PRESS RELEASE
Opening the 15th leadership retreat (umwiherero) on the 26th of February
2018, for around 300 senior officials at the Rwanda Defence Combat
Training Centre in Gabiro, President Paul Kagame lambasted mayors and
Ministers for the unending famine in Rwanda, child malnutrition,
sycophancy, very poor hygiene in rural areas, children not attending
school, nepotism, cover up, for example putting in place roads and other
necessities right before he visits an area. His Prime Minister Ngirente
reported that only eight (8) out of 52 targets in the country’s Vision
2020, which account for 15%, have been achieved. Yet the credentials
presented by the ruling party RPF to the people for the change of the
Constitution to allow President Kagame to stand again was that “you
cannot change a manager of a team when it is winning”. A score of 15% is
a dismal failure for a manager to keep his job.
Many donors, when criticised for double standards in criticising other
African countries, including neighbours Burundi and the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the excuse was the trade-off of good delivery of
services to the people. Indeed, a journalist of New York Times, Jeffrey
Gettleman quoted a diplomat in Kigali who spoke on condition of
anonymity pointing out: <<Yes, Kagame is “utterly ruthless”>>, but there
is a mutual interest in supporting him, because he was proving that aid
to Africa was not a hopeless waste and that poor and broken countries
could be fixed with the right leadership. “We needed a success story,
and he was it.” Therefore, the revelation of 15% success is a huge
embarrassment to donors and disturbing reality for their electorate.
Education: there is high enrolment in primary schools but large dropout
and poor quality in the secondary school and University. According to
(DFID), which has put considerable resources into Rwanda’s education:
“To achieve near-universal primary enrolment but with a large majority
of pupils failing to attain basic levels of literacy or numeracy is not,
in our view, a successful development result. It represents poor value
for money…”. The key issues are abject poverty and bad planning. Parents
are unable to find money to buy school uniform, schools materials and
children don’t go to school because they have nothing to eat. There are
reports by local newspapers that some young kids get employed to chase
birds in rice farms or to work in local mines to get money to buy food.
Even though primary education is said to be free, compulsory money paid
to teachers as incentives because they are very poorly. They are out of
reach of many parents.
Food security: a study by Dr Neil Dawson of East Anglia University shows
that government agricultural policies have hurt the poorest of the poor.
And according to Borgen Project 44% of Rwandan children suffer from
stunting. This means that they are unable to grow to their full
potential because of a lack of adequate nutrition. World Food Programme
food security report 2015, there are more stunted children due to
malnutrition than 10 years earlier. This makes them a lost generation.
This is one of the outcomes of a poor agricultural policy of the current
government.
The World Bank report of the year 1989 before the RPF invasion of Rwanda
gives a different picture:
Rwanda; is among a handful of countries that has increased agricultural
production faster that the population. It has done so without the
inequities that have sometimes accompanied development elsewhere or the
abundance of land of Cote d’Ivoire and so far, largely without chemical
inputs or improved varieties. Food production in Rwanda grew at 4.7 %
while the population grew 3,4% between 1975 to 1982. Rwanda has avoided
urban bias so common in Africa. Government remained attentive to the
farming majority in determining price policy, exchange rate policy,
fiscal priorities, and effective rural institutions. Within the enabling
environment output grew largely because of spontaneous changes
undertaken by farmers”. Under the RPF regime the farmer has been
disempowered and only must obey orders from above. Besides the land
policy has profited the rich and those close to the seat of power and
left poor peasants landless.
Poor hygiene: President Kagame was shocked that people have jiggers in
their toes, or sleep in the same house with livestock. The problem had
disappeared before the RPF took power. This is a result of abject
poverty, lack of water and other necessities to keep clean. It was also
due to poor housing because the local authorities implemented the
government policy of improving the quality of housing by destroying
existing poor houses without giving them the means to build better
houses. They end up building makeshift accommodation worse those which
were destroyed or live in congested houses with neighbours.
Social capital: The social capital which manifests itself in trust,
reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social
relationships is glue that holds a society together. The World Bank
considers social cohesion to be a is critical for societies to prosper
economically and for development to be sustainable.
This capital has been depleted because Rwanda has become a police state
where no one trusted another for fear of being reported to security
agents .
President Kagame vented his anger for these failures on mayors. He
threatened to detain them in the conference hall of the military
barracks for as long as they have not provided the answer. To avoid a
prolonged detention, each in turn confessed their sins and promised to
work harder and better to resolve those problems. Their penance would
consist of spending more time with the people and less in offices. The
concern however is that the traumatized officials are likely to squeeze
the ordinary people harder to get results for the President. They could
not dare give the right answer and it was even harder for the President
to admit that the real problem lies in bad policies in agriculture,
education, disempowerment of the population and locking up critical
voices. The President could not notice that the cover up by officials is
due to extreme fear like a child who lies too much for fear of ill
treatment when he/she tells the truth.
In September 2012, Mr. Sibomana, Secretary General of the FDU-Inkingi
was arrested in a bar in Rutsiro district charged with inciting
insurrection because he was heard criticising the education policy. He
is served a 6-year sentence. Ms Agnès Uwimana Nkusi was arrested in July
2010 and served a four-year sentence on charges including “harming state
security” following articles critical of President Paul Kagame. Her
colleague, Ms Mukakibibi Saidate was also jailed for her articles
critical of government policies including the agricultural policy. Ms
Diane Rwigara, presidential hopeful in 2017 elections has been locked up
because she challenged the regime over its poor policies including
poverty, mass hunger and lack of freedom of expression.
The admissions should demonstrate to the government and its financial
and political backers that “a society without room for critical voices
to speak freely and peacefully is unsustainable”. We therefore call
upon the countries and institutions that bank roll the repressive
Rwandan regime to rein on President Kagame to open the political spaces
allow freedom of expression and release those detained for criticising
his policies.
The international donors are taking a great risk and responsibility by
reinforcing a system that carries within itself seeds of
self-destruction.
Done in London on March 8, 2018
Justin Bahunga
Chair
Diplomacy Commission – P5-Platform
Phone: +44-7988-883-576