By: Emmanuel Hakizimana, Ph.D., Economist, Université
du Québec à Montréal, Canada
and
Gallican Gasana, Genocide survivor, Toronto,
Canada
(WASHINGTON DC) –
On February 21st, 2013, Tony Blair and Howard G. Buffet published an article in
The Foreign Policy in which they denounced the suspension of aid to Rwanda by
many Western donors as a path in the wrong direction. They claim that
suspending aid will destroy one of the biggest success stories in Africa and
further destabilize the entire Great Lakes region. There are two major problems
with this premise: (1) The so-called success story is a myth that does not
withstand in-depth analysis of recent economic performance; (2) The trade-off
implied is that economic success trumps the worst human rights record in and
outside the national boundaries.
address the core issues of the Great Lakes region. What they fail to mention is
that Eastern Congo had known peace and stability until the massive exodus of
Rwandan refugees of 1994, shortly followed by the first Rwandan invasion of
1996 and then the first “African World War” of 1998. More than five million
people are estimated to have perished as a direct consequence of the
involvement of Rwanda in Eastern DRC.
recently exacerbated by the M23 rebel group insurrection, created, armed and
commanded by Kigali. In a nutshell, Rwanda is at the very core of DRC problems,
and solving them requires first solving the political conundrum that is Rwanda.
Congo’s problems are the symptoms of a grim syndrome from its smallest
neighbor: cure that neighbor, and Congo will be on its way to healing. We
believe the cascade of foreign aid suspensions triggered by Rwanda’s
unquestionable involvement with M23, albeit overdue, is a welcome response.
Should it had happened earlier, who is to tell how many lives it could have
saved. Instead, Rwanda has come to realize it does not need to respect its
citizens’ rights or its neighbor’s sovereignty to sit at the negotiation.
Buffet contend that the Rwandan economic miracle is too rare to stop in its
course by cutting vital funding. However, the much hyped success story loses
much of its weight when put in perspective. Data from the World Bank show that
Rwandans suffer from mass poverty, growing inequality, and low standards of
living. Income inequalities between the rich and the poor have reached their
highest point in recent history.
10% richest almost doubled from 24.58% to 43.22%, while the poorest 10% saw
their share reduced by more than a half, from 4.41% to 2.13%. These are not
just figures on a spreadsheet: According to the United Nations Development Programme,
three Rwandan out of four (76.8%) live below the poverty line on less than $
1.25 per day. Obviously, the majority of the Rwandan population is not part of
the success story alluded to by Blair and Buffet.
of prosperity in an ocean of misery. The UNDP report on the human development
index puts the gross national income per capita at $ 1,133 in constant prices
of 2005, or $ 800 below the average of the region ($ 1,966). Business towers and
posh neighborhoods may be changing the skyline in Kigali, but the rest of the
countryside stagnates.
traced to the policies in place. In Rwanda, political and economic powers are
concentrated in the hands of General Paul Kagame plus a few close generals and
businessmen. In addition to being President of Rwanda, he is the chairman of
RPF, and as such, the CEO of Crystal Ventures, a conglomerate owned by his
ruling party.
food processing, and communication to retail and public utilities. It is
estimated that Crystal Ventures is the second largest employer in the country
after the public sector. As is to be expected, numerous conflicts of interest,
disguised monopoly situations and high-level corruption are common practices in Kigali.Policies prevailing in the agricultural sector maintain rural
Rwanda in poverty. Farmers cannot grow or dispose of their crops as they see
fit for them and their natural markets. They are forced to sell their crops at
low prices in cooperatives where a few RPF officers control the entire system
of storage, transport and commercialization of agricultural products.
Discrimination
among the victims of the Rwandan tragedy is also another source of continued
impoverishment of a large fraction of the Rwandan population. Although the
wholesome destruction of human life that culminated in the 1994 genocide and
extended into DRC made victims in all groups of the population of Rwanda,
survivors’ assistance is granted on a discriminated basis. Added to the
multiple violations and abuses widely documented by human rights organizations,
these elements show that talk of history of success for Rwanda is, to say the
least, misinformation and cynicism.
Rwandans and human rights
watch groups have been stating the obvious for so long that the belated
recognition of the troubling patterns in Kigali came as a vindication. The
international community is still nursing the guilt of not having intervened in
1994 while the genocide against Tutsis was being committed in broad daylight. She
subsequently looked away when the victorious RPF methodically massacred Hutus
inside Rwanda and in DRC – crimes that multiple UN reports indicate could be
defined as genocide by a competent jurisdiction. In short, Blair and Buffet
advocate for knowingly continue funding a regime that closed the political
space, slowly steering Rwanda to another tragedy. They advise the world to keep
looking away while Kigali entertains a climate of insecurity for millions of
neighboring Congolese. That can’t be right.
Fierberg
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a “time”, yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
