Nairobi — Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused the worldwide neighborhood of utilizing support as a software of management over growing nations.
In an interview with Mario Nawfal, a media character on X, Kagame asserted that international help is usually weaponized to affect the insurance policies and selections of recipient international locations.
Talking on the difficulty, Kagame acknowledged that whereas support has been important in Rwanda’s restoration and growth, it has additionally been used to foster dependency and exert affect over governments.
“It [aid] could be a legal responsibility on a rustic relying on how it’s managed, and that has been our place from the start,” he acknowledged.
“We recognize support, we would have liked it, and we nonetheless want it to an extent, however we want it to construct capacities in order that we do not want it within the close to future.”
Kagame argued that the worldwide neighborhood intentionally ensures that growing nations stay depending on support, thereby permitting donors to dictate their insurance policies.
“The opposite [problem] is whoever provides support controls your life. The truth is, that’s the reason they need you to stick with the help in order that they proceed controlling your life and even threaten, use it as a software to direct you the place they need you to go,” he mentioned.
Kagame’ s assertion comes at a time when the worldwide neighborhood has continued to out extra strain stepping up sanctions on Kigali accusing it of backing the M23 rebels–a declare Rwanda has repeatedly denied.
He additional identified that Rwanda’s stance on accountable support utilization has usually led to criticism and unfounded accusations towards its management.
“A few of us have been branded as conceited, insensitive, or dictatorial simply because we mentioned we need to differentiate issues. It isn’t that we do not need support for the sake of not wanting it. We’re saying support creates dependency–not solely dependency but in addition management,” he added.
Kagame recalled discussions from as early as 1998 when Rwanda, nonetheless recovering from the devastating 1994 genocide, was closely reliant on international support.
He recounted a dialog with Clare Brief, the then UK Minister for Worldwide Improvement, the place he expressed his need for support to be directed in a means that will empower Rwanda to turn out to be self-sufficient.
“I informed her, ‘I recognize your support quite a bit. It’s virtually indispensable in that state of affairs we had been in. However on the identical time, I need to begin early, I need to be accountable, and I maintain speaking to our leaders and different ministers that we have to begin being answerable for ourselves,”‘ Kagame recalled.
Kagame famous that Brief was receptive to his concepts, even inviting different ministers from allied international locations to take heed to his perspective on the use and administration of support.
This engagement in line with Kagame ultimately led to agreements that ensured accountability and transparency in support allocation, together with unbiased audits
Kagame insisted that whereas Rwanda continues to simply accept support the place crucial, such help must be used strategically to construct sustainable capacities of growing nations reasonably than perpetuate dependency.
“It’s a commonplace for us. That’s what we are saying, and that’s what we do,” he affirmed.
