Rwanda's President Paul Kagame delivers a speech during a ceremony for the 25th annniversary of Liberation Day, which marks the end of the country's 1994 genocide against Tutsi people, at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, on July 4, 2019. - The Rwandan genocide lasted a 100-day period from April 7 to July , 1994, during which some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis were murdered. (Photo by Cyril NDEGEYA / AFP)
Soldiers are known for discipline and carrying out military operations with precision, with instructions from commanders seldom challenged.
Some parts of Africa are ruled by former army generals who have risen to the highest ranks of political power – becoming presidents.
Rwandan strongman President Paul Kagame is one of them. His tough upbringing tells you why Kagame has become one of Africa’s toughest presidents.
Born in southern Rwanda, his family fled to Uganda when he was two years old, following the Rwandan revolution, which ended centuries of Tutsi political dominance.
Trained by another African authoritarian, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni in the ’80s, Kagame fought in Museveni’s rebel army – becoming a senior Ugandan army officer.
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He contributed to Museveni’s military victories that propelled him to the presidency.
Kagame also commanded the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Uganda-based rebel force, which invaded Rwanda in 1990 and was one of the parties in the conflict during the Rwandan civil war and the Rwandan genocide.
He was considered Rwanda’s de facto leader when he served as vice-president and minister of defence under president Pasteur Bizimungu from 1994 to 2000, later becoming that country’s president.
Credited for having built one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, Kagame’s policies have reduced the number of people living under extreme poverty by 22%, bridged the gender gap by giving women opportunities in government and waging a war against corruption, with Kigali regarded as the continent’s cleanest city.
Growth averaged 7.5% over the decade to 2018, while per capita growth domestic product grew at 5% annually.
While Rwanda has become a model economy, with foreign investment pouring in, it is Kagame’s authoritarian leadership style which has become a matter of great concern.
The recent killing in Cape Town of Rwandan National Congress spokesperson Seif Bamporiki, who was shot dead at Nyanga township, has raised eyebrows.
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Counteterrorism expert Jasmine Opperman has described the Rwandan government as “becoming more obsessive, more conspiratorial and adopting a hard-line stance on anyone that is becoming critical of the president”.
According to Amnesty International’s director for East and Southern Africa Deprose Muchena, Rwanda has, over years, seen the harassment, intimidation, arrests, disappearances and killings of critics of the government.
The deafening silence of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) on human rights abuses in Rwanda and cross-border raids that have led to the arrests and deaths of political opponents should certainly be a cause for concern.
Only freedom of speech, association, media, political activity and regular elections, resemble a true democracy.
Constitutional democracy does not provide for any grey area.
It is time that Kagame stopped nervously looking over his shoulder by allowing for an atmosphere of differing views – something that augurs well for democratic stability.
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