DEVELOPMENT-RWANDA: Observations on an “Air Conditioned Country”

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

KIGALI, Nov 8 2005 (IPS) - More than ten years have passed since Rwanda was shaken to its core by the genocide that claimed upwards of 800,000 lives. But as IPS discovered during a recent visit to the country, the spectre of the killings still casts a shadow over Rwanda – even as the nation makes progress on other fronts.

Minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 1994 during a campaign initiated by Hutu extremists. The killings were carried out by national armed forces and militants called “interahamwe”, a Kinyarwanda term meaning “those who fight together”, often with the use of machetes.

Rebels from the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) seized power in Rwanda in July 1994, after the genocide had been underway for three months. This sparked a massive exodus to neighbouring countries of citizens who feared retribution at the hands of the RPF, and of killers intent on evading capture for their crimes.

Since 1994, about a million Rwandans have been repatriated.

“Seventy-five percent of them have returned from neighbouring Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda,” says Vincent Karega, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour. “Returnees from Europe and North America come back at a slower pace due to limited services, such as lack of good schools and health care.”

Low salaries have also discouraged some from coming home.

The genocide took a severe toll on skilled labour in Rwanda.

“We don’t have enough capacity now. We need more schools,” Uzziel Ndagijimana, director of the School of Finance and Banking in the capital, Kigali, told IPS. “I think we’ll need ten to 15 years to be self-sufficient in skilled manpower in insurance, banking and accountancy.”

These words are echoed by Karega: “We need basic skills in hair dressing, charcoal making and carpet cleaning for those seeking self-employment. We also need accountants.”

“Entrepreneurial spirit is not there. If you are in a hurry in Rwanda you can’t eat. If you order coffee they will bring you juice instead,” he notes, smiling.

In a bid to speed up repatriation, government provides air tickets and job opportunities for those wishing to return home from overseas, says Karega. The Harare-based Africa Capacity Building Foundation is also helping Rwanda – and other African countries – to plug the gaps in labour markets. (The foundation was established in 1991 by various aid and financial groups, including the World Bank – as well as donors and certain African governments.)

More problematic is the return of Hutu militants who fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1994, and who have continued to threaten Rwanda’s security. Of several rebel groups operating out of the DRC, only the main Hutu rebel movement, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda, has indicated a willingness to end its armed struggle.

Foreign investors have also been slow to make their presence felt in Rwanda.

“Ninety percent of our investors are Rwandese,” says Karega.

On the education front, there is better news. Primary school enrolment has tripled, and secondary school enrolment doubled since 1994, according to Karega.

But, while Rwanda may be educating its citizens, there are concerns that it is adopting a less benevolent approach in other spheres. The opposition has been suppressed and media freedoms undermined, prompting a number of independent journalists to abandon their profession, or flee the country.

Some have argued that population growth lies at the heart of tensions in Rwanda, with competition for land fuelling power struggles in the country. At present, it houses just over eight million people.

“At 340 inhabitants per square kilometre, it (population density) is the highest in sub-Saharan Africa,” says Kagera. “Japan is worse than Rwanda – so is Europe. But Japan and Europe know how to put their land to good use. Rwanda’s small land could also be put into good production.”

Irrigation is they key, he adds.

“Rwanda has two agricultural seasons; with irrigation we could have three seasons. We have (some) of the best weather in the world. It is never hot. We don’t go over 30 decrees centigrade. We are an air conditioned country.”

Adds Peter Malinga of the Kigali-based Human Resources and Institutional Development Agency: “There is no population explosion in Rwanda…Yes, there are a lot of people. But the land is enough for those who live in it.”

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest challenges confronting the country is completing legal proceedings against those accused of helping to carry out the genocide.

Human rights groups say the government of President Paul Kagame is holding more than 100,000 suspects in overcrowded jails, where they await trial for their role in the massacres.

Officials claim the “gacaca” system of trying people in village courts will ease overcrowding and promote reconciliation. (The term “gacaca” has been translated as “justice on the grass”.)

However, rights watchdog Amnesty International says gacaca courts move slowly, and that government’s plans in this regard are too ambitious.