The Independent (Kampala)
Frank Mugambage
23 June 2011
Even visitors who heard Rwanda’s great stories and visited for the first time were amazed by the progress.
The story about Rwanda’s path to prosperity is an easy and straight forward one to tell. It is underpinned by a well thought through “Vision 2020” which charts the course and lays strategies to guide the country through its transformation to a middle income status by 2020. It also defines clear indicators to evaluate the implementation process.
Looking back at what Rwanda has been through and the progress made in all social economic and political aspects of the country, only those who have a crisis of believing may not acknowledge that the country is fast transforming for the benefit of all its citizens and those who live or conduct business in the country. Rwanda’s transformation process has also provided lessons to those who wish to learn from the hard experiences and the good practices developed there from. Quite many from the region, the continent and beyond have increasingly been visiting Rwanda to learn.
Rwanda has embraced and entrenched national unity as the basic pillar of the governance infrastructure, moving away from the bad politics of the past regimes (sectarianism, mismanagement of public affairs, etc) which brought the country to near total destruction. Listening to Rwandans telling their stories about the transformation that has taken such a short time, one notices that they are themselves highly transformed. They are ready and able to engage in issues affecting their lives and, most importantly, determined to work to earn a better living rather than expect others to offer it. They have bought into the shared vision and are mobilised to realise it for the benefit of all.
Good governance is therefore undoubtedly the single most important contributor to the successes Rwanda has been registering in the last one and a half decade. The culture of putting the common good and collective effort before personal interests has been popularised and is taking root in the society beginning with those in leadership positions. The good leadership has adopted consensus building in the integrated and holistic approach designed in the Vision 2020, in which Rwandans now understand their roles in contributing to effective implementation and policy execution.
This is what underlies the extraordinary achievements registered this far and guarantees continuity.
Rwanda’s leadership and especially President Paul Kagame should be commended for this. Great appreciation goes to those who objectively provide encouragement including those who write about the positive changes as they happen. Shame to those who choose to see Rwanda and Africa as doomed to fail. We don’t need their uncalled-for and wild criticisms and fabrications aimed at undermining the good efforts Rwandans are making.
A few examples here below will serve to illustrate my point.
Odongo Petero, wrote in The Independent cautioning Andrew Mwenda not to acknowledge and praise the good work of President Kagame because it would damage his reputation.
What Mwenda writes about Rwanda and President Kagame is based on the facts and realities on the ground. Indeed, more often than not, he has supported his stories with statistics, photos, and other images. They are not fabrications. Time is already telling and transformation is evident which is what Mwenda writes about. There are also many other witnesses, individuals, credible organisations, local, foreign and international. Rwandans and many visitors to Rwanda, give narratives (may be for lack of skills to write), of experiences of their extraordinary transformation. Even visitors who had heard about the great stories and visited Rwanda for the first time were amazed by the extent of progress in all spheres of human endeavour.
Other examples are those written by conspiracy theorists in different media outlets geared towards misinforming public opinion and detract people from the good that is happening. They write fabrications in tabloids. The target is the uninformed audience that has not had a chance to follow the developments in Rwanda. These will be ignored as they have always been as Rwandans remain focused on the core business of nation building. This negative contribution will be outdone by the fruits of our achievements.
Those who write, like Mwenda, and those who tell the story in other ways are not only bringing out the good that is already benefiting Rwandans but are also informing those who may choose, like many have done, to learn from the experience. There are some lessons that the region, continent and humanity can learn from.
The writer is Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda.
AllAfrica – All the Time
View article:
Why Nation’s Detractors Will Fail