By David Himbara
The Russian government news agency Sputnik is reporting that Rwanda and Russia are discussing supplies of Russian air defense systems and nuclear energy. Sputnik quotes the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as follows:
“We have good cooperation in the area of military technology. Rwandan security forces, army, police have our helicopters, cars… small arms. Now, we are discussing supplies of air defense systems.”
Regarding nuclear energy, Lavrov stated the following:
“We have various projects being implemented in particular areas, in some areas we will have to transform the agreements into concrete steps. Particularly, I mean the area of cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
The Russian air defense system is said to be highly sophisticated and layered with at least three capabilities for neutralizing enemy attacks:
- Destroying low-flying jets and missiles.
- Destroying high-flying targets.
- Destroying drones.
Regarding nuclear energy, presumably, Rwanda would work with Russia’s Rosenergoatom, the largest national generating company. Rosenergoatom operates all Russian nuclear power plants.
Kagame’s desire to acquire Russian air defense systems and nuclear energy does not make any sense — in fact, the whole thing sounds bizarre. Who would want to attack Kagame’s Rwanda with low-flying jets and missiles? Which country would attack Rwanda with high-flying targets? Who is seeking to attack Rwanda with drones? As for nuclear energy, I have no words. Rwanda has only 216 Megawatts of electricity. Kagame has failed to generate electricity from Rwanda’s renewable energy potential in hydro, solar, geothermal and wind. How does Kagame jump into nuclear energy if can’t build a simple hydropower plant?
