Category: Opinion

In the Rwandan culture, dogs are not exactly known to be man’s best friend. Apart from their utility as the occasional security guards to homesteads and their medieval role in hunting activities, their perception as an ideal pet and faithful companion is something that has never really been present in the Rwandese culture and society.

As a matter of fact, taming dogs in this country is considerably weak, a reality that is evidently displayed with the number of stray dogs roaming the streets. While this is a problem that insidiously manifests itself only when someone gets hurt, another more serious problem lies in the wake by the manner in which we handle the issue.

On Monday this week, 100 Stray Dogs were killed in Musanze by veterinary officials after 3 people were reported to have been bitten by stray dogs. According to the Musanze District Veterinary Officer, Dr. Jean Bosco Nsengiyumva, the move was aimed at preventing dog attacks on the people and the spread of rabies.

I hold the visceral conviction that the occurrence of this incident only shows us that despite the fact that Rwanda has made some commendable advancements in many other areas, it is still very far behind when it comes to the adoption, implementation and less consideration of animal rights.

I am in no way advocating the fact that animals need to be given consideration similar to those of human beings, though I wouldn’t be bothered by the idea, but the depravity and ruthlessness used in handling this animal issue should serve as an indicator that better means need to be developed in handling these cases .

It is true rabies is a rare but dangerous and often irremediable disease and the safety of the population lies above everything else. Nevertheless there is something that remains wrong in the execution of all those roaming dogs.

Rabies can only be transmitted from the bite of a dog that is infected with the Virus. Quoting from the veterinary officials, in those 100 stray dogs that were killed not one rabid dog was reported to be among.

Assuming that some infected dogs were among the pack what justifies the death of the other non-infected dogs? A rabid dog or locally known as “ Imbwa yasaze “ is very much and easily distinguishable from the more ubiquitous stray dog or “umusega “ whether physically or by behavior. An inspection and selection of the rabid dogs did not happen; instead stray dogs in general were rounded up.

So what went wrong? Was it because they were regarded as a potential danger or more simply because they have no home and thus no place in the society? Regrettably, that is the reason lying behind the carnage. These “homeless “dogs were considered as mere nuisance and a potential source of the much dreaded Rabies virus.

Rabies is easily preventable from both the animal and human beings , vaccines have existed for more than a century. Fortunately Dog vaccination is a campaign that has been encouraged as dogs are vaccinated free of charge.

However, there remains a serious loop hole in the act of vaccination. The serious conundrum lies in all the dogs that don’t have owners to take them for vaccination.

Despite the harshness and extreme nature of executing 100 dogs, from an analytical point of view it should be understood that this was not an act of wickedness but as a drastic measure taken due to the lack of the appropriate means of handling such a situation.

Dogs are just a small part of the problem, animals in general, stray animals to be more specific are widespread all over the country.

It is a problem that is not exclusive to Rwanda, but unlike Rwanda many countries have come up with methods of addressing this concern of stray animals and Rwanda just like it has done in many other domains should similarly emulate them.

The Rwanda animal resource development authority in its activities and operations does not cover animal care and control as a matter of fact with the exception of care given to wildlife such as the mountain gorilla or livestock such as the cow, goats and sheep, there seem to be no professional animal care centers that deal with pets.

Stray pets can be a potential danger to the society through aggression or spread of diseases, and unless we plan on continuing these mass massacres similar to the one of Musanze, we are not ensuring anything positive in the future but instead, destroying the wellbeing of these animals.

Over the years Rwanda has been a pioneer in conservation of the environment, so why not go further and conserve what makes part of that actual environment by preserving the welfare of the creatures around us.

Promotion and establishment of animal care and control services and centers is a worthwhile investment that can contribute to the development of this country.

These creatures can be collected, vaccinated , catered to and perhaps for those interested pet lovers, there would be official places for them to go and perhaps adopt these creatures that once roamed the streets.

By: Silver Bugingo

In the last one and a half decades, Rwandan citizens of all walks of life and indeed the entire world community who are objective enough have learnt a big practical lesson from Rwanda; that where there’s a political will, nothing is impossible.

Yes. After three years of painful armed liberation struggle, to which the brave and hard working ladies and gentlemen, young and old, had sacrificed their invaluable lives, the then MRND regime called for a Peace Pact, confronted by this visionary brevity and determination of the then RPA/F.

However, no sooner had an extremist faction in the regime learned that a peace deal had been concluded in Arusha, than they turned their cowardice to their boss, the late President Juveneral Habyarimana, summarizing his lifespan in a bizarre plane crash. What followed is a pitiful inhuman mayhem I spare for sociologists and historians.

Indeed foreign delegates, research fellows and academicians have often honestly said the country’s progress over the past 17 years offers important lessons to the rest of the world. Such people have been especially amazed at how this tiny African country has transformed itself into a model of economic development for other countries in the world. What an incredible development pace!

What remains as evidence, for even the negative critics is that due to clean leadership, foreign investors have been impressed and motivated by what has been achieved in Rwanda the last couple of years. I mean, the country has an institutional framework that favours domestic and foreign direct investment, political stability and a fast growing economy.

Rwanda’s progress on economic recovery within the last one decade is comparable to very few, if any African countries, especially on governance and anti-corruption crusade such as Ghana, Lesotho and Malawi.

Therefore, Rwanda’s success story is not a miracle as insinuated by an unreasonable section. The fact that the country is among the world’s “best doing business reformers” is based on the institutional framework mentioned above and focused political leadership.

The establishment of Rwanda Revenue Authority, Auditor General’s Office, National Tender Board that later changed to Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA), Ombudsman’s Office and the Office of Public Prosecutions to mention but a few, has played a cardinal role in ensuring good governance and accountability.

This in fact, reminds the writer of the Chief of Defense Staff, Lt. Gen. Charles Kyonga’s inspiring observations in his recent presentation titled: “Liberation: Foundation for Rwanda’s Destiny, Sovereignty and Development”.

The eloquent and learned freedom fighter defined liberation as a protracted effort or struggle to overcome impediments or obstacles to national security and development.

Yeah, liberation embraces many things; it is more than defeating armed enemies and taking over political power; it consists of addressing human concerns, the government’s ongoing efforts to liberate people from ignorance, poverty and diseases.

These human concerns, when not addressed, are actually the ones that constitute legitimate causes for conflicts, another liberation struggle-it becomes a vicious cycle of wars and endless deaths.

The foundation of all that has been achieved is RPF’s Eight-point program that includes rule of law, repatriating refugees and protecting the right to citizenship, uniting Rwandans, defending national sovereignty, building a corrupt-free society and governance based on democracy to mention but a few.

Moreover, I’m sure, this will remind many of President Kagame’s campaign strategy last year when he was vying for the second term presidential elections.

For those who don’t remember, it was dubbed: “Imvugo niyo ngiro” loosely translated to mean that action speaks louder than words. That literally, winds up the past and present successes as well as the destiny for citizens of this tiny, beautiful state of a thousand hills.

As earlier indicated, unlike in the other four East African Community members and the African continent at large, where the big fish have thrived deep in the pond of corruption with a high degree of impunity, the greedy will have nowhere to swim here in Rwanda. This on top of other clean credentials is why Rwanda has a good record globally.

According to analysts, the country’s home-grown solutions have led Rwanda to achieve significant results in the areas of justice, unity and reconciliation, economic growth, good governance, and partnerships with the global community.

Flipping over the coin in the interests of our readers and for purposes of diligence, Rwanda could do much better other than being regarded as a one-eyed-man among the blind.

Yes, there are challenges that require the leaders and everybody to revisit the present situation. This will strengthen the resolve to struggle on as well as influencing the next generation to carry on with the struggle for a better society.

Unlike, in most countries in the neighborhood where the same promise of fighting corruption by the presidents and other politicians’ is repeated and yet the cancer continues to grow bigger, the watchdogs in Rwanda have shown progress.

The Auditor general’s reports have repeatedly shown irregularities on accountability. The Ombudsman’s annual reports show gaps on justice and governance and the RPPA has done the same excellently.

Have the alleged culprits been held accountable?

For the last five consecutive years the auditor general’s office has presented to parliament annual reports and revealed tens of billions of public funds unaccounted for by the relevant institutions.

The Ombudsman’s office and public procurement has done the same. In fact, the 2008 Auditor General Report stated that public institutions failed to account for more than 6.5 billion Rwanda francs (US$11.5 million), 8.7 billion Francs for 2009 report while the most recent one of 2010 which is still before the lawmakers shows a whooping Frw9.7 billion is reportedly unaccounted for.

Some tenders totaling 2.1 billion Rwanda francs (US$3.1 million), were awarded without providing evidence that they had been approved by competent internal tender committees.

Without going into the details of what this or that institution has exposed, the bottom line is: have the suspects been diligently investigated, prosecuted and convicted or acquitted? Wouldn’t the over 30 billion Francs supplement and improve on the current government’s pro-poor programs like medical insurance and the anti-Nyakatsi scheme… if the culprits were held accountable?

It’s my humble belief that a true democracy cannot exist unless all citizens have a right to participate in the affairs of the polity of the country. One-sided information, disinformation, misinformation and non-information all equally create an uninformed citizenry, which makes democracy a farce when medium of information is monopolised either by a partisan central authority or by private individuals or oligarchic organisations.

Freedom of expression has four broad social purposes to serve: Helps an individual to attain self-fulfilment; assists in the discovery of truth; strengthens the capacity of an individual in participating in decision-making; and provides a mechanism by which it is possible to establish a reasonable balance between stability and social change.

And I’m convinced that the press should play a crucial role on the anti-corruption crusade. Citizens’ right to know is derived from “freedom of speech and expression, access to information and free press” principle. The people have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way by public office holders.

Like the Chief Ombudsman Mzee Tito Rutaremara once suggested, I think the naming and shaming of corrupt individuals in gazette notices and leading dailies is a step in the right direction to undressing these wolves who don sheep skin yet they are economic mercenaries.

Contact author at: igihesilver@yahoo.com or bugisr@yahoo.com