Page 10 The Skanner January 6, 2016
News
By Sam P.K. Collins
Special to the NNPA News Wire from
AllEyesOnDC.com
@SamPKCollins
M
illions of Rwandans took to the
ballot box last month and voted
to pass a constitutional refer-
endum that will allow Rwan-
dan President Paul Kagame to stay
in office until 2034. The months-long
debate about presidential term limits
has placed the spotlight on the contro-
versial figure credited with stabilizing
Rwanda in its post-genocide era.
Earlier this year, more than 3.7 mil-
lion Rwandans petitioned the parlia-
ment to consider abandoning newly
imposed two-term limits on the pres-
idency, citing developmental and eco-
nomic gains made under Kagame.
However, some opponents, including
the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda,
decried the move, describing Kagame
as a heavy-handed leader who commit-
ted human rights abuses and silenced
opposing media voices.
Kagame announced in a televised
New Year’s address at midnight that he
would seek a third term in 2017.
“I did not apply for this. You go and
ask Rwandans why they want me,” Kag-
ame told the Agence France Presse, a
Paris-based news wire service, shortly
after submitting his ballot on Dec. 18.
Kagame came to power in 1994 after
his Tutsi rebel force, the Rwandan Pa-
triotic Front, defeated Hutu extremists
who killed more than 800,000 Tutsis
and moderate Hutus within a 100-day
period. He served as vice president and
minister of defense until the parlia-
ment officially elected him as president
in 2000.
He won an election in 2003 under a
new constitution and garnered enough
votes for a reelection in 2010.
Under Kagame, Rwanda’s child mor-
tality rate dropped by 50 percent,
RUSSELL WATKINS/DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT/CREATIVE COMMONS
Rwandans Mull over Possibility of a Third Term for Paul Kagame
A constitutional referendum may open the door for Rwandan President Paul Kagame to stay in power
until 2034. This photo was taken at the London Summit on Family Planning in London on July 11, 2012.
malaria deaths fell considerably, and
annual economic growth exceeded 8
percent, even with a dearth of natural
resources.
Though Gacaca court proceedings to
try accused perpetrators of genocid-
al violence haven’t met international
standards, the grassroots justice model
“
stitutional referendum changes, how-
ever, threatens that goodwill. During
his visit to the Motherland in Septem-
ber, U.S. President Barack Obama cau-
tioned Kagame against seeking a third
term, noting political instability in
neighboring Burundi and Congo-Braz-
zaville due to similar issues.
Under Kagame, Rwanda’s child mortality rate
dropped by 50 percent, malaria deaths fell
considerably, and annual economic growth
exceeded 8 percent
has prosecuted hundreds of thousands
of Rwandans.
Globally, Kagame has maintained a
positive relationship with his fellow
East African Community members, in-
cluding Kenya and Uganda, the United
States, and, as of 2009, France.
Controversy over the impending con-
The European Union has also
weighed in, expressing worry that op-
position forces didn’t have enough time
to campaign against the referendum.
Some people, like Rwandan refu-
gee Susan F., said that course of action
by the Western powers won’t suffice.
While talking to AllEyesOnDC, Susan,
who requested the use of a pseudonym,
expressed her disappointment in the in
what she described as the United States’
lack of consistency in addressing Afri-
can political matters.
“President Obama has looked at Af-
rica ambivalently. The West only steps
in to get rid of the dictators they don’t
want anymore,” Susan said. “They’re
pleased with puppets. I would like to
see the day when they give all African
dictators equal treatment when they
commit wrongs against their people.
When a report came out accusing Kag-
ame of downing the plane of President
Juvenal Habyarimana, it suddenly dis-
appeared. Why is that? The west has
some interest in keeping him in pow-
er. They support what he’s doing,” said
Susan, who currently lives on the east
coast.
But expert Sam Phatey shared a dif-
ferent sentiment, saying that a third
Kagame term wouldn’t serve the Unit-
ed States’ best interests or that of other
African countries.
“If President Kagame keeps himself
in perpetual power, he won’t stay in
office until 2034. This is a recipe for
military expeditions to overthrow his
government,” Phatey, a student in the
U.S. Institute of Peace’s conflict analy-
sis program in Northwest, told AllEye-
sOnDC.
In 2012, Phatey conducted research
about the economic causes of the Rwan-
dan conflict. These days, he talks exten-
sively about the implications of a third
Kagame term with his colleagues.
“[A third Kagame term] will destabi-
lize Rwanda. If Kagame says he needs
to stay longer to maintain stability, that
means he has failed as a leader to build
strong institutions,” Phatey, a 26-year-
old Atlanta resident, said. “He’s not the
only one in Rwanda with great ideas
and leadership skills needed to make
Rwanda a progressive nation. Kagame
thinks that staying in power would be
Rwanda’s bet interest but it could de-
prive the country of a lot when it comes
to international cooperation.”
Eugenie Mukeshimana, a Rwandan
woman who has lived in the U.S. for
14 years, has a more nuanced view on
presidential term limits, telling All-
EyesOnDC that people in the East Afri-
can country only want to do what they
think benefits them the most, even if it
means Kagame staying in office.
“What’s complicated about Rwanda is
that people don’t feel like they have to
listen to those outside of their country.
Right now, they’re fearful that the pres-
ident succeeding Kagame could dam-
age what we have worked so hard to
build,” Mukeshimana, a social worker
living in Baltimore, Md., said. “As much
as people think of democracy on their
own terms, it doesn’t fit everyone that
way.”
Even so, she admitted that a third
Kagame term could open up Pandora’s
Box, allowing future leaders to consoli-
date their power.