Hotel Rwanda: The Presidential Suite (op-ed)
(Hotel Rwanda: Movie depicting the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The slaughter started after an airplane was shot down killing Rwanda’s President.
Presidential suite: Named during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. On political trips Wilson would insist on having a hotel room “conform to his specific requirements”.)
Following the 1994 Republican take over of the US congress, after forty years of Democratic rule, a political science professor said, “There’s been a revolution and the opposition party wasn’t thrown in jail and no one was lined up and shot in the streets.”
Then the professor said …
Rwanda’s current president Paul Kagame became internationally known when he commanded a rebel force that ended the genocide.
From 1994 to 2000 Kagame served as vice president and minister of defense. (But he was considered Rwanda’s de facto leader.)
In 2003 a new constitution was adopted establishing the Republic of Rwanda, the president served a seven year term limited by two terms in office with a bicameral parliament. Kagame, the de facto ruler for almost a decade, was elected president under the new constitution, approved by 93% of the vote.
Kagame brought economic progress to Rwanda by using generous amounts of foreign aid from the international community. (Foreign aid is close to half of Rwanda’s budget.) He’s credited for lifting millions of Rwandans out of poverty and promoting gender equality. Bill Clinton said Kagame was among “the greatest leaders of our time” and Tony Blair called him a “visionary”.
In 2010 Kagame was reelected with 93% of the vote.
With economic prosperity a majority vote in favor of Kagame’s reelection was predictable, but was it probable under a new constitution that permitted multiple parties for the election to be almost unanimous?
David Himbara said, “Having served as presidential aide and economic advisor to Kagame, I resigned in 2010 before the election, after seeing Kagame become dictatorial and sensing that much worse was on the way. Sadly, my intuition was right. The death toll includes (His list was too long to rewrite) and many have been arrested on flimsy charges, beaten by police or simply disappeared. Independent newspapers have been shut down. Opposition parties have been suppressed. Many Rwandans have gone into exile, while many more have been scared into silence.”
When asked why the international community hasn’t taken steps against Kagame’s repressive regime? David Himbara said two words: Genocide guilt, “the world … regrets not having saved the hundreds of thousands who died.”
Rwandan law also bans “genocidal ideology”. The law was designed to encourage unity and restrict hate speech, but Kagame has used vague interpretations of the law to suppress any expression that undermines his authority.
Recently (December 2015) a referendum was held to change the 2003 constitution. The EU delegation in Rwanda’s capital observed there was a lack of “sufficient time and space for debate” on the issue, with the date for the referendum announced December 8 and the draft of the changes “published publicly less than one day ahead of the vote. The short time between the announcement and the holding of the referendum left little or no opportunity for all parties to present their arguments.”
The “yes” vote passed with 98% of the vote.
The amendment allows Kagame to run for a third seven-year term in 2017, at the end of which new rules take effect and he will be eligible to run for two more five year terms, potentially allowing him to remain president until 2034.
The Obama administration has expressed “deep disappointment” that Kagame has orchestrated events to seek a third term in office. The US State Department said, “With this decision, President Kagame ignores an historic opportunity to reinforce and solidify democratic institutions.” (After independence Africa was plagued by dictators that remained in power for decades.)
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 1/13/16
Presidential suite: Named during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. On political trips Wilson would insist on having a hotel room “conform to his specific requirements”.)
Following the 1994 Republican take over of the US congress, after forty years of Democratic rule, a political science professor said, “There’s been a revolution and the opposition party wasn’t thrown in jail and no one was lined up and shot in the streets.”
Then the professor said …
***
Rwanda’s current president Paul Kagame became internationally known when he commanded a rebel force that ended the genocide.
From 1994 to 2000 Kagame served as vice president and minister of defense. (But he was considered Rwanda’s de facto leader.)
In 2003 a new constitution was adopted establishing the Republic of Rwanda, the president served a seven year term limited by two terms in office with a bicameral parliament. Kagame, the de facto ruler for almost a decade, was elected president under the new constitution, approved by 93% of the vote.
Kagame brought economic progress to Rwanda by using generous amounts of foreign aid from the international community. (Foreign aid is close to half of Rwanda’s budget.) He’s credited for lifting millions of Rwandans out of poverty and promoting gender equality. Bill Clinton said Kagame was among “the greatest leaders of our time” and Tony Blair called him a “visionary”.
In 2010 Kagame was reelected with 93% of the vote.
With economic prosperity a majority vote in favor of Kagame’s reelection was predictable, but was it probable under a new constitution that permitted multiple parties for the election to be almost unanimous?
David Himbara said, “Having served as presidential aide and economic advisor to Kagame, I resigned in 2010 before the election, after seeing Kagame become dictatorial and sensing that much worse was on the way. Sadly, my intuition was right. The death toll includes (His list was too long to rewrite) and many have been arrested on flimsy charges, beaten by police or simply disappeared. Independent newspapers have been shut down. Opposition parties have been suppressed. Many Rwandans have gone into exile, while many more have been scared into silence.”
When asked why the international community hasn’t taken steps against Kagame’s repressive regime? David Himbara said two words: Genocide guilt, “the world … regrets not having saved the hundreds of thousands who died.”
Rwandan law also bans “genocidal ideology”. The law was designed to encourage unity and restrict hate speech, but Kagame has used vague interpretations of the law to suppress any expression that undermines his authority.
Recently (December 2015) a referendum was held to change the 2003 constitution. The EU delegation in Rwanda’s capital observed there was a lack of “sufficient time and space for debate” on the issue, with the date for the referendum announced December 8 and the draft of the changes “published publicly less than one day ahead of the vote. The short time between the announcement and the holding of the referendum left little or no opportunity for all parties to present their arguments.”
The “yes” vote passed with 98% of the vote.
The amendment allows Kagame to run for a third seven-year term in 2017, at the end of which new rules take effect and he will be eligible to run for two more five year terms, potentially allowing him to remain president until 2034.
The Obama administration has expressed “deep disappointment” that Kagame has orchestrated events to seek a third term in office. The US State Department said, “With this decision, President Kagame ignores an historic opportunity to reinforce and solidify democratic institutions.” (After independence Africa was plagued by dictators that remained in power for decades.)
***
Then the professor said something I couldn’t appreciate as a student. He said, “The great thing about our democratic process is the peaceful transfer of power.”First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 1/13/16
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