A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words — Here Is Kagame's Kigali Convention Center and Drinking Water Scarcity In Rwanda

Between drinking water and Kagame's Convetion Center, What comes first? In Kagame's Regime things are opposite, !

For eight-year-old Jackson Ngabonziza of Rugarama Cell, Nyamirambo Sector in Nyarugenge District, a one-kilometre trek for water from a drainage system in Rwarutabura Village had become routine, after water taps in his neighbourhood dried up ten months ago. But on October 30, he tripped and drowned in a flooded drainage contrary to earlier reports that he was washed away from home. Timothy Kisambira and John Mbanda visited this treacherous spot and found children fetching water oblivious of the dangers.

Rwanda's FAKE Economic Recovery - Truth Is Scary, take a look at the pictures and remember this ''Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.''

Now lets look at the Kagame's Kigali Convention Center, According to Kagame as the head of Rwanda he has decided to put  Rwanda into a US$300 million debt to build a convention centre. He claims the convention centre will make Rwanda richer by hosting thousands of conferences.

The first major event hosted by the centre was the July 2016 AU Summit. Do you bet the Kagame convention centre will make any CASH before 2016 ends and atleast provide drinking water to Rwandan Citizens?

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Famine hits over 100,000 Rwandan families in Eastern province

Reports of famine ravaging parts of Rwanda have led to blame games, with some faulting government policies in drought-prone areas while the State says climate change is responsible for poor harvests.

Close to 100,000 families mainly in the Eastern Province districts of Kanyonza, Rwamagana, Nyagatare, Bugesera, Kayonza and Kirehe as well as Nyanza and Gisagara districts in Southern Province, are facing a threat of hunger if nothing is done to avert it.

Rwandans are reportedly moving to neighbouring Uganda in search of food but pastoralists are left with no options as animals grow thinner by the day. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

It is reported that hundreds are fleeing starvation to neighbouring Uganda in search of food after two seasons of poor harvests which left families with nothing to eat.

The most affected districts include Nyagatare, Kayonza and Ngoma where residents say harvests were largely affected by early disappearance of rain. Hectares of maize and sorghum dried up before they could be ready for harvest.

“We don’t know what to do. We have not even been able to recoup what we planted,” said Solange Uwantege, a resident of Mwili Sector, Kayonza district, pointing to the four hectares of sorghum and maize they had planted as a group.

Apart from dried up plants, thousands of livestock are facing severe shortage of water and foliage. Residents of Nyagatare say the drought started earlier than expected.

“Usually the drought intensifies in late July to early September, when rains resume but now it started in May. We are not sure if our livestock will still be alive by then,” adds Jean Marie Mugabo, a resident of Nyagatare.

The Governor of the Eastern Province Odette Uwamariya and the mayors of the affected districts admit that there is a looming hunger crisis but say that instead of fleeing to neighbouring countries, locals should contact local government officials for help.

Government failure

Civil society groups are blaming the government for failing to address the longstanding recurrence of food insecurity in parts of the country prone to drought despite the billions of francs which have been allocated to the agriculture sector.

Appearing on a local radio station, the chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda Chapter, Marie Immaculee Ingabire, blamed the hunger threat on poor planning, policy and decision making especially on the side of local government officials.

“It is an issue of poor planning and decision making by government officials. There are countries which receive far less rainfall than Rwanda but they plan well and their citizens don’t encounter hunger,” Ms Ingabire said.

Alexis Nkurunziza, an official of the Umbrella of Human Rights Organisations in Rwanda said that the government failure to fully prioritise agriculture in terms of planning and resource allocation is likely to setback the country’s gains in food security.

“A lot of progress has been made in the past five or so years, even going by what the government was allocating to the agriculture sector in areas of irrigation, extension services, but this momentum has slowed down,” Mr Nkurunziza said.

“We are at a point where more needs to be done to sustain the gains in the agriculture sector, rather than slowing down,” he said, adding that the external factors given by government to cut down expenditure in the sector are not convincing enough.
The government reduced spending on agriculture from 11 per cent of the total budget in 2015/16 fiscal year to 7.5 per cent this year.

Mr Nkurunziza says that reduced focus on the sector will have major implications including food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and households which can’t sustain themselves.

Short-term measures

The 2015 Auditor-General’s report indicates that irrigation equipment procured by government in the district of Nyagatare at a cost of Rwf2.7 billion was put to waste.

The AG also raised the red flag on the mismanagement of resources meant for the Crop Intensification Programme and the Post-Harvest Handling and Storage Taskforce, warning that this might set back the country’s gains in food security.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Tony Nsanganira said that the government has put in place short-term measures to avert the current shortage of food as well as long-term plans to avoid the recurrence of the same.

He, however, dismissed claims that policy and decision making are to blame for the recurrent food shortage in drought stricken parts of the country instead noting that climate change is responsible for the inconsistent rains.

“We have been aware of this situation since September last year and we have been monitoring it. The affected areas are the Eastern Province affected by drought and parts of Western and Northern provinces which were affected by floods. We are identifying families which have been affected and through the food for work approach, are providing them with food from our grain reserves,” Mr Nsanganira said.

Long-term efforts

He said the government has put in place other subsidies, forfeiting the seeds the government had given farmers and cooperatives due to poor harvest.

Mr Nsanganira said that the government is looking at long-term solutions to hunger and drought recurrence in Eastern Province with a new approach to irrigation where by farmers and cooperatives will be assisted to get irrigation kits and own them rather than the government buying them.

“We will help farmers acquire irrigation equipment with a subsidy of up to 50 per cent and link co-operatives to financial institutions. This is a more sustainable approach because farmers own these programmes,” he said.

He noted that the new approach will address the challenges identified by the Auditor-General because people will directly own the projects, rather than the government.

Mr Nsanganira said investigations are going on and some arrests have been made in regard to the mismanagement and vandalisation of the costly projects.

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Arusha Needed to Avert a New Political Violence in Rwanda

Theogene Rudasingwa

The political opposition, composed of the following political organisations, namely AMAHORO PC; FDU-Inkingi; PDP Imanzi; PS Imberakuri and RNC (Rwanda National Congress), calls on peace loving people, governments and organisations and particularly friends of Rwanda to impress upon the Rwandan government the need to enter dialogue with the opposition on the basis of the Arusha Peace Agreement which was derailed by the resumption of war in 1994 that gave total victory to one protagonist, the RPF/RPA. We feel very strongly that the conditions that led to war in 1990 and subsequent social upheaval and genocide 1994 are more acute and explosive that they were at the time.

These included, authoritarian form of government, unresolved problem of refugees, regionalism, nepotism, favouritism, lack of a free press, freedom of expression and association. Economic disparities much lower than they are today. Disparities have doubled in the last 20 years and Rwanda is now among the top 15% of the most unequal countries in the world, in a country that is most aided in the region, and where 60% of the population live under poverty line.

The apparent stability masks deep seated tensions and unresolved grievances that are kept under check by the most repressive regime that Rwanda has ever had, which operates beyond borders to hunt down critics and assassinate them. Just to give a few examples, the former Home Affairs Minister Seth Sendashonga, and former member of Parliament Colonel Lizinde were gunned down in Nairobi; while the former Chief Spy, Colonel Patrick Karegeya, was strangled in South Africa. In August, a South African court convicted two Rwandans and two Tanzanians of the attempted murder of General Kayumba Nyamwasa—a former senior military official and leading RNC member—in South Africa in 2010, and sentenced them in September to eight years’ imprisonment. The judge stated that the attack was politically motivated and emanated from a group of people in Rwanda.
With regards to the problem of refugees, Rwanda has now the highest number of refugees of all time, and for the 1st time Rwandan refugees include people of all ethnic groups, Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, of all social status and age, military, business men, young and old people.

The social capital i.e. relationship of trust and frank collaboration between a social grouping like a family, community values and social norms that glue members of a community together have been destroyed by the ruling party indoctrination programme that promotes loyalty to the party and its leader than to any other social network including family.

We are convinced that the cycle of brutal massacres that have bedevilled Rwanda are not a product of congenital brutal hatreds between Hutu and Tutsi but the failure of the political leadership to manage peacefully the naturally divergent interests of people and societal demands without resorting to violence or appealing to ethnic sentiments.
The long negotiations in Arusha in 1992- 1994 had tried to find a formula to end the cycle of violence but was derailed for opportunistic reasons.

The various stakeholders had done a lot of ground work that can be used as a foundation for a new dialogue taking into account the new environment. We feel that the arrogant and militarist attitude of the present Rwandan leadership might lead eventually to another violent change of regime.

We are calling for an all-inclusive national dialogue of all stakeholders in the Rwandan conflict to agree on legal and institutional mechanisms to end the cycle of violence in Rwanda and build a real reconciled, peaceful, prosperous and democratic society.

Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa.
Chair Platform
Washington DC June 24, 2016
E-mail: ngombwa@gmail.com
Tel: 001-240-477-9110

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Mr President — Who Owns Prime Holdings?

Kagame dominates the Rwanda government in every sense. Without a genuine opposition, or business sector voice, or genuine independent media to raise questions, Kagame’s word is taken as gospel truth. The only voice of reason seems to come from donors — in particular, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the IMF, the PSI “helps countries design effective economic programs that, once approved by the IMF’s Executive Board, signal to donors, multilateral development banks, and markets the Fund’s endorsement of a member’s policies.” That is the very instrument that the IMF uses to regularly review Rwanda’s economic performance.

Mr President — Who Owns Prime Holdings?

In its 2006 PSI review, the IMF discovered serious financial irregularities in Rwanda, pointing out to the government of Rwanda that its “adherence to conditionality was poor.” The reason the IMF gave for its conclusion was that the Kagame government had failed to supply the financial audit of the construction of the hotels that later became the Kigali Serena and Kivu Serena. The two projects were at the time under the management of company called Prime Holdings.

The then Finance Minister James Musoni and the then Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, Francois Kanimba, confirmed to the IMF that indeed the government of Rwanda had failed to supply the said audit. Immediately an audit of Prime Holdings was made — and the results were shocking. Prime Holdings could not account for the financial resources that had been poured into building of the two hotels. Musoni and Kanimba then assured the IMF that the government of Rwanda had ended the management of contract of Prime Holdings. Nothing was ever heard of regarding Prime Holdings from 2006 onward.

Fast forward to 2016 — in researching for my book Kagame’s Economic Mirage, I discovered that Kagame had not only revived the long-discredited Prime Holdings, the Rwandan ruler had given the corrupt firm an even larger assignment. Prime Holdings now “owns” 50% of the US$150 million Kigali Convention Center (KCC) funded by out of the US$400 million Eurobond money raised in 2013. Not only that. The RPF’s Crystal Ventures Ltd is also now said to be one of the “owners” of KCC.

Kagame who has branded himself as Mr Clean, must explain how he revived Prime Holdings that made millions of dollars “disappear” in the mid-2000s. How could he reward a corrupt company with an even bigger responsibility of “owning” KCC? And who is the real owner of Prime Holdings? Shame! Perhaps IMF might save us again…..from Prime Holdings.
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By David Himbara

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This is Paul Kagame

Two decades after the 1994 genocide, journalist Anjan Sundaram watched leader Paul Kagame crush press freedom and political opposition. But why are the international community still supporting his regime? And could their support be sowing seeds for more bloodshed?

“Rwanda has two worlds,” explains journalist and author Anjan Sundaram. “There is a world in which most diplomats and ex-pats live in, in which Rwanda looks really peaceful.” But there is also a darker side to the country, which Sundaram documented movingly in his bookBad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship.

Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, in which one million people were killed in just one hundred days, still casts a shadow over the country. But in the decades since, Rwanda has gone from massive devastation and being the poorest country on earth to be held up as a model of development. International aid agencies have ploughed billions of dollars into the country and helped it achieve the greatest progress on the United Nation’s Human Development Index.

However, since president Paul Kagame led the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) to capture the capital, Kigali, in 1994 and bring the genocide to an end, he has moved to crush press freedom, democratic institutions and political opposition. As Kagame’s grip over the country has increased, the international community have maintained their support – and continued to funnel aid dollars to his regime. Observers, such as Sundaram, worry this complicity is increasing the risk of further violence in years to come.

Paul Kagame visits George W. Bush at the White House, April 2005. Photo by Krisanne Johnson

Sandaram arrived in Kigali in 2009 to teach a class of a dozen local journalists – none of whom remain working. Before he left in 2013, he saw firsthand many of the reasons why Reporters Without Borders have ranked Rwanda 161st out of 180 countries on its authoritative Press Freedom Index, below Egypt and Kazakhastan and just above Saudi Arabia.

“The consistent harassment of journalists has had a chilling effect in Rwanda, where there is no space for dissenting narrative at all, today,” he explains. “A colleague of mine was shot dead on the same day he criticised Paul Kagame. Another was beaten into a coma after bringing up the harassment of journalists at a press conference with the president. Others joined the presidential propaganda team out of fear. In my book I document over 60 cases of journalists who have been killed, disappeared, arrested, imprisoned, tortured or forced to flee the country, fearing for their lives after criticising the Rwandan government.”

Cyclists in the capital, Kigali

Following the genocide, the international community’s presence has been huge – providing the government with half its annual budget. The rapidly developing capital is littered with shiny embassies and foreign development agencies, whose white SUVs are ubiquitous on its roads. With all this attention, how has Kagame been able establish his dictatorship?

“The Rwandan government is very sophisticated in its propaganda,” Sundaram explains. “I think of it as an example of how the dictatorship is evolving in the 21st century. With a few exceptions we’ve moved past the North Korea-style dictatorships of the Cold War era.”

“The modern dictatorship is shiny and new, you have multi-party elections,” he continues. “Even as the press is crushed, you have a dozen new newspapers opening up – all pro-government of course. So they present a facade that looks very much like democratic countries, which can be quite difficult to pierce.”

Butaro, a small town in northern Rwanda

Kagame has maintained the charade of representative elections, but has tightened his grip with each vote. Sandaram sees the 2010 election as a pivotal moment. “The election was a masterpiece of authority,” Sundaram writes in Bad News. “The vote passed in an ambience of total serenity. No negative incidents were reported in the country: there were no protests, no complaints, no boycotts or demonstrations. [...] By the end of the election, the old guard of news journalists had been done away with: killed, imprisoned, exiled or, by fear, converted into [supporters].”

“Destroying the local press is a very effective way of exporting propaganda because foreign correspondents are increasingly reliant on local journalists for their stories,” Sundaram explains. ”Another strategy that the government has used very effectively is to craft a narrative of a country that has risen from the ashes of genocide. It’s a very compelling story, one that many want to hear. But the reality is that many of the structures that were in place prior to the genocide and that were used to execute the genocide are still in place.”

Rural houses on Rwanda’s famed rolling hills, Musanze province

The December 2015 referendum on constitutional reform passed with a yes result of over ninety per cent and the amendment could see Kagame in power until 2034. His announcement to stand once again in the 2017 presidential election drew criticism from the US and the EU, who said Kagame should allow a new generation of leaders to emerge.

Yet the money keeps flowing. Sandaram highlighted abuses to foreign embassy officials, who acknowledge they knew what was happening, but came back with the excuse: ‘If we mention the repression, the government will throw us out.’ Sandaram is unconvinced, and argues that their huge financial support gives them considerable leverage.

“I think the international community has knowingly financed a dictatorship whose repression they have been acutely aware of,” he explains. “Unfortunately by financing and supporting dictatorship, a government that is very clearly not democratically elected, they are essentially playing a kind of neocolonial role. They are supporting a government that the people did not freely choose.”

Young mothers at a health centre in rural Rwanda

Despite commitments to support democracy from the international community and aid agencies, they are happy to overlook problems because Kagame is a reliable ally. “Foreign aid has found a very convenient partner in Rwanda,” Sundaram explains. “The world of foreign aid has had a lot of problems finding success stories and they’ve found that Rwanda’s repressive system can execute aid plans remarkably efficiently.” Participation rates in Rwanda often hit 90%, while they struggle to hit 40% in countries like India, for example.

“Rwanda is like a paradise for aid officials who can come in, get their programmes executed remarkably efficiently and present these as evidence of their aid programme’s success,” Sundaram continues. “I’ve seen many aid officials get promotions on the back of their alleged success in Rwanda. So there is no incentive on the part of the international community to reveal Rwanda’s repression, indeed they benefit from it.”

Ivuka Arts Centre, one of the examples of Rwanda’s cultural resurgence

But this self interest could have profound consequences in the years to come. Kagame’s destruction of democratic institutions has contributed to the academic consensus that any transfer of power will be accompanied by violence. In the BBC documentary Rwanda’s Untold Story, academic Filip Reyntjens, explains that without true peace, reconciliation between all social and ethnic groups, as well as full democratic participation, “Rwanda is a volcano… with the RPF sitting on top.”

Without the support of an effective local media, international media’s overstretched foreign operations rarely unearth abuses by the government. Instead, they frequently report only on the good news stories of Rwanda’s cultural, technologic and economic resurgence. “That world certainly exists in Rwanda,” Sundaram explains. “The question I ask myself is will all those talented and entrepreneurial works stand to last if the country sees new violence again. How much of that progress will remain?”

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A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words — Here Is Kagame's Primary Schools In Rwanda

Early schooling matters most for children;Attending a good pre-school and primary has more impact on children's academic progress than their gender or family background, researchers claimed today.
Every child should get quality education.

The future of our country depends upon the children of today. We must remember that the little child depends more on his teacher than the advanced student does on his professor. A teacher plays an important role in shaping the future of a student. We should have competent teachers who are interested in the education process. Unfortunately, in Kagame's Rwanda, is the opposite.

Take a look at St. Vincent de Paul Primary School that is located at Rugera in Nyabihu Rwanda.

Students of St. Vincent de Paul Primary School

Classrooms of St. Vincent de Paul Primary School

Over populated classrooms of St. Vincent de Paul Primary School

Dust coming into Classrooms at St. Vincent de Paul Primary School

Over populated class room with more than 140 students at St. Vincent de Paul Primary School

Therefore, Dear, Pro Paul Kagame Regime, Primary education is the basic and foremost right of every child.Its availability and provision is the responsibility of a state. Primary education brings awareness among the masses, opens avenues for opportunities as well self-advancement and improvement and reduces chronic and inter-generational poverty. As a first step in the creation of welfare and just society, universal primary education is an absolute pre-requisite for sustainable development.

Every single child that means girls as well as boys should be able to complete full course of primary education. The Pictures shows how the Current Governemnt of Rwanda has failed to offer primary school education to Rwandan Children. What do you see here Mr Kagame?

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