The Rwandan Dictatorship and all its forms of Corruption

Wikipedia defines corruption as a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit. In her book, Political Corruption in Ireland, Dr. Elaine Byrne lists the following types of corruption: Systemic, Sporadic, Political, Grand, Petty, Legal and Moral corruption; All of which are business as usual in today’s Rwanda under dictator Paul Kagame and his cabal.

For the last few weeks, I have been following what local and online newswires as well as radio stations have been reporting on the issue of corruption in Rwanda and came to the realization that Kagame’s dictatorial administration functions solely on corruption in all its various forms.

Besides what you will hear in the above audio links from radio stations, and what is happening in Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, Agriculture etc., I want to bring to your attention recent messages detailing the predicaments of two innocent Rwandans who messaged Paul Kagame hoping for assistance. The first, is a message from a Rwandan investor:

This bag Your Excellency, contains peanut powder sold openly in supermarkets in Kigali, clearly labeled “OXO biodegradable” in both french and English. WRP(Willow Ridge) technology, tested and used in many countries especially in food and drinks packaging was rejected. We had already held talks with Inyange and Bularirwa how we could provide better packaging to for their products, we wanted to partner with local manufacturers to produce responsible packaging alternative for Rwanda industries, create employment for Rwandans and add value to Rwandan export products.We had planned to set up a plant at the Idustrial free zone, paid a deposit of $25,000 in 2014, which we have been asking to be refunded, for nearly a year, MINICOM has been tossing us from one office, asking for endless proofs, until the actual owner of the funds, came in person met the new DG Minicom who shiftly asked for refund of the $25,000, ever since either a letter from Ps’s office, the one to sign for payment is on holiday in Canada etc, now a few days ago, we were told this money can’t be released because the money has been put on the national treasury A/C and cannot be retrieved. Your Excellency Mr. President we are frustrated and this the reason Your Excellency we’re appealing for your help, it has been so expensive, frustrating to pursue this venture in Rwanda with no success. Your Excellency, you’re our last hope.

Days later, when Paul Kagame was not answering, the investor sent another message:

 
Proof of USD 25000 wire transfer

My apology Your Excellence for the delay, this’s the copy of the transaction. The money was paid as a deposit on a facility at the industrial park in Masaka, but as it became apparent that MINIRENA and REMA, had no concrete answer to our proposal we requested the refund of this money to the Investor, since august 2016, we’ve been sent from one office to another, produced every proof they asked for, in december, 2016, the investor himself came and met officials at MINICOM in particular the new DG, who who helped to facilitate the process, we were the sent to the department that is in charge of managing funds from from the industrial free zone, where spent close to an hour explaining to the manager who finally promised that everything was in order and the money was going to be transferred in within three days. after a week after the investor left for China, I called this office to hear how far they have come with the transfer of the money, her I was told to go back to MINICOM with a latter requesting for payment of the money, I did this same day, delivered the latter to the PS’s office, it was stamped gave a copy of the same to the DG’s office where I was assured nothing more is required of us. It was time for me to travel back to Denmark believing the money was on the way to the owner, things went quiet again, from Denmark I called the just before end of December, I was told the official to release the money was on holiday in Canada, and be back on the 14/01/2017! so waited and this week on Tuesday, I called to if the gentleman had come back from his holiday in Canada, this time I was advised to contact the national treasury, because that amount was put on an account that is locked and the money can not be retrieved by anyone. Your Excellence, this is our predicament, what else can we du MR. President? this why I had to bring this out to Your Excellence, Your Excellence I followed Your speech during the recent RPF convention decrying the unnecessary delay in service delivery taking place in public offices, this your Excellence precisely what we have been through, in our en effort to invest in Rwanda. Finally your Excellence, The latter I wrote to MINIRENA and CC. to among others, REMA, RSB, MINICOM, RDB the copy of which I have put on your Excellence’s twitter, op to now none of these agencies has responded, this’s something that not normal in my view, your Excellence. I thank you for Your Kind attention MR. President.

And yet Kagame’s officials will zealously claim that there is no corruption in Rwanda!

The above messages from the swindled investor to Kagame are about a $25000 US dollars claim. However, the cases in this article, this other article, as well as this one, are about a much more important amount of money. Which begs the question, where did all this money go?

This brings us to the other Rwandan looking to Paul Kagame to get out of a dire situation created by Kagame’s corrupt regime. The government had given her permission to renovate a house after she fulfilled all the necessary requirements. But when she was almost done, her house was immediately demolished without warning and no reason given at all. She spent the last year being moved from government office to government office trying to look for an explanation or closure.

Completely broke, fed up, buried in debt and banks breathing down her neck, she took the State to court. But the Rwandan judicial system is what facilitates that corruption in both the Legislature and Executive. A State Lawyer by the name Claire Kayiranga threatened her that even if she wins, the State would keep appealing until she gave up. The poor lady, who started with an enterprising spirit and a dream she was determined to see through hard work, thanks to the horrendous corruption and thuggery of the Kagame regime.

 
Pictures of the house she built and was renovating, right before the renovation was almost done, and after the government reduced the house to a rubble

And that is just a sample of how personal the level of corruption in Rwanda has become. Affecting all lives whilst the culprits benefiting from this continue to do so with impunity. Many more lives are being destroyed by the same people who should serve Rwandans. These government crooks are all appointed by, and accountable only to Paul Kagame.

Appointing a select group of crooks into government institutions and not dismissing them when it turns out that they are inflicting suffering to the people they are supposed to serve, is a gross abuse of power, a form of corruption and an indicator that these scammers are in collusion with the very person who appointed them. We all know who nominates every government official in Rwanda…

Kagame’s dictatorial administration repeatedly claims to have eradicated corruption and yet obstructs all avenues of proving this “extraordinary” claim by censoring and muzzling the media, and abolishing little that is left of Freedom of Expression in Rwanda. Whoever dares to say that Kagame and his clique reek of corruption, is accused of inciting revolt by “spreading rumours and tarnishing the image of the country and government.”

Calling out corruption, is treasonous in Paul Kagame’s Rwanda.

Rwanda Briefing