagame’s economic success is not only misleading but also unrealistic since all the wealth is owned by Kagame or his immediate cronies.  The yardstick for the economic success is measured  in policies  that  will keep continuity of what has been achieved,  the destruction of  property and human life we witnessed  in 1994 was a culmination of  what we’re seeing in the present regime of RPF and Kagame, history repeating itself is no longer if, but when.

Jacqueline Umurungi