Paul Kagame: An African role model?

[Zungu Pule]

Mkuu heshima mbele. Hapa umegonga ikulu kabisa. Muungwana Zungu Pule..anataka kutuaminisha kwamba huko Yale..ndo wanauelewa wa matatizo yetu. Hii si sahihi. Huwezi niambia eti Professor wa Yale au Harvard atakuwa na analysis bora ya matatizo yetu kuliko sisi tunaoishi na hayo matatizo. Kama ulivyoainisha..tumewaona maprofesa wangapi..wakiandika volumes na volumes?...Ukweli ni kwamba....we need the Kagame`s of this world...take it or leave it, Kagame knows what he is doing na..anajua trick ya hawa wazungu. Wanakupa $$10M za kupambana na malaria..wakati wanaleta "technical experts" ambao watakula zaidi ya nusu ya hiyo hela. Kama Kabila anajenga barabara....jamani tahst what a common Mwananchi needs! Au mpaka WORLD BANK waje waseme kwamba huo mradi una manufaa? Duh..

Kama anavyosema Profesa ninayemheshimu sana..Thandika Mkandawire wa LSE...Its only Africa which has been condemned to develop while democratizing! Hakuna nchi popote pale ulimwenguni.....iliyowahi kuchanganya democrasia na maendeleo ikafanikiwa! Leo Kagame hata angefanya kipi kizuri kwa wananchi wake..watu watakwambia eti Rwanda hakuna uhuru wa habari....I think its high time..waafrika tujue priorities zetu..hii aina ya demokrasia ya magharibi..Itatulostisha tuu!

Unajua juzi nilikuwa nasoma ile report ya Brahimi yule mzee wa Algeria aliyekuwa mwakilishi wa Kofi Annan kule Afghanistan....aliambiwa na Kofi Annan afanye tathmini ya misaada kule..Guess what? Mzee anakwambia zaidi ya 90% ya hela zote zilizopelekwa na donors Afghanistan..zilirudi huko magharibi. Lakini hao hao wazungu..ukiwakuta wamekusanyika Intercontinetal London..wanakwambia eti we have pledged $50Billions for Afghanistan Recovery.....Go fgure..hiyo recovery itakuja ipatikane lini!

Hivi waafrika lini tutaamka na kuuelewa ukweli kwamba..AID is simply a ploy to keep the poor poorer?

So Brahim alimshauri Koffi Annan kufuta misaada inayokwenda Afghanistan kwa kuwa 90% inarudi huko magharibi? This is what you are missing. Aid is not working, fine. The solution is not to cut off aid. It's to make the aid work! And this is what Brahim was trying to do.

On the other note, hakuna mtu asiyejua matatizo yake. Wala sijasema hivyo. Wala hiyo siyo hoja inayojadiliwa hapa. Hoja hapa ni kwamba, umasikini tulio nao Afrika umesababishwa na misaada ya nje (Foreign aid is the cause of Africa's poverty). Inawezekana ni kweli. Njia pekee ya kujua kama ni kweli au la, ni utafiti ulioonesha kwamba hili suala ni kweli. Sikubaliani na madai kwamba eti kila kitu kiko wazi na kwamba huhitaji ushahidi kujua misaada ya nje ndio chanzo cha umasikini wetu. Na hii dhana kwamba tafiti nyingi sana zimefanyika Afrika unaitoa wapi? If you ask me, I would say Africa is the least studied region in the world. And this is because of the very same reason: lack of quality data! We are not investing much in data acquisition.

 

[Masanja]

Zungu, heshima mbele, nadhani you are missing a point. Unataka kuassume kwamba misaada inakuja kwa nia njema ya kumkombaa mwafrika au any other beneficiary for that matter. Unasahau politics behind AID. Unasahau kwamba AID ni source of employment and income for western countries.... in 2006, Gordon Brown akiwa Chancellor aliulizwa New York na mwandishi....what will the West do to counter China`s Influence in Africa which gives "free money" without conditions. Brown was candid: "ITS STRATEGIC AND MORALLY IMPERATIVE FOR THE WEST TO CONTINUE TO GIVE AID TO AFRICA IRRESPECTIVE OF THE WAY AID IS USED". So, your argument would hold, kama AID ingekuwa inatolewa kwa kufuata priorities za wapokeaji. SOMETHING WHICH IS NOT. Kamaforeign secretary..interest yake ni gender issues na human rights...most of the money will be in that area.....yet you ask...hiyo gender huko western countries ilianza lini..jibu unalo.

Precisely, Iam not blaming the West for our failures, rather, Iam blaming them for double standards, of using AID as weapon of undermining our efforts. Yes, Brahimi, argued Kofi Annan to rethink their strategies..Yet, in the era of google UN is simply powerless...because who pays the bill calls the shots! Leo ukienda Afghanistan, utaona kabisa kwamba western countries they give with right hand and take with left hand. Kagame is right, Africa needs trade and not AID. Let me ask, why is that all important ECONOMIC systems zimeshikiliwa na western countries..at the expense of other countries...talk of multilateralism..today all serious institutions like WTO, IMF and World Bank..are not even part of the UN system so to speak..their policies are shaped by western countries....while at the UN in New York..diplomats talk about refugees and hungry people..in WTO..people talk on how global trade should be shaped.

Sorry Zungu, but I have the feeling that, you just like some of us, are simply apologists of the current status quo. Kutumia arguments ya International Journals..its a weakest link. Tatizo tumeshakuwa brainwashed na hii western system. Huwezi kuniambia eti somebody in Brussels or in Paris knows our problems better than WE. Its an INSULT. What Dambisa says, is..lets try something new.... huko magharibi kuna hii kitu wanaita charity fundraising (I hate it so much)..eti wana-raise hela ya kununua vyandarua..yet..no body is thinking kutafuta solution ya chanzo cha mbu. Hebu niambie Kikwete anaenda New York anapewa vyandarua million tano..anakuja amefurahi..kwa mtoto wa mkulima kama Masanja..will naturally ask..Mr, President..ar you serious? what will happen hivyo vyandarua vikichanika? utarudi kuomba vingine New York au itakuwaje?

Tatizo la Africa ni sisi wasomi..we are too theoretical to address REAL problems of our people. Hivi hiyo academic Journal hata kama utaiandika..nani ataitumia?..zaidi ya kutumika kama elimu ya nadharia KWA WAZUNGU KUJIFUNZA KUHUSU Africa (maana our students hardly have access to the Lexis, Heinonline etc..)! Africa we are doomed even by the kind of education we get...we dont get a necessary education ya kuaddress matatizo yetu. Tunajidanganya eti we are one world..forgeting that..sisi matatizo yetu ni unique and they need unique solutions. No country EVER followed the Western prescription ever made it. Indeed, the BIGGEST MISTAKE WE TEND TO MAKE IS TO THINK AFRICA AS AN INCOMPLETE VERSION OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD! Yet we are still grappling na matatizo wenzetu waliyoyapitia miaka mia mbili nyuma! China is the living example. They have their own style of democracy, economy and alike..it doesnt bother them what the Human Rights WATCH or Amnesty International will say! And see where they are. Narudia tena, Africa is the only CONTINENT which has been condemned to develop while democratizing. Yet even these western countries NEVER did that!Na ukiangalia kwa ukaribu..utagundua kwa nini..ASIA imepata some decent progress kiuchumi....walikataa hii train ya western concept za human rights and democracy.

Chukulia mfano mdogo wa hizi so called MDGs za UN...every body in the donor world is taking about MDGs..but is it something new? probably not! Nyerere alianzisha MDGs zake miaka hiyoo......wengi hawajazaliwa humu..alijua umuhimu wa elimu ya msingi kutolewa bure, afya ya mama na mtoto, elimu ya watu wazima, maji safi na salama..etcs....what happened? hawa hawa donors..ndo walimshukia wakamyima hela....kwamba huwezi toa huduma bure..well Nyerere as a lone ranger had no alternative..lakini..today we are getting the same thing Nyerere did..albeit in the name of MDGs! Upuuzi wa namna hii tunaofanyiwa ni mwingi!

So wait a minute, I am not blaming anybody for our predicaments...rather I say...we should be supported in our priorities.....hii tendency ya ku-co-opt elites wachache na kuwapa feelings kwamba na wao ni wazungu kwa kuwapa mishahara mikubwa kama experts..ndo inawafanya wasaliti hata raia wenzao..dont forget..Chenge is Harvard Graduate, Membe is John Hopkins alum, Ndullu is a Northwestern alum..nk...tatizo la waafrika ni too theoretical! Perhaps we need a new era of an education reflecting our needs na siyo hizi mentalities za Yale or Harvard Journals..ambazo hata watu wetu hawana access nazo.

 

[MJM]

Kisoda,

Ungetutendea haki kama ungetuwekea source (not author alone) na tarehe. Andrew Mwenda ninamfahamu. Ni Editor wa The Independent daily in Uganda. Kwa sasa yuko Yale hosted by the Department of African Studies akiandika kitabu similar to "Dead Aid", denouncing/calling for a radical cut-off, zero foreign aid to Africa. He is not an academic; he is a journalist. Hoja zake hazina evidence, mara nyingi kama si zote. Anatumia story kama hii to conclude that "Aid is not and can never Work". Hapa kuna mambo mawili: (1) how much aid are we talking about? (2) how do you evaluate the impact of development interventions whether funded by foreign aid or taxpayer's money? The second point is the key because if you use flawed method, you will end up with a wrong conclusion. And do we have any piece of empirical evidence to support the argument that foreign aid can never work? Haya ni baadhi ya maswali ambayo wataalamu katika taasisi kama Yale watataka majibu yake kabla ya kukubaliana na hoja ya kupinga foreign aid. In fact, I am not sure if he has given a talk in any econ department!(you know what I am talking about). Je, kuna yeyote aliyewahi kuona paper katika Journal yoyote (peer reviewed) by Andrew or Dambisa or anybody else concluding that aid can never work and it should be stopped because it's responsible for the Africa's economic misery? What about taxpayers money; is it working?

By the way, his dad was a senior minister in Uganda for many years. Arguably, he was a close friend of Kagame (Kumbuka Kagame kakulia Uganda na ndio waliomweka madarakani). Katika mazungumzo yake mara nyingi ana-imply kwamba yeye ni miongoni mwa watu wanaompatia bwana Kagame "policy prescriptions". So, his view of Kagame may be biased!

Wewe ni mmoja wa watu wanaochukia kusikia Kagame kafanya mambo mazuri. Forget about the authror and his other articles. Discuss kuhusu article aliyotoa hizo nyingine reserve na utuletee baadaye. The issue is Kagame and Kabila are doing very fine despite the hard moments they have gone through. They are tough and firm on national development. Haya mambo democracy let me reserve my comments too because if Tanzania is the role model on democracy, rule of law, .... i'm afraid. Tukubali au tukatae Rais wetu hawezi kulinganishwa na Kabila wala Kagame tuna mbabaishaji tu hapa.

 

[Kisoda2]

Wewe ni mmoja wa watu wanaochukia kusikia Kagame kafanya mambo mazuri. Forget about the authror and his other articles. Discuss kuhusu article aliyotoa hizo nyingine reserve na utuletee baadaye. The issue is Kagame and Kabila are doing very fine despite the hard moments they have gone through. They are tough and firm on national development. Haya mambo democracy let me reserve my comments too because if Tanzania is the role model on democracy, rule of law, .... i'm afraid. Tukubali au tukatae Rais wetu hawezi kulinganishwa na Kabila wala Kagame tuna mbabaishaji tu hapa.

MJM nakubaliaana nawe hapa kwamba ni how the so called Kagame doing to overcome his country problems and take his people to the promised land compared to ours and other neighbor countries.
Tukizisoma kwa makini articles Kagame amejaribu kuonyesha kwanini anataka fair trade na siyo aid.Mfano "In a discussion with President Paul Kagame, he told me that he had looked
at some of the "poverty reduction" projects and they smelt bad. "There are
projects here worth only $5m and when I looked at their expenses, I found
that $1m was going into buying these cars, each one of them at $70,000.
Another $1m goes to buy office furniture, more $1m for meetings and
entertainment, and yet another $1m as salaries for technical experts,
leaving only $1m for the actual expenditure on a poverty reducing activity.
Is this the way to fight poverty?" he asked ."
Sasa hapo unaweza kuona kitu hapo.

 

[bob giza]

matatizo ya africa ni very common, hayahitaji PhD's, au sijui masters degree kuyajua, hatuna barabara, hilo linaonekana, hospitali, n.k..n.k..mm siku zote naona misaada upuuzi mtupu, bajeti ya mwaka jana hapa Tanzania ilikuwa 6.8 trillion (kama sikosei), na pato la ndani lilikuwa ni 4. something trillion (correct me if am wrong), sasa we needed more on forign aid na mikopo kumeet our budget, sasa mm nikajisemea kwa nini tusiwe na budget ya kufunga mkanda kwa hela tulonayo na kuacha utegemezi? cuz' mwanzoni itakuwa shida lakini pole pole tuna adapt na kujua kujitegemea..by the way unakuta almost half of the budget ni posho, safari za nje, keki za mikutano na kahawa,uendeshaji wa ofisi, ununuzi wa ma v8, na ma upuuzi mengineyo..sijasema watu wasinywe gahawa, but what am saying foreigh aid ndo inafanya tunakuwa na kiburi cha kuweka budget ya kununua mi v8 n.k..we unadhani mkononi una buku tatu unusu utaanza kuwaza kununua v8, you will definately prioritise..cut foreign aid, stop our dependency on foreign countries..lets work on our own na tutafika tuu...they have been helping us and what have we achieved in return?kagame is right, waziri mnunulie escudo grand, cc 2500, thats more than enough...v8 la kazi gani?eti barabara zetu mbovu ndo maana wanahitaji ma v8 ili kuwafikia wananchi, nani kasema upuuzi huo?? hiyo ndo inawafanya wasitake hata kujenga barabara simply because they will ride on v8...lets change our strategy and stop this non sense foreign aid..

 

[Zungu Pule]

Zungu, heshima mbele, nadhani you are missing a point. Unataka kuassume kwamba misaada inakuja kwa nia njema ya kumkombaa mwafrika au any other beneficiary for that matter. Unasahau politics behind AID. Unasahau kwamba AID ni source of employment and income for western countries.... in 2006, Gordon Brown akiwa Chancellor aliulizwa New York na mwandishi....what will the West do to counter China`s Influence in Africa which gives "free money" without conditions. Brown was candid: "ITS STRATEGIC AND MORALLY IMPERATIVE FOR THE WEST TO CONTINUE TO GIVE AID TO AFRICA IRRESPECTIVE OF THE WAY AID IS USED". So, your argument would hold, kama AID ingekuwa inatolewa kwa kufuata priorities za wapokeaji. SOMETHING WHICH IS NOT. Kamaforeign secretary..interest yake ni gender issues na human rights...most of the money will be in that area.....yet you ask...hiyo gender huko western countries ilianza lini..jibu unalo.

Precisely, Iam not blaming the West for our failures, rather, Iam blaming them for double standards, of using AID as weapon of undermining our efforts. Yes, Brahimi, argued Kofi Annan to rethink their strategies..Yet, in the era of google UN is simply powerless...because who pays the bill calls the shots! Leo ukienda Afghanistan, utaona kabisa kwamba western countries they give with right hand and take with left hand. Kagame is right, Africa needs trade and not AID. Let me ask, why is that all important ECONOMIC systems zimeshikiliwa na western countries..at the expense of other countries...talk of multilateralism..today all serious institutions like WTO, IMF and World Bank..are not even part of the UN system so to speak..their policies are shaped by western countries....while at the UN in New York..diplomats talk about refugees and hungry people..in WTO..people talk on how global trade should be shaped.

Sorry Zungu, but I have the feeling that, you just like some of us, are simply apologists of the current status quo. Kutumia arguments ya International Journals..its a weakest link. Tatizo tumeshakuwa brainwashed na hii western system. Huwezi kuniambia eti somebody in Brussels or in Paris knows our problems better than WE. Its an INSULT. What Dambisa says, is..lets try something new.... huko magharibi kuna hii kitu wanaita charity fundraising (I hate it so much)..eti wana-raise hela ya kununua vyandarua..yet..no body is thinking kutafuta solution ya chanzo cha mbu. Hebu niambie Kikwete anaenda New York anapewa vyandarua million tano..anakuja amefurahi..kwa mtoto wa mkulima kama Masanja..will naturally ask..Mr, President..ar you serious? what will happen hivyo vyandarua vikichanika? utarudi kuomba vingine New York au itakuwaje?

Tatizo la Africa ni sisi wasomi..we are too theoretical to address REAL problems of our people. Hivi hiyo academic Journal hata kama utaiandika..nani ataitumia?..zaidi ya kutumika kama elimu ya nadharia KWA WAZUNGU KUJIFUNZA KUHUSU Africa (maana our students hardly have access to the Lexis, Heinonline etc..)! Africa we are doomed even by the kind of education we get...we dont get a necessary education ya kuaddress matatizo yetu. Tunajidanganya eti we are one world..forgeting that..sisi matatizo yetu ni unique and they need unique solutions. No country EVER followed the Western prescription ever made it. Indeed, the BIGGEST MISTAKE WE TEND TO MAKE IS TO THINK AFRICA AS AN INCOMPLETE VERSION OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD! Yet we are still grappling na matatizo wenzetu waliyoyapitia miaka mia mbili nyuma! China is the living example. They have their own style of democracy, economy and alike..it doesnt bother them what the Human Rights WATCH or Amnesty International will say! And see where they are. Narudia tena, Africa is the only CONTINENT which has been condemned to develop while democratizing. Yet even these western countries NEVER did that!Na ukiangalia kwa ukaribu..utagundua kwa nini..ASIA imepata some decent progress kiuchumi....walikataa hii train ya western concept za human rights and democracy.

Chukulia mfano mdogo wa hizi so called MDGs za UN...every body in the donor world is taking about MDGs..but is it something new? probably not! Nyerere alianzisha MDGs zake miaka hiyoo......wengi hawajazaliwa humu..alijua umuhimu wa elimu ya msingi kutolewa bure, afya ya mama na mtoto, elimu ya watu wazima, maji safi na salama..etcs....what happened? hawa hawa donors..ndo walimshukia wakamyima hela....kwamba huwezi toa huduma bure..well Nyerere as a lone ranger had no alternative..lakini..today we are getting the same thing Nyerere did..albeit in the name of MDGs! Upuuzi wa namna hii tunaofanyiwa ni mwingi!

So wait a minute, I am not blaming anybody for our predicaments...rather I say...we should be supported in our priorities.....hii tendency ya ku-co-opt elites wachache na kuwapa feelings kwamba na wao ni wazungu kwa kuwapa mishahara mikubwa kama experts..ndo inawafanya wasaliti hata raia wenzao..dont forget..Chenge is Harvard Graduate, Membe is John Hopkins alum, Ndullu is a Northwestern alum..nk...tatizo la waafrika ni too theoretical! Perhaps we need a new era of an education reflecting our needs na siyo hizi mentalities za Yale or Harvard Journals..ambazo hata watu wetu hawana access nazo.

You are off again. Nimekwambia hakuna mtu asiyejua matatizo yake. Yes, you know you are problems better than anyboby else. Then, solve your problems. Does it help to say I know my problems better than you and then do nothing about them? I see, now you are talking about "our priorites" and not that "foreign aid is tha cause of all our messy". The way unavyoandika ni kama vile unataka hao donors wakuonee huruma na kukupa msaada wa bure. Kwa bahati mbaya sana there is no free lunch. Si Europe, wala America, wala China, wala Vatican, Wala Saudia watakaotoa msaada wa bure. It is natural that everybody is doing what's in their best interests to do. Sasa, kama hii misaada ya nje ina malengo fulani au ni danganya toto, who do you think is to blame? Kagame aliulizwa hili swali akasema ni sisi wapokeaji wa kulaumiwa.

Just to remind you, tatizo langu ni hoja kwamba misaada ya nje ndio chanzo cha umaskini barani Africa. And NOT everything else you have mentioned. I am not trying to defend the status quo either. I am just wondering how you concluded the causal relationship between foreign aid and Africa's poverty. You will do better if you can focus on this question for now leave the rest for the next time. I want you or anybody else to show me that pindi misaada ya nje itakapositishwa, basi Africa tutapata maendeleo ya kiuchumi. Then, I will be good.

 

[Masanja]

You are off again. Nimekwambia hakuna mtu asiyejua matatizo yake. Yes, you know you are problems better than anyboby else. Then, solve your problems. Does it help to say I know my problems better than you and then do nothing about them? I see, now you are talking about "our priorites" and not that "foreign aid is tha cause of all our messy". The way unavyoandika ni kama vile unataka hao donors wakuonee huruma na kukupa msaada wa bure. Kwa bahati mbaya sana there is no free lunch. Si Europe, wala America, wala China, wala Vatican, Wala Saudia watakaotoa msaada wa bure. It is natural that everybody is doing what's in their best interests to do. Sasa, kama hii misaada ya nje ina malengo fulani au ni danganya toto, who do you think is to blame? Kagame aliulizwa hili swali akasema ni sisi wapokeaji wa kulaumiwa.

Just to remind you, tatizo langu ni hoja kwamba misaada ya nje ndio chanzo cha umaskini barani Africa. And NOT everything else you have mentioned. I am not trying to defend the status quo either. I am just wondering how you concluded the causal relationship between foreign aid and Africa's poverty. You will do better if you can focus on this question for now leave the rest for the next time. I want you or anybody else to show me that pindi misaada ya nje itakapositishwa, basi Africa tutapata maendeleo ya kiuchumi. Then, I will be good.

Zungu the problem is unataka ku-argue hili swala kwa theories, something which simply wont do us any good. Kama wachangiaji wanavyosema huhitaji PhD ya MIT kujua kwamba hatuhitaji kupewa misaada ya vyandarua, na badala yake tunahitaji kutokomeza vyanzo vya mbu. And why do we accept vyandarua? Its a million $$ question. I agree kwamba sisi wenyewe tunachangia kiasi kikubwa kwenye hii messy. Lakini, sasa kwa nini hawa jamaa wasituache?

Hivi Mzee Juma akimpa Mimba mwanangu Shida aliye darasa la sita..nitaacha kumpeleka mahakamani kwa vile mwanangu Shida alikubali? C`on man cut me some slack please! Foreign AID is bad precisely because it breeds corruption. You might ask, bila AID hakuna corruption? I say No with caveat. When you know that there are free goodies..you tend to be lax..and thats human nature. AID gives money to people who are never accountable to the taxpayers. Ukisitisha misaada, YES I agree kwamba hali itabadilika kwa sababu we will know there is no free lunch as you say. Kama viongozi wetu wangejua kwamba ile 40% ya budget deficit hatuna pa kuiomba..wangeelewa kwamba we dont need to buy luxury goods amidist scarcity. Kutetea AID ni kuwa apologetic kwa sababu elites wachache waafrika na wao wanafaidika. Ndo maana leo utakuta hata Professor na wasomi kibao wako kwenye NGOs...kwa sababu huko ndo kuna hela. I can go on and on..but bottomline...Africa IMESALITIWA NA WASOMI wanaojifanya kwamba wanauelewa wa challenges zinazotuface..wakipewa nafasi..wanakuwa zaidi ya wale waliowaondoa.

 

[Ndahani]

Kwa matendo kama haya, Kagame deserves to lead Rwanda. Ukiangalia nchi zote Africa Mashariki sasa hivi rushwa na kukosa umakini kumetawala kila eneo. Tanzania ndio hivyo, Kenya kila siku kuna wizi mkubwa mkubwa wa mali ya uma na hela za umma, Uganda leo hii rais Museveni amewekwa kiti moto kwasababu ya matumizi mabaya ya fedha kwenye mkutano wa commonwealth....Amebaki Kagame tu mwenye nia na mwelekeo!

 

[Msanii]

Mwambie Muungwana aige ya kagame ktk kubana matumizi ya serikali utaona sura inavyombadilika......

 

[rkyaruzi]

Nimepata hii story ya jamaa naona ni vyema tuione pamoja!

Please read and imagine … what will happen When Tanzania copy this!!!



Why donors fear Kagame's war on graft
The Botswana Gazette
13.04.2005
http://www.gazette.bw/tbg_buhead2.htm

by Andrew M. Mwenda

Last week I was in Kigali , this time at the heels of a cabinet decision to
impound all luxurious four wheel drive vehicles bought at government
expense and driven by ministers, security and military chiefs, foreign
experts and their local handlers. In a morning crackdown, all the big men
and women of this republic woke up to find that police constables along the
main roads were stopping and taking away their vehicles and leaving them to
walk to office.
The international donor community, known all over Africa for its corrupt
and profligate life styles which they indulge in the name of fighting
poverty, was this time caught with their pants down. They claim to fight
poverty while riding in luxurious four-wheel drive vehicles, sitting in
opulently furnished offices, earning obscene salaries and living in
executive mansions. In a bold act of defiance, Rwanda impounded even those
vehicles belonging to donor projects. After cleaning his own government of
corruption, he has now taken on the profligacy of the international aid
industry and its experts are now scared.

In a discussion with President Paul Kagame, he told me that he had looked
at some of the "poverty reduction" projects and they smelt bad. "There are
projects here worth only $5m and when I looked at their expenses, I found
that $1m was going into buying these cars, each one of them at $70,000.
Another $1m goes to buy office furniture, more $1m for meetings and
entertainment, and yet another $1m as salaries for technical experts,
leaving only $1m for the actual expenditure on a poverty reducing activity.
Is this the way to fight poverty?" he asked as I shifted with glee in my
chair.

Already, the government is auctioning these vehicles and so far has gotten
over $3m from the sales. Mr Kagame has now issued a new directive, saying
government should not purchase cars for its officials with more than 2,500
cc. But there is more: the government has placed a ceiling on mobile
telephone expenses for all its ministers, military and security chiefs to
50,000 Rwanda Francs (Shs150, 000), and also ordered MTN Rwanda to cut off
their international roaming access.

The directive also stops the holding of workshops, seminars and conferences
on poverty reduction in posh hotels like the Intercontinental, Mille
Collins etc, insisting they should be in government owned buildings at no
cost. The order also requires all government ministries; departments and
agencies to move from privately owned buildings where they pay high rents
to government owned buildings.

I told Kagame that whereas some of the most highly skilled Africans are
going to Europe and North America to clean streets and toilets, our
development partners send us Œtechnical experts on these projects at
individual monthly salaries of between $10,000 and $20,000, a salary that
could pay 12 Africans of better training and experience and save this
continent from severe brain drain. In fact, most of these so-called experts
are a miserable, career-stranded lot in their own countries, but are dumped
in Africa and other poor countries through foreign aid protocols.

Donors never shy from lecturing our governments on fiscal frugality, yet
their aid driven projects are the most profligate. Of total project aid to
Uganda 's ministry of Health, 93 percent of it goes into technical
assistance (i.e. salaries and allowances for the experts) and overheads
(i.e. four wheel drive vehicles, opulent office furniture, computers,
stationary, tea and cakes).

Only a miserable 7 percent of this aid goes into purchase of drugs. Now you
understand why, in spite of a huge health budget, our people cannot find
drugs in hospitals. We in the media have been shouting ourselves hoarse
against government corruption. It is time to expose the worse forms of
profligacy, which forces our governments to pile up huge sums in debt.

In fact, of the total money from the Uganda government budget to the
ministry of Health, 98 percent reaches its intended beneficiaries, clearly
showing that in spite of its corrupt ways, the government of Uganda is a
better evil than donors. Of total project aid to Uganda , 68 percent goes
into overheads and technical assistance. Only 32 percent to its intended
beneficiaries.

A few weeks ago I presented the above facts to President Yoweri Museveni
and asked him to act. My heart bleeds to say he is so deeply discredited by
his inability to tackle corruption in his government, and his own
profligate public administration expenditure that he lacks moral authority
to take on donors.

The other reason is that his regime lives off this coalition of mutual
deceit with donors that both are fighting to eradicate poverty in Uganda .
Kagame, however, is able to act boldly because he occupies a moral high
ground in fighting corruption, has ensured fiscal frugality and also
because his government pursues strategies of survival - not necessarily
dependant on donor approval.

In Rwanda , ministers and other high ranking public officials resign and or
are fired by the week because of allegations of corruption. From the lowest
clerk in a government office to the most powerful minister or military or
security chief, no one is immune to jail when they steal; none close to the
president, none distant from him. You steal, you get jailed.

If there is some prima facie case that you stole, but there isn't not
enough evidence to convict you in a court of law, then you are asked to
resign or get fired. What a tough guy this Kagame man is!!




​

 

[kiber]

si mpaka itokee bongo, mbona kina mramba bado ni wabunge na washafanya mambo ya ajabu sana serikalini, kikwete ni kucheka tu hana lolote au anaogopa kuwatoa nje wanaokula rushwa

 

[Boramaisha]

Rkyaruzi, haya yaliyofanywa na Kagame ndiyo yanapaswa kufanywa na viongozi wetu kwa makusudi kabisa ili kuirejeshea nchi heshima inayostahili. Lakini wapi, hakuna linaloweza kufanyika maana wanajua hatua kama hizo zinawapunguzia ulaji na starehe zao.

Mtoto wa Mkulima alijaribu kutangaza kusitisha ununuaji wa magari ya kifahari sidhani kama kuna aliyemsikiliza ama hata kumpongeza na kumuunga mkono. Inasikitisha kwa kweli.

 

[Songambele]

Labda kwa kutomfahamu zaidi kagame au kuchoka sana na mambo ya bongo. Jiulize kuna jamii forum Rwanda? au utitiri wa magazeti, radio au vyama vya siasa Rwanda. Na vipi ukabila na undugu katika madaraani na kazi wabongo mtamvumilia kweli mtu wa staili ya kagame?. Kuna mtu kama Mtikila Rwanda? ushasikia kuna mtu anakosoa serikali ya kagame, na maisha yako yakoje kama wewe sio mtusi. Ushasikia maandamano au kuna watu wanataka kuandamana Rwanda, unachokisoma ndio serikali ya Rwanda inataka ukisikie.

Rambo marufuku Rwanda na sheria za barabarani ni noma speed mwisho 60kmphr sasa msivyo na displine wabongo mtaishia jela wote. Maisha yenu ya kuunga unga kwa kufanya biashara ndogondogo barabarani na mahali pasiporuhusiwa kwa kagame mtaishia jela wote, huko kwenu mbagala mnajazana kwenye mabasi na kuning'inia mtaishia jela wote.

Bongo bado ni bora zaidi kuliko jirani yeyote East Africa kelele zetu ndio zinazofanya bongo pawe babkubwa.

 

[newmzalendo]

NahAMA NAAMIA RWAAANDA,Hapa mkwere muungwana anazidi kubofyoa,eti anaenda kukopa benki pesa ya bajeti ya mwaka huu,sasa na ile ya bajeti ya 2012 atakopa wapi,au ndio ataenda rwanda kukopa 🙁:angry:

 

[babukijana]

yes kagame is good on that nampa credit zake,ila kuna upande mwingine simkubali kabisa,huni-convise hata kwa dawa.

 

[nomasana]

while this is certainly great news which i appreciate, there is a SERIOUS flaw with kagame's action.
i.e, mixing the aid agencies and the government WILL BACKFIRE because it is a slippery slope.

this to me looks like a "gotcha" moment and a knee jerk reaction by the president. now get me wrong, i have serious disagreements and issues with the foreign aid agencies in africa but i dont believe kagame's action(according to the article) towards the aid agencies was the right one neither was the way it was done

kagame should have limited this particular descision to governent ministries and agencies.

 

[nomasana]

NahAMA NAAMIA RWAAANDA,Hapa mkwere muungwana anazidi kubofyoa,eti anaenda kukopa benki pesa ya bajeti ya mwaka huu,sasa na ile ya bajeti ya 2012 atakopa wapi,au ndio ataenda rwanda kukopa 🙁:angry:

lol!!! bwana wewe una vichekesho kibao!!!!!!

 

[Masikini_Jeuri]

Hapa ndipo ulipo mtihani wetu waafrika. Tukubali ma-dikteta "wema" kwa vile demokrasia haionyeshi dalili za kutupatia viongozi thabiti?

Nchi hii tunahitaji ma dictator wema kwa kweli !
Aaah it is too much!

Kiongozi anaharibu analaumu ooh watendaji wangu na watendaji wanaitikia pembeni oooh hatukusimamiwa vizuri or hatukupewa maelekezo mazuri!

Hivi si ndio wenzetu wa South Korea walikotokea? Naambiwa Dictator wao alichapa watu bakora! YES! Mii hii democracy inayotuwekea cream iliyooza hata sioni faida yake kwa kweli!

 

[Masikini_Jeuri]

yes kagame is good on that nampa credit zake,ila kuna upande mwingine simkubali kabisa,huni-convise hata kwa dawa.

Nami pia !

namana anavyo spend kwenye silaha na pia wizi unaondelea kufanyika DRC na hata alivo handle isssue ya Nkunda ambaye mpaka kesho ni swahiba wake!

 

[Nanu]

We need strong institutions not strong rulers.
We need strong institutions not strong political parties.
We need strong institutions not strong politicians.
We need strong institutions not gifted leaders.
We need strong institutions not strong speech makers.
We need strong institutions not strong personalities!!!