PRESS RELEASE
In his speech at the retreat of his regime’s officials, called “OPENS NATIONAL LEADERSHIP RETREAT -GABIRO ,” President Kagame clearly expressed his bitterness about his ministers’ incompetence. He did not hesitate to denounce widespread corruption including in the judiciary. He called out his ministers, accusing them of being a bunch of incompetents, often giving him falsified statistics about the performance of their ministries. Yet it is often these fake statistics that are picked up by the lobbies and the sponsors of the Kigali regime to justify their support to the authoritarian regime. While President Kagame should be commended for accepting the failure of his ministers and admitting fake statistics about the country’s economic successes as well as rightly worrying about the sustainability of the Rwandan economy, he should stand out and be counted for accepting personal failure within the spirit of collective responsibility. He is personally responsible for hiring and dismissing Ministers and cannot wash his hands off them so lightly.
After 20 years of iron fist rule, he should draw the consequences thereof and call it a day to allow the citizens to be presented with alternative policies. Specifically he should avoid manipulating the constitution to seek re-election in 2017. He must accept opening the political space for other parties to propose alternative political programs to the Rwandan people. He should release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. It is crystal clear that the key problem is systemic and structural failures of the RPF regime and therefore recycling of the regime leadership will not solve the problem. The generalized impunity, corruption, the muzzling of political parties, the lack of freedom of speech and public participation in decision making as well as nepotism will persist as long as there will be no change in the country’s governance. Habits die hard and 20 years is such a long time in politics. Those who profit from such a system are already drumming up a campaign to have their benefactor re-elected for another 7 years as President. The direct consequence of the systemic failure on the economy has been that the economy benefits a tiny urban minority. Speculative trading, profiteering, have resulted in the singular development found in the capital city Kigali that is presented as the showcase of economic dynamism of the country but hides abject poverty in the rural and suburban areas.
FDU-Inkingi is determined to reverse this dangerous trend by putting in place policies that aims to unlock each citizen’s potential through genuine national reconciliation, equal opportunity and the rule of law, political participation hence ending economic and political exclusion that have been the root causes of political violence in Rwanda. Our party is ready to bring about in-depth political change and to put in place political institutions that reassure everyone. However this requires an end change to the existing political system characterized by totalitarianism, exclusion and profiteering. FDU-Inkingi want to promote, within each and every Rwandan, a person responsible for his/her individual destiny and for his/her countrymen’s future bright.
Done at Brussels March 3, 2015.
Charles Ndereyehe
Commissioner for Information to FDU-Inkingi.
