By David Himbara
In 2018, Rwanda’s strongman General Paul Kagame traveled to 34 countries on 5 continents — Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America. By comparison, President Barack Obama made 52 international trips during his entire presidency of 8 years. It is debatable what the people of Rwanda gain from the Kagame trips. One thing is for sure. Kagame charters the Gulfstream executive jet in which he travels from Crystal Ventures Ltd — a company owned by Kagame’s ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic From (RPF). Aircharterserviceusa.com indicates that chartering a Gulfstream for 14 hours costs US$14,000. Each time Kagame jets out of Rwanda, Crystal Ventures laughs all the way to the bank. Here are Kagame’s visits for 2018.
- December 19 , 2018— Cote d’Ivoire.
- December 18 — Austria.
- December 9 — Jordan.
- December 8 — Egypt.
- December 2 — South Africa.
- December 1 — Argentina.
- November 17 — Ethiopia.
- November 14 — Qatar.
- November 11 — France.
- October 30 — Germany.
- October 11 — Armenia.
- October 7 — United Kingdom.
- September 26 — United States.
- September 4 — China.
- August 17 — Namibia.
- July 27 — South Africa.
- July 5 — Djibouti.
- June 30 — Mauritania.
- June 21 — Ghana.
- June 14 — Russia.
- June 10 — Canada.
- June 4 — Belgium.
- May 26 — Ethiopia.
- May 23 — France.
- May 21 — Switzerland.
- April 29 — Congo (Brazzaville).
- April 24 — United States
- April 18 — United Kingdom.
- March 25 — Uganda.
- March 11 — India.
- February 18 — Germany.
- January 30 — Ethiopia.
- January 25 — Switzerland.
- January 14 — Tanzania.
