Africa needs no lessons, says Kagame as he starts new term

Kigali

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame hit back on Monday at his international critics, using his inauguration for a second term to insist that Africa needed no lessons from the wider world.

Addressing a mammoth crowd, including over a dozen African Heads of State, President Kagame said he wouldn’t succumb to lessons from “self proclaimed” critics.

He said that despite the fact that Africa has real problems — including poor democracy, poverty and the dependence that comes with underdevelopment — foreign governments and NGOs, who are not accountable to anyone, should not dictate the conduct of legitimate states.

“It is difficult for us to comprehend those who want to give us lessons on inclusion, tolerance and human rights. We reject all their accusations. Self-proclaimed critics of Rwanda may say what they want, but they will neither dictate the direction we take as a nation, nor will they make a dent in our quest for self determination,” said President Kagame.

“These external actors turn around and promote the dangerous ideas of those who have fallen out with the system, ignoring the choices of the majority of our people … it is evidence of hypocrisy and a patronizing attitude towards our entire continent,” President Kagame said.

President Kagame was sworn in for a second, seven-year term in office after he won the August 9 presidential elections with an overwhelming 90 per cent of the vote.

This would be his last term in office since Rwanda’s constitution only allows two terms.

Prior to his re-election, President Kagame was fiercely criticised by rights groups and foreign media organisations for being repressive and not allowing a credible opposition.

And two weeks ago, human rights watchdog Amnesty International asked Rwanda to review its laws on “genocide ideology”, saying they were being used as a guise to suppress political dissent and freedom of speech.

Rwanda’s position is that the laws are necessary to prevent a repeat of the 1994 genocide in which over 1 million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

At yesterday’s ceremony, President Kagame took the oath of office from the president of the Supreme Court, Alyosia Cyanzayire.
Kagame supporters dressed in blue were seated in the stands in a pattern that spelled the word KAGAME against a background of white T-shirts. Others, dressed in yellow, were positioned to form the word PAUL.

Thousands who could not gain access to the stadium followed the event on giant screens outside.

Among the attending dignitaries was President Joseph Kabila, whose Democratic Republic of Congo is the focus of a leaked UN report alleging that the Rwandan army committed widespread atrocities, possibly amounting to genocide, there between 1996-98.

Kigali rejected the charges and threatened to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Sudan if the UN goes ahead and publishes the report.

Although he is embarking on a second term in office, Kagame has effectively controlled Rwanda since his rebel force ended the country’s 1994 genocide. He took part in the first post-genocide government as vice-president and defence minister.

Having been elected president by parliament in 2000, he won presidential elections in 2003, before cruising to a second term last month.

Other heads of state present included Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Francois Bozize of Central African Republic, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, and Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin.

Delegations from Algeria, Uganda, Swaziland and the African Union were also at the stadium.

Additional reporting by AFP