Rwandan President Paul Kagame is undoubtedly one of the most inspiring Presidents on the African continent even among his peers. Kagame is a role model who turned Rwanda from the brink of a failed state to one of the best performing countries on the continent. However, in the Western media, stories about Kagame are the opposite of what he actually stands for.  

When one reads headlines by The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC and VOA, the Rwandan President is  called all sorts of names; autocratic, dictator, human rights violator, media predator, and many more, yet the same media houses cannot use similar names referring to Western leaders.  

Kagame has not been in the good books of Western countries for different reasons. First of all, he led a rebel movement that overthrew a regime that had the ‘legitimate’ support of superpowers. The Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) considered ill equipped and poorly trained won a war against giants without any superpower godfather. This was the first crime. France was there to defend the government that committed the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, but ended up being pushed, along with the defeated genocidal army, into Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

In post-colonial Africa, the West used media as a weapon against governments considered as not playing by their ‘rule book,’ in order to shape Western narrative to influence geopolitics, people’s perception and thinking, with an ultimate goal of causing regime change.  The West's foreign policy towards weak states is to replace leaders they do not want by any means possible. The West minds about their interests, not what the leader will deliver to his or her people.

Western media campaign against Rwanda

When BBC and VOA started broadcasting programs in Kinyarwanda, the aim was not to help people in the Great Lakes understand better what happens in the region. It was to shape the narrative. It was to give voice to the defeated army that committed genocide. It was to give voice to genocide suspects to deny what they had done and instead blame it on Kagame and the RPF. Currently, it is Western media that is on the forefront of genocide denial and trying to re-write Rwandan history. It is not surprising, therefore, that BBC and VOA are sponsored by countries that still deny calling the genocide against the Tutsi by its real name, despite a resolution by the UN designating April 7, every year, as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.  

Secondly, Kagame’s leadership that is charting its own political and development path without subscribing to the Western ‘rule book,’ goes against the neo-colonial agenda.  “Even those who criticize Kagame know very well that he has done miracles for his country and his people. But they simply mention the achievements in passing and jump to all sorts of allegations peddled by genocide deniers, and fugitives so that the people of Rwanda can hate him and his government,” an African diplomat once noted.

Kagame’s success is not credited to them; it defeats the neo-colonialism agenda. If all African leaders think like him, the West will no-longer exploit Africa. Kagame therefore, has to be demonized by the West to stop his ‘bad’ influence.

Rwanda is not a perfect state. It has its own challenges that it keeps on improving. Managing a post genocide country is on its own a challenge that can only be well understood by Kagame and his government rather than critics. But when Western media gives a platform to genocide suspects and people who fell out with Kagame, they become a mouthpiece for such people. Western media amplifies the few voices out there to sound like the country is facing a leadership crisis. What they forget is that the people who gave Kagame the mandate and legitimacy are the majority and live in Rwanda and are the ones who know their President better, not outsiders and criminal suspects.

Giving voice to criminals and their supporters

Foreigners like Michella Wrong, Judi Rever, Anjan Sundaram, Jane Corbin and others, are given space by Western media to deny genocide and accuse Kagame and the RPF government of killing the Hutu, yet no Holocaust denier can be praised and given a platform by Western media. But because it is about Africa, because it is Rwanda, it does not matter.

Paul Rusesabagina who is facing terrorism charges - and some evidence is held by FBI and Belgian police - could not be extradited to Rwanda for trial. When Rwanda uses the same means Western countries use to lure criminals into arrest, the blame starts but silence is kept on precedents. The West rule book seems to suggest to Kagame, “do as we say but do not do as we do.”  

Kagame has refused to listen to this, which is another crime. Victoire Ingabire who was released from prison on presidential pardon for genocide negation and double genocide claims is painted by Western media as a "fierce critic and politician.” Knowing that the genocide against the Tutsi was caused by ethnic division and discrimination applied by the colonialists, the Belgians, and the post-independence government, one wonders which country on earth can allow people like Ingabire to form political parties.   

Western media like the BBC has been used as a propaganda tool to tell lies and deceptions since WWII. Even before WWII, around the 1930s, BBC conducted transnational broadcasting to promote Britain’s diplomacy (read deceptive influence) in times of rising international tension and conflict. In fact, BBC can be viewed as the mother of present day fake news.

In the US, mainstream media like VOA, Washington Post, The New York Times,   lost ethical conduct and credibility by serving the interests of their paymasters. In 2003, for example, US media falsely supported policy makers to claim Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam Hussein was summarily killed and Iraq was destroyed. The partisan coverage of presidential elections by US media buries the truth. Peter Vanderwicken, the editor of Vanderwicken's Financial Digest,  wrote in the Harvard Business Review, in an article titled “why the News Is not the Truth,” observing that, “The U.S. press, like the U.S. government, is a corrupt and troubled institution. Corrupt not so much in the sense that it accepts bribes but in a systemic sense. It fails to do what it claims to do, what it should do, and what society expects it to do.” This tells us, therefore, that the so called freedom of Western media is simply illusionary and deceptive. People should not be surprised therefore, when they tell lies about Kagame and the RPF. It is within their policy to do so in promoting the wishes of their paymasters if they don’t want Kagame and the RPF government.

Democracy and human rights

Democracy and human rights too are used as weapons to destroy the image of leaders who do not subscribe to their ‘rule book’ which is applied with double standards. Freedom House rates Rwanda at 22 points out of 100 (Freedom in the World 2020 report) on people’s access to political rights and civil liberties.

Some of the Western indicators on democracy and human rights applied to African countries or on Rwanda in particular, are not applicable or simply irrelevant. For example, to measure human rights by people who take to the streets to demonstrate does not represent the Rwandan culture. When Rwandans are aggrieved they do not shout on the streets carrying posters. They seek dialogue. This is within Rwandan culture and tradition. This is why Rwanda re-invented Gacaca courts in modern times, to deal with genocide cases as both restorative and participatory justice.

Again, given the history and contextual realities of Rwanda, the RPF government opted for consensual democracy rather than confrontational politics. One of the weaknesses of the West is assuming that their democracy is superior and they have to impose it on others. Democracy with Rwandan characteristics is working well for the Rwandan people and they do not have to copy from the West. There is no one size fit all model of democracy.

Kagame’s leadership moves millions of Rwandan people out of poverty. More than 90 percent of Rwandans have universal healthcare. The government spends Rwf75 billion in four years to improve the dignity and self-worth of elderly persons. All citizens get Covid-19 testing and vaccination at no cost. By 2024 all Rwandans expect to have access to electricity. The list is long. If all this is not about human rights, then one wonders what it is! If Kagame is a dictator and he delivers all this to the Rwandan people, then I would prefer to be under such dictatorship than in a democracy that delivers nothing.

Dignity and self-worth

These are values that the West believes cannot be pursued by poor countries and Kagame does not believe this. Even the poor deserve respect and equality as human beings. When Kagame refused the US condition of importing second hand clothes in order to qualify for export free quota, he chose to lose the benefits of the Africa Opportunity Act (AGOA) than surrendering the dignity of his people. Rwandans should not wear secondhand rejects from rich countries. Some choices to emancipate Rwandans have a price to pay. Kagame will not be liked for this because the West will lose business but Rwanda will develop her own textile industries.

The Rwandan model

In 2016, the African Union (AU) entrusted Kagame to lead reforms to make the continental body more efficient and productive towards achieving its Agenda 2063. The African leaders chose him because of his track record of transforming Rwanda into one of the most well governed and developing countries on the continent. As a Pan Africanist, Kagame recently argued for the building of Africa’s capacity to produce high-quality medicines and vaccines in Africa. His statement came at a time Western countries are hording Covid-19 vaccines and refusing to grant patent rights for the manufacture of the vaccines in Africa because they will not make enough profits.  By Kagame calling for Africa’s self–reliance, he automatically steps on toes of the imperial agenda. Kagame cannot escape harassment by the Western media.

The African continent cannot rely on someone who is a dictator, a human rights violator, and so on, to lead African Union reforms. These are lies and deceptions created by the west to keep Africans in shackles of dependency. Kagame is paying the price for championing a new model for Rwanda and Africa’s total liberation. 

The story of Ousman Touray

Ousman Touray is a young and brilliant undergraduate from Gambia who had an opportunity to study his master’s degree program in Western countries. When you hear his story that went viral in African media platforms, then you will understand that Kagame is a role model and inspiration to many African youth.

Ousman refused offers of scholarships to attend Western universities but preferred to study in Rwanda! Reason? The Rwandan development model is successful and more relevant to his country than the far West. Kagame has given hope to young Africans whose mindset looked at the West as the only land of opportunity than their mother continent. Kagame’s influence, hated by the West, is loved by millions of Africans and well-wishers.

When Kagame is attacked by Western media and human rights organizations, it is not because of what they want him to appear to be. It is because of the good things he is doing for Rwanda yet its detractors consider bad for their own selfish interests.

Ancient Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, said there is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. Kagame chose to do something.

An African diplomat once told me that if Africa had more Kagames it would develope within one generation.  Therefore, when Western media attacks Kagame, just know that Rwanda is doing well and his image is the price.