By Ben Barugahare
President Donald J. Trump Spoke at Working Lunch with African United Nations Leaders, where he praised the Growth of their Nations and spoke about their Future expansions….. This happened at the Spellman Room Lotte New York Palace Hotel.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda was not among those african leaders, for many analysts this is the beginning of a new era, the honeymoon between Kigali and Washington is over in what looked like a total humiliation for the strong man of Kigali.
The former rebel became President with the help of Washington, he was very present during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, he was even shown as a good example of development and good governance.
The Rwandan president was completely ignored by President Trump who had just delivered a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations, that episode may have passed unnoticed elsewhere in the world, but inside the Rwandan community Kagame’s video images trying to salute Trump without success have been viewed thousands of times on youtube.
What could have pushed the Trump administration to end this honeymoon? Is Kagame’s 99% score in the last presidential elections in Rwanda after the change of the constitution? Has Kagame became a victim of his relationship with the Clintons? It will not be a big surprise to see Nikki Randhawa Haley not defending Kagame in the UN security council as Samantha Power and Susan Rice did in the past.
