The dictator Kagame at UN

The dictator Kagame at UN
Dictators like Kagame who have changed their national constitutions to remain indefinitely on power should not be involved in UN high level and global activities including chairing UN meetings

Why has the UN ignored its own report about the massacres of Hutu refugees in DRC ?

The UN has ignored its own reports, NGOs and media reports about the massacres of hundreds of thousands of Hutu in DRC Congo (estimated to be more than 400,000) by Kagame when he attacked Hutu refugee camps in Eastern DRC in 1996. This barbaric killings and human rights violations were perpetrated by Kagame’s RPF with the approval of UK and USA and with sympathetic understanding and knowledge of UNHCR and international NGOs which were operating in the refugees camps. According to the UN, NGO and media reports between 1993 and 2003 women and girls were raped. Men slaughtered. Refugees killed with machetes and sticks. The attacks of refugees also prevented humanitarian organisations to help many other refugees and were forced to die from cholera and other diseases. Other refugees who tried to return to Rwanda where killed on their way by RFI and did not reach their homes. No media, no UNHCR, no NGO were there to witness these massacres. When Kagame plans to kill, he makes sure no NGO and no media are prevent. Kagame always kills at night.

13 Apr 2013

Rwanda: A deprived youth, despite the country’s economic growth - Jambonews, news about the African Great Lakes (Rwanda, Burundi, DRC (Congo), Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania)


 

Rwanda: A deprived youth, despite the country's economic growth

 
Apr 13th, 2013 | By  | Category: Top news

According to the National Youth Policy of Rwanda, 67% of the country's population is under the age of 25 years. Unfortunately, the youth in Rwanda faces many challenges that prevent them from benefiting from their country's progressing economy. Unexpectedly, some of these challenges are a result of the policies implemented in the country's pursuit of economic growth. 

Education challenge

Rwanda kids in classroom

Rwanda kids in classroom

The lack of quality education is one of the challenges faced by pupils in primary schools in Rwanda and this is linked to the country's budget constraints. Rwanda is a poor country which does not have the financial means to rapidly build sufficient education infrastructures. It lacks funds to train enough teachers and thereby guarantee quality education for all primary school pupils. The country already spends 4.8% of its GDP on education out of which 45.3% is allocated to primary education[1]. Despite such financial commitment, Rwanda still has a high but steadily decreasing pupil to teacher and class ratios estimated at 58 and 81 respectively[2].

Furthermore, this lack of quality education is also a consequence of neglecting to sustain primary education in the country. A reportpublished in May 2012 by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact assessing the UK Department for International Development's education programmes in three East African countries including Rwanda pointed out that " there is no major study carried out by the ministries of education on teacher attendance or teaching time within school day as part of the core management of the education system." The same report also discovered "a relative neglect of other aspects of teacher workforce management such as recruitment, retention and school leadership." The concerns of teachers regarding the quality of education in primary schools in Rwanda, have previously been pointed out by Volunteer Overcoming Poverty (VSO) in its 2003 report titled "Seen but not heard" and also during a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programmebroadcasted in 2011 that featured interviews with teachers from Rwanda.  Teachers' anxieties affecting their morale towards providing quality education include delayed and low salary payment, lack of tools to improve their professional performance, unsupportive management, and a perception that teachers in Rwanda are not appropriately valued in the society.

Due to the lack of quality education in primary schools, only half of the primary pupils in Rwanda meet curricular expectations in reading in their mother tongue while the majority does not meet curricular expectations in numeracy[3]. According to Rwandan Ministry of Education statistics, in 2011 there were 2,341,146 students enrolled in primary schools, accounting for almost 20% of the country's population. However, due to low quality in education even in the case where these students manage to complete their primary school education, their literacy and numeracy levels could generally be well below expectations.

Another challenge facing young people in Rwanda is that a great majority of them is not able to complete primary or secondary school. This is happening despite the government's efforts to make it possible for all children in the country to attend school by abolishing fees for primary and lower secondary studies. Such valuable policy has led to an increase in enrolment rate in primary schools. However, "half of the children who make it to primary school in Rwanda drop out before the end of primary school life cycle" says a recent global report by UNESCO published in 2012. The reasons of dropping out can be associated mainly with poverty, low quality education, and cultural perception towards girls. Enrolments in lower secondary school also remain low. The country's Ministry of Education estimated the drop out rate in secondary schools at 7.4% in 2010. When that rate is aggregated to that of the children who drop out at primary school level, the number of young people who are still deprived from education at the end of each education life cycle becomes worryingly high.

Since many children from the poorer families are the most likely to drop out of schools, inequality in education remains a challenge to the overall Human Development Index (HDI) of the country. The most recent HDI report of 2013 indicates that Rwanda looses 29.4% of its HDI as a result of inequality in education. One can only hope that the new approach of dispensing aid through transferring cash and grant directly to the poorest in Rwanda, as recently announced by the UK DFID minister[4], will help children from the poorest families in the country to attend school and subsequently help in reducing Rwanda's inequality in education. Furthermore, Rwanda's supportive aim to achieve 12 years of free education for all within seven years[5] could also contribute towards reducing inequality in education within the country.

Nonetheless, other challenges deterring young people from attending secondary school despite being given the opportunity still linger.

Policy challenge

Building a house

Building a house

One of the most poignant reasons that many young people in the rural areas of Rwanda do not attend or drop out of secondary schools is linked to the policies implemented to bring about economic growth in the country. This fact is explained in details by Marc Sommers, an internationally recognized youth expert.

In his research conducted on Rwandan youth published in 2012, Sommers explains that the Rwandan culture stipulates that for the youth to be recognised as adult men and women they ought to be married. In order to marry, a young man has to build a decent house first.  In the Rwandan rural area, such a house has to be roofed with tiles because roof tiles are easy to accumulate and have become the most preferable roofing option rather than expensive iron sheets that do not last long. Additionally, roofing a house with banana leaves is out of the question since it is viewed as a disgrace within the Rwandan society.

Sommers' study asserts that prior to the Rwanda's government policy that forbids cutting trees for environment purposes in 2005, roof tiles were cheaper for male youths to procure and thus faster to build a house. This is because roof tiles were hardened by firewood making its supply abundant.  After the policy was introduced, the supply of roof tiles declined while the demand remained high. Subsequently, the price of roof tiles soared and it is now difficult for male youths in the rural areas of Rwanda to build a house.  "The new method employed peat to fire tile ovens is unfamiliar and requires machinery and technical training which in order to secure, permission must be obtained from a national government in the city capital", reads the research.

The research also points out that the housing policy mandating that all new houses be built in the villages referred as imidugudu affects young people. The policy was introduced among other reasons to manage land efficiently and increase agricultural production in the country. However, it imposes that large standard dimension houses be built, implying that male youths need to procure more roof tiles. However, considering that the price of roof tiles has significantly soared, young men cannot afford to build a large house in the new villages.

Partly due to the aforementioned policies, many young people in the rural areas do not attend or drop out of secondary schools in order to look for work. Young people prefer working rather than studying so they can start earning and saving towards buying enough roof tiles for their houses and marry, subsequently become adults within the Rwandan cultural society. However, finding employment will be another challenge for the Rwanda's youth to overcome.

Unemployment challenge

Youth unemployment in Rwanda

Youth unemployment in Rwanda

Regardless of their education level and where they reside throughout the country, young people in Rwanda are facing a similar problem: unemployment.  The 2010 Rwanda's Youth Statistical indicator states that youth unemployment in the country increased from 10.5% in 2000 to 28.9% in 2005. Moreover, according to the National Youth Policy, 42 % of whose age is between 14 and 35 years are either unemployed or working on seasonal small scale agriculture. While youth unemployment is a common issue to all African countries and beyond, the bottom line is that the economic growth that Rwanda has been achieving has not led to sufficient employment creation.  Areport by the Institute of policy Analysis and Research published in 2011 suggests that "for the last two years in a row, Rwanda has ranked as one of the top reformers in the World Bank's doing business indicators but ranked low on the UNIDO CIP indicator which shows the level to which growth has translated into economic transformation and subsequent employment creation." The employment to population ratio that indicates the ability of an economy to create jobs for adults seeking employments moved from 86.7 in 2005/06 to 84.2 in 2010/11. The report explains that any ratio above 80% implies that there is an abundance of low quality jobs and a need to work in order to survive. This is the case with Rwanda's fast growing economy. Farming remains the most likely and lowest paid job available for the majority of young people living in the rural areas.

The causes of youth unemployment in Rwanda also include the fact that young people, particularly those living in urban areas, do not have the skills required by potential recruiters. In addition, entrepreneurial skills are still low among the youth and entrepreneurship based on hawking in the streets is also restricted in the city capital, Kigali. Young people with such entrepreneurial venture have to a) seek a permit to sell their goods from the authorities; once the permit is granted they will be b) allocated a place in the city where to c) run their businesses. However, obtaining a permit requires money and connections, which the poor youths who emigrated from the rural area do not have. As a result, they are refrained from potential employment opportunities. This means that dropping out of school and searching for a job in order to buy enough tiles for houses is not enough. One will still have to migrate while not having any guarantee of securing employment in the city. In a specialreport compiled by Marc Sommer and Peter Uvirn published in 2011, it is stated that "Rwandan youth in villages and in Kigali primarily viewed rural-urban migration as an escape from humuliation and failure in rural areas rather than a way out of impoversishement."

To sum up, the lack of quality education, the high drop out rates in primary schools, the low enrolment rates in secondary school and the lack of employment creation lead to questioning whether the country's vision of transforming its economy from an agrarian to a knowledge based economy relying on ICT is realistic. In fact, a recent global report by UNESCO published in 2012 reads, in reference to Rwanda that "(…) it is not clear that ICT and other services, which tend not to create as many jobs as other types of industry, can help children of poor parents escape from poverty in a country where 90% of the population is engaged in agricultural production and the secondary gross enrolment ratio is only 36%".

In addition to the aforementioned challenges, young people in Rwanda are continuously dealing with the hardships of their country's past social and cyclical internal and regional political complexities. The repercussions are that an uneducated and unemployed young person is being exposed to different kinds of nuisances, particularly to the fact that Rwanda is located near a conflict zone in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Furthermore, it was recently reported that the suicide's number in Rwanda has increased from 94 in 2011 to 290 in 2012. Among the causes of suicide, economic programs that do not meet the aspiration of ordinary people in Rwanda were cited[6].

The Way Forward

Considering that the Rwandan youth remains the sole and main resource of the country, and that Rwanda will never be able to achieve its economic vision if a large number of its youth is not educated, the most viable solution for Rwanda is to increase its education budget in order to achieve quality education and develop the capacity of the majority of its youth. In particular, policy makers should ensure that the youth in Rwanda develop critical thinking capabilities that can be translated into entrepreneurial ideas for employment creation in the country. As for increasing the education budget, this could be achieved by taking the surplus from other over-funded programmes such as the military and public relations and allocate it to the youth education programmes.

The need to preserve the environment and to house the population in a modernised and orderly way to increase agricultural production should be supported. However, policy makers in Rwanda ought to take into consideration the cultural factors which also influence the behaviour of people within the society and in that perspective have economic implications. At the same time, policy makers have to ensure that the policies to be implemented in pursuit of economic growth are scrutinised to meet present and future needs of the Rwandan youth, to the extent of considering that the youth would want to be recognised as adults and enjoy a healthy family life within their cultural society.

Pursuing economic growth does not necessarily translate into people's happiness. This concept originates from Bhutan, a landlocked state in South Asia located at the Eastern outskirts of the Himalayas.  In 1972, Bhutan rejected the Gross Domestic Product as the only measurement of its economy progress and instead used the Gross National Happiness. The new indicator measures the quality of life and social progress in a more holistic and psychological term. The concept has gained popularity in recent years to the extent that the UN has commissioned for a happiness index report to be compiled. The report outlines a list of factors demonstrating the causes of unhappiness among citizen of any nation. Surprisingly, some the causes of unhappiness outlined in the world happiness index report are the aforementioned challenges faced by the youth in Rwanda. Unemployment, lack of quality work, lack of quality education, failure of citizen to practice their culture and attain a family life when one wants to do so, are all listed as barriers to achieving happiness.  As explained Rwanda's fast growing economy has not necessary addressed these barriers and it could be possible that it will never do, as far as the Bhutan's concept is concerned. Therefore, Rwanda should also aim at bringing happiness to its youth alongside its economic growth.  In this first ever published happiness index reportof 2012, Rwanda ranked 132 out of 156 countries, the second highest ranking country in the bloc of East of African after Uganda.  Could more be done by policy makers to improve the ranking of Rwanda's happiness index? The report reads: "Policy goals should include high employment and high-quality work; a strong community with high levels of trust and respect, which government can influence through inclusive participatory policies; improved physical and mental health; support of family life; and a decent education for all".

 

Written by Aimé Sindayigaya and edited by Jules Niyibizi

Visit www.insightfulquotient.com to read more insightful articles on Rwanda economics and human development.

 

 

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-“The enemies of Freedom do not argue ; they shout and they shoot.”

The principal key root causes that lead to the Rwandan genocide of 1994 that affected all Rwandan ethnic groups were:

1)The majority Hutu community’s fear of the return of the discriminatory monarchy system that was practiced by the minority Tutsi community against the enslaved majority Hutu community for about 500 years

2)The Hutu community’s fear of Kagame’s guerrilla that committed massacres in the North of the country and other parts of the countries including assassinations of Rwandan politicians.

3) The Rwandan people felt abandoned by the international community ( who was believed to support Kagame’s guerrilla) and then decided to defend themselves with whatever means they had against the advance of Kagame’ guerrilla supported by Ugandan, Tanzanian and Ethiopian armies and other Western powers.

-“The enemies of Freedom do not argue ; they shout and they shoot.”

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”

The Rwanda war of 1990-1994 had multiple dimensions.

The Rwanda war of 1990-1994 had multiple dimensions. Among Kagame’s rebels who were fighting against the Rwandan government, there were foreigners, mainly Ugandan fighters who were hired to kill and rape innocent Rwandan people in Rwanda and refugees in DRC.

READ MORE RECENT NEWS AND OPINIONS

SUMMARY : THE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE BRITISH BUDGET SUPPORT AND GEO-STRATEGIC AMBITIONS

United Kingdom's Proxy Wars in Africa: The Case of Rwanda and DR Congo:

The Rwandan genocide and 6,000,000 Congolese and Hutu refugees killed are the culminating point of a long UK’s battle to expand their influence to the African Great Lakes Region. UK supported Kagame’s guerrilla war by providing military support and money. The UK refused to intervene in Rwanda during the genocide to allow Kagame to take power by military means that triggered the genocide. Kagame’s fighters and their families were on the Ugandan payroll paid by UK budget support.


· 4 Heads of State assassinated in the francophone African Great Lakes Region.
· 2,000,000 people died in Hutu and Tutsi genocides in Rwanda, Burundi and RD.Congo.
· 600,000 Hutu refugees killed in R.D.Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic and Rep of Congo.
· 6,000,000 Congolese dead.
· 8,000,000 internal displaced people in Rwanda, Burundi and DR. Congo.
· 500,000 permanent Rwandan and Burundian Hutu refugees, and Congolese refugees around the world.
· English language expansion to Rwanda to replace the French language.
· 20,000 Kagame’s fighters paid salaries from the British Budget Support from 1986 to present.
· £500,000 of British taxpayer’s money paid, so far, to Kagame and his cronies through the budget support, SWAPs, Tutsi-dominated parliament, consultancy, British and Tutsi-owned NGOs.
· Kagame has paid back the British aid received to invade Rwanda and to strengthen his political power by joining the East African Community together with Burundi, joining the Commonwealth, imposing the English Language to Rwandans to replace the French language; helping the British to establish businesses and to access to jobs in Rwanda, and to exploit minerals in D.R.Congo.



Thousands of Hutu murdered by Kagame inside Rwanda, e.g. Kibeho massacres

Thousands of Hutu murdered by Kagame inside Rwanda, e.g. Kibeho massacres
Kagame killed 200,000 Hutus from all regions of the country, the elderly and children who were left by their relatives, the disabled were burned alive. Other thousands of people were killed in several camps of displaced persons including Kibeho camp. All these war crimes remain unpunished.The British news reporters were accompanying Kagame’s fighters on day-by-day basis and witnessed these massacres, but they never reported on this.

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25,000 Hutu bodies floated down River Akagera into Lake Victoria in Uganda.

25,000  Hutu bodies  floated down River Akagera into Lake Victoria in Uganda.
The British irrational, extremist, partisan,biased, one-sided media and politicians have disregarded Kagame war crimes e.g. the Kibeho camp massacres, massacres of innocents Hutu refugees in DR. Congo. The British media have been supporting Kagame since he invaded Rwanda by organising the propaganda against the French over the Rwandan genocide, suppressing the truth about the genocide and promoting the impunity of Kagame and his cronies in the African Great Lakes Region. For the British, Rwanda does not need democracy, Rwanda is the African Israel; and Kagame and his guerilla fighters are heroes.The extremist British news reporters including Fergal Keane, Chris Simpson, Chris McGreal, Mark Doyle, etc. continue to hate the Hutus communities and to polarise the Rwandan society.

Kagame political ambitions triggered the genocide.

Kagame  political  ambitions triggered the genocide.
Kagame’s guerrilla war was aimed at accessing to power at any cost. He rejected all attempts and advice that could stop his military adventures including the cease-fire, political negotiations and cohabitation, and UN peacekeeping interventions. He ignored all warnings that could have helped him to manage the war without tragic consequences. Either you supported Kagame’ s wars and you are now his friend, or you were against his wars and you are his enemy. Therefore, Kagame as the Rwandan strong man now, you have to apologise to him for having been against his war and condemned his war crimes, or accept to be labelled as having been involved in the genocide. All key Kagame’s fighters who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity are the ones who hold key positions in Rwandan army and government for the last 15 years. They continue to be supported and advised by the British including Tony Blair, Andrew Mitchell MP, and the British army senior officials.

Aid that kills: The British Budget Support financed Museveni and Kagame’s wars in Rwanda and DRC.

Aid that kills: The British Budget Support  financed Museveni and Kagame’s wars in Rwanda and DRC.
Genocide propaganda and fabrications are used by the so-called British scholars, news reporters and investigative journalists to promote their CVs and to get income out of the genocide through the selling of their books, providing testimonies against the French, access to consultancy contracts from the UN and Kagame, and participation in conferences and lectures in Rwanda, UK and internationally about genocide. Genocide propaganda has become a lucrative business for Kagame and the British. Anyone who condemned or did not support Kagame’s war is now in jail in Rwanda under the gacaca courts system suuported by British tax payer's money, or his/she is on arrest warrant if he/she managed to flee the Kagame’s regime. Others have fled the country and are still fleeing now. Many others Rwandans are being persecuted in their own country. Kagame is waiting indefinitely for the apologies from other players who warn him or who wanted to help to ensure that political negotiations take place between Kagame and the former government he was fighting against. Britain continues to supply foreign aid to Kagame and his cronies with media reports highlighting economic successes of Rwanda. Such reports are flawed and are aimed at misleading the British public to justify the use of British taxpayers’ money. Kagame and his cronies continue to milk British taxpayers’ money under the British budget support. This started from 1986 through the British budget support to Uganda until now.

Dictator Kagame: No remorse for his unwise actions and ambitions that led to the Rwandan genocide.

Dictator Kagame: No remorse for his unwise actions and ambitions that led to the  Rwandan genocide.
No apologies yet to the Rwandan people. The assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana by Kagame was the only gateway for Kagame to access power in Rwanda. The British media, politicians, and the so-called British scholars took the role of obstructing the search for the truth and justice; and of denying this assassination on behalf of General Kagame. General Paul Kagame has been obliging the whole world to apologise for his mistakes and war crimes. The UK’s way to apologise has been pumping massive aid into Rwanda's crony government and parliement; and supporting Kagame though media campaigns.

Fanatical, partisan, suspicious, childish and fawning relations between UK and Kagame

Fanatical, partisan, suspicious, childish and fawning relations between UK and Kagame
Kagame receives the British massive aid through the budget support, British excessive consultancy, sector wide programmes, the Tutsi-dominated parliament, British and Tutsi-owned NGOs; for political, economic and English language expansion to Rwanda. The British aid to Rwanda is not for all Rwandans. It is for Kagame himself and his Tutsi cronies.

Paul Kagame' actvities as former rebel

Africa

UN News Centre - Africa

The Africa Report - Latest

IRIN - Great Lakes

This blog reports the crimes that remain unpunished and the impunity that has generated a continuous cycle of massacres in many parts of Africa. In many cases, the perpetrators of the crimes seem to have acted in the knowledge that they would not be held to account for their actions.

The need to fight this impunity has become even clearer with the massacres and genocide in many parts of Africa and beyond.

The blog also addresses issues such as Rwanda War Crimes, Rwandan Refugee massacres in Dr Congo, genocide, African leaders’ war crimes and crimes against humanity, Africa war criminals, Africa crimes against humanity, Africa Justice.

-The British relentless and long running battle to become the sole player and gain new grounds of influence in the francophone African Great Lakes Region has led to the expulsion of other traditional players from the region, or strained diplomatic relations between the countries of the region and their traditional friends. These new tensions are even encouraged by the British using a variety of political and economic manoeuvres.

-General Kagame has been echoing the British advice that Rwanda does not need any loan or aid from Rwandan traditional development partners, meaning that British aid is enough to solve all Rwandan problems.

-The British obsession for the English Language expansion has become a tyranny that has led to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, dictatorial regimes, human rights violations, mass killings, destruction of families, communities and cultures, permanent refugees and displaced persons in the African Great Lakes region.


- Rwanda, a country that is run by a corrupt clique of minority-tutsi is governed with institutional discrmination, human rights violations, dictatorship, authoritarianism and autocracy, as everybody would expect.