IS RWANDA REALLY A POLICE STATE?

President Paul Kagame last week won presidential elections by 95 percent of the vote. Such high performance was common in Sadam Hussein’s Iraq and other dictatorships. Basing on this analogy, many observers have concluded his victory was a product of political repression. But such an approach ignores the internal political dynamics that drive Rwanda and thus strip it of its history, context and specificity. A serious discussion of Rwanda must be rooted in its internal dynamics.

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DO THE HUTU AND TUTSI OD RWANDA NURSE ACIENT HATRED

In the summer of 1995, former US president, Jimmy Carter, organised a conference on Rwanda in Tunis to “convince the RPF to be more ethnically inclusive by appointing Hutu politicians to cabinet”. In attendance were the presidents of Rwanda’s neighbours: Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Tanzania’s Ali Hassan Mwinyi. Rwanda’s Pasteur Bizimungu was in attendance as well as former Tanzanian president, Julius Nyerere. During the coffee break, they sat down for an informal chat with Carter.

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WHY MUSEVENI IS WRONG ON SOMALIA.

I read with particular keenness President Yoweri Museveni’s article on July 25 where he defended Ugandan troop presence in Somalia. I use the words “particular keenness” because I highly respect Museveni’s analysis of security issues. While his article is strong and persuasive, I was not convinced about intervention in Somalia.

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WHY WE SHOULD PULL OUT OF SOMALIA.

Since Uganda was bombed on 7/11, Al-Shabaab “terrorist” group in Somali claimed responsibility. There has been a lot of tough talk in Kampala. President Yoweri Museveni has promised to hit back at Al-Shabaab by increasing our troops in that country. Many Ugandans support the government in its posturing for a “surge.”

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WHY DEMOCRACY IS FAILING US.

Critics of the government of Uganda accuse it of allocating less money to priority sectors like infrastructure, education and health. Although it is evident that the cost of political patronage and the presidency/first family has grown, it is not true that this has been at the price of budgets of the aforementioned priority sectors.

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WHY THE OPPOSITION NEEDS OPTIMISM.

When I was growing up, my dad always told me that if I have a dream, I should believe that I will realise it. He believed that success comes from optimism and self-confidence. “Believe in yourself and those around you,” he would say, “and always look at why you should succeed rather than why you may fail and you will realise your dreams.”

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WHO IS BENEFITING FROM GROWTH ?

Uganda has sustained robust economic growth for the last 23 years, a fact that opponents of President Yoweri Musevei ignore actually to their disadvantage. This growth has produced a private sector and a political and bureaucratic class with money and power. In denying it, the opposition actually lose the support, implicit or explicit of this small but rich and most influential section of our society.

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