As he interacted with the youth in December last year, Tshisekedi commented on Kagame’s previous statement that DRC crisis emanates from the country’s leadership which always seeks to externalize its problems.
Instead of proving him wrong, Tshisekedi overlooked the presence of over 120 armed groups in his country and weak army that failed to annihilate them but started blaming Rwanda.
“Rwandans are our brothers and sisters. They need our help to liberate […] They are brothers and need our support to liberate them against leaders holding them back,” he said.
During a press conference held on Wednesday 1st March 2023, following the 18th edition of National Dialogue Council (Umushyikirano), President Kagame reminisced on Congo’s problems noting that the country continues to retain FDLR under plans to threaten Rwanda’s security.
“FDLR is actually welcome in the eastern Congo. But the rest should go back to Rwanda. The reason why they retain FDLR is because they think they can build around it for so long. They have been trying to do that for a force that would come and destabilize Rwanda,” he stated.
“I think the president of Congo, at one point, it must have escaped from his thoughts. Remember when he said he was going to bring regime change in Rwanda, of course I didn’t take that seriously. He must have been joking and he is allowed to make those jokes,” noted Kagame.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a terrorist group formed by individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The Head of State said that the problem of FDLR has existed for long but was overlooked many times yet it is an armed group being supplied with more weapons.
He also recollected attacks plotted by the terrorist group on Rwandan territory in Kinigi in 2019 noting that attackers used weapons received from Congolese government.
Kagame has however disclosed that Rwanda has reinforced security at its border with the neighbouring country and assured citizens that their security is guaranteed.
He made the disclosure during a press conference with members of local, regional and international media following the conclusion of the 18th edition of National Dialogue Council (Umushyikirano).
Kagame highlighted that eastern DRC is not a country where crisis in the area is Congo’s problem, which in turn, affects neighbours.
“In my view there is nothing like eastern Congo’s problem. […] It is actually Congo’s problem and a regional problem, meaning it affects even neighbours. If we are referring to Rwanda, you wouldn’t say Northern Rwanda problem because it is neighbouring with eastern Congo and the spillovers of problems mainly come to the north of the country. That doesn’t make it a northern Rwanda problem. It makes Rwanda’s problem. I want us to understand that eastern Congo’s problem is Congo’s problem,” he said.
“This problem has a very long history in terms of the cause of that. But it also has a long history of how it has been mismanaged from the beginning. That is why it was there for over 20 years. If you look at the attention that has been paid to this so-called eastern Congo’s problem, it is so much that one would think we should have got a solution. So, it has been there for long and has been mismanaged for very long,” added Kagame.
The Head of State further said that the issue was discussed for long during meetings of the African Union, others held in Kenya, Angola and at the level of the United Nations.
“The other day we were supposed to go and meet in Qatar over the same problem. That didn’t happen but, may be, it is going to happen in the near future,” he noted.
Kagame said that the discussions are taking place because the problem was not solved while efforts to handle it were channeled through the wrong way.
“People who want shortcuts, blame it all on Rwanda. But I have not found how it becomes a shortcut because we are still there with the problem,” he stated.
Kagame disclosed that the issue in eastern Congo has roots from colonization given that Rwanda and DRC share colonial history where some people found themselves in another country.
“If there is any country in Africa that does not have people on one side of the border, similar or related to people on the other side of the country, I don’t think there is any,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President said that M23 seems to have become a scarecrow supposed to dramatize the story when people talk about Congo’s problems.
“The so-called M23 is the product of a lot of things mismanaged […] How Rwanda can be blamed for the refugees we have here for over 20 years associated with people in M23. M23 problem started in 2012, when they used some military force to try and resolve problem, some fled to Uganda and others fled here. We have them here in camps,” he noted.
Kagame recalled different agreements that were signed to resolve the problem but ended to no avail until the fighting resumed. The latter is an addition to the presence of over 120 armed groups in Congo.
“How were the 120 groups formed? They are accusing us supporting M23 but who formed over 120 groups? I would suggest to people that they simply need to focus on what should be looked at. The root cause of what we have to deal with is clear. The agreements on how to resolve that were from 2012. How could they not have been implemented? It can’t be because of Rwanda,” he stated.
The Head of State also emphasized that Rwanda was not involved when the rebel group resumed fighting.
“This fighting that started a couple of years ago, had no involvement of Rwanda at all. May be, the ones who started it or wanted it to be there, designed it in such a way that they would blame it on Rwanda. And it’s simple to do that. You just have to distort history. They are saying these are people from Rwanda, meaning the M23 and people we are having here as refugees, who have been here for over 20 years are all called Rwandans. It’s like they are sending them back to where they came from the beginning,” he revealed.
Despite the situation, the President said that what is more interesting is that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) are being retained. FDLR is a terrorist group formed by individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
“FDLR is actually welcome in the eastern Congo. But the rest should go back to Rwanda. The reason why they retain FDLR is because they think they can build around it for so long. They have been trying to do that for a force that would come and destabilize Rwanda,” he stated.
Kagame emphasized that there is no reason that can push Rwanda to storm Congo’s territory or support M23.
The rise in prices has been alarming where the inflation increased by 20.7% in urban areas in January 2023 while the country had registered an increase by 21.6% in December 2022.
The rise in January 2023 was mainly attributed to the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages which increased by 41%. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 8.3 percent on annual basis and increased by 0.1 percent on monthly basis while transport increased by 12.6 percent on annual basis and increased by 0.5 percent on monthly basis.
Addressing participants of the second day of the National Dialogue Council, Dr. Ngirente expressed optimism that prices will continue to fall in this year.
“I would like to reassure Rwandans that we did not forget them. The government did not ignore Rwandans’ concerns in this situation,” he said.
Premier Ngirente explained that the government has done a lot and subsidized prices in different ways.
“Hadn’t it been the subsidies, the current prices would have doubled. Even the current state is a result of the government’s great intervention,” he noted.
Dr. Ngirente disclosed that petroleum products were also subsidized.
“The prices would have soared further. Possibly, they could have doubled of increased three times, hadn’t it been the subsidy,” he said.
The major drivers for inflation include low agricultural produce amidst increased cost of growing crops. For instance, the prices of agro-inputs increased two times.
The latter pushes farmers to sell their produce at higher prices to prevent losses.
The second reason is the increase in prices of petroleum products which affected transport.
The issues are also related to the war between Russia and Ukraine and the economic recovery from effects of COVID-19.
Premier Ngirente said that the subsidy for petroleum products slightly reduced the cost of transport and expressed optimism that the recent subsidy in the Agriculture Season A is expected to increase produce and result in prices’ drop.
“Considering the agricultural yields in the Season A, we are optimistic that maize produce doubled as is the case for Irish potatoes. Beans’ produce decreased slightly due to experienced drought in Southern Province and part of Eastern Province,” he noted.
“As a result, the price of maize has fallen from Rwf800 to Rwf400. This means, the prices for other crops including Irish potatoes will continue to drop,” added Dr. Ngirente.
The results were announced on Tuesday 28th February 2023 during the closing ceremony of the 18th edition of National Dialogue Council (Umushyikirano).
During the ceremony, ministries, public institutions including Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), Rwanda Development Board (RDB) as well as Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) signed new performance contracts (imihigo).
Prime Minister, Dr. Edouard Ngirente explained that the first six districts namely; Nyagatare, Huye, Nyaruguru, Rwamagana and Rusizi did not register a difference of more than 2.5 points
Meanwhile, the last six districts including Nyamagabe, Gakenke, Gicumbi, Musanze, Rutsiro and Burera scored below the average.
Premier Ngirente urged leaders to fill the remaining gap to achieve intended results.
He disclosed that the grading considered full implementation of different projects because it was not agreed to achieve performance contracts halfway.
At provincial level, the Eastern Province emerged the best with 79% points followed by Southern Province with 78%.
The Western Province took the third place with 76% followed by Kigali City with 75% while the Northern Province tailed with 70%.
President Paul Kagame blamed the least performing districts and observed that they share the same problems that should be assessed.
“The first possible reason in Burera, is the abundance of Kanyanga [illicit gin]. Please, follow up and prove me wrong. […] Besides, Nyagatare’s best performance might be a result of reduced consumption of Kanyanga. It also used to face the same problem,” he said.
“Leadership is the other likely reason. There might be leadership problems. You also need to assess this issue,” added Kagame.
Kagame has also criticized leaders who choose to turn a blind eye, finding comfort in perpetuating wrongs.
He underscored that it is the same as choosing to sit in dirt, and ‘waiting for someone to come and tell you that you are seated in it’.
M23 sounds the alarm after rights group in North Kivu of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) indicated that over 100 women have been raped within four months in the territory while more than 180 women were killed since the rebel group resumed fighting in November 2021.
The Voice of America has reported that the crimes were committed in Kishishe, Bunagana, Jomba, Kinyandonyi, Bambo and Rugari.
Even though M23 is blamed for the crimes; the rebel group claims that it is part of Congo’s plans to tarnish its image.
The group’s military spokesperson, Major Willy Ngoma has told the media that it was never involved in rape cases.
He explained that its soldiers came from Ugandan cantonments where they were surrounded by beautiful girls in Ankole but ‘the country never accused us of rape’.
Maj Ngoma said that the rebel group lives in harmony with citizens in captured areas noting that Congolese government’s acts to cover rape crimes committed by its army and allies including Nyatura and Mai Mai are ridiculous.
Since 2017, the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with relevant partners introduced the use of cooking gas at the camp, replacing charcoal and firewood.
Mahama is located at the border between Rwanda and Tanzania, at the banks of Akagera River, a tributary to Lake Victoria.
It is a place that knows little rainfall due to its landscape and scarcity of forests.
By 2022, 67% of 120 000 refugees accommodated in Rwanda were using cooking gas.
Mahama and Mugombwa, are the first refugee camps that adopted the use of gas since 2017, to reduce people’s dependency on firewood and charcoal, thus protecting environment.
According to Ministry of Emergency (MINEMA), every household in the camp used to spend Rwf36,000 (US$36) per month to cater for firewood or charcoal.
Concessa Mumararungu fled to Rwanda from Burundi and has been living in Mahama Camp since 2015. She now lives in the camp with her five children who are all students.
“There is a difference between how we used to live in 2015 and now. With cooking gas, we eat on time. It came as a solution to us,” she says while cooking food for her children who have gone to school.
“Once they come back home, I will have finished cooking. They no longer get late, cooking gas helps a lot,” she adds.
According to the Government of Rwanda, 380 hectares were down every week by 2017 in search of charcoal and firewood.
The target is to narrow down the number of those who rely on charcoal and firewood to 42% by 2024 from 67 % in 2017.
“It was difficult to get enough firewood to serve all camps in the country due to the high demand, as well as coping with the government’s policy to preserve our environment,” says Karayenzi Kevin, the Mugombwa Camp Manager adding that gas reduced conflicts between refugees and local population.
The Government of Rwanda together with other partners like the United Nations High commission for refugees (UNCHR) cater for related cost so that refugees get cooking gas timely.
The gas allocated to one family, varies depending on the number of members.
Laetitita Kamahoro from Mahama Camp was returning from gas refilling station inside the camp, carrying her gas cylinder.
The amount of gas she had would last for 21 days.
“It has been three years since I started cooking using gas. It takes few minutes to have food ready. Whenever I want to cook, I do it instantly,” she says.
“For example, it is raining today but I don’t have any worries. I am cooking inside which would not be the case if I were cooking with firewood” she added.
The effort to reduce dependency of charcoal and firewood in Rwandan refugee camps, went hand in hand with planting more trees around the camps.
Cyriaque Rugengamanzi, is a volunteer in charge of environment in Mahama camp.
His tasks include planting trees around the camp which used to be like a desert.
“The trees you see all around, we are the one who planted them. Before, we were prone to heavy winds which would destroy our homes. The situation has changed that we no longer experience heavy winds and we get rain timely,” he narrated.
The Ministry of Emergency also noted the reduction of conflicts between refugees around the camps and the local population.
Pierre Niragira who has spent seven years in Mahama camp recalls the disputes that used to be between refugees and Kirehe residents, due to search of firewood.
“After we started using cooking gas, conflicts have reduced between refugees and surrounding local population. We would go outside the camp to fetch firewood and be in fight with residents. Such issue no longer exists,” he recalls.
In Mahama alone, phasing out the use of firewood went hand in hand with planting more than 250 000 trees, with target of reaching more than 400,000 trees in next five years.
The use of firewood and charcoal are also linked to health problems especially, respiratory diseases.
In 2019, Ministry of Health in Rwanda announced that every year, more than three million Rwandans suffer from respiratory problems of which 13 per cent is caused by air pollution.
The Ministry said that such diseases are mostly caused by cooking with firewood, charcoal, petrol, fuel and ambient air pollution.
Rwanda accomodates more than 120,000 refugees from neighbouring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
Rwanda has also emphasized that border security has been reinforced where its soldiers are standby to defend territorial integrity.
The statement released on Monday 27th February 2023, reads that Rwanda hails the outcomes of the recent meetings held during the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, on the situation in Eastern DRC.
Rwanda has stated that taken resolutions complement existing ones adopted by regional mechanisms including Luanda and Nairobi processes with a view to find a solution to DR Congo’s problems through dialogues.
The decisions were endorsed by other international organizations including the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU) and US.
On 22nd February 2022, the United States released a statement commending the progress on restoring security in eastern DRC but accused Rwanda of supporting M23, asked the country to halt it and withdraw troops from Congo.
Rwanda has through a released statement insisted that the United States ‘appears consistently out of step with the decisions of the regional processes, and risks undermining them, by continuing to endorse the DRC Government’s false narrative blaming Rwanda for the crisis’.
“The repeated failure by the international community to condemn the DRC Government for the preservation of the FDLR encourages DRC to continue arming and fighting alongside this genocidal militia, which has conducted cross-border attacks in Rwanda while embedded with the Congolese army [FARDC],” reads part of the statement.
“This constitutes a direct and serious threat to Rwanda’s security. The FDLR is not a benign or inconsequential force, and the ultimate goal of its partnership with FARDC is to attack Rwanda,” adds the statement.
{{Congolese soldiers and mercenaries at common border area}}
Recent resolutions reached through meetings of regional heads of state demand concerned parties in eastern DRC to lay arms down to facilitate proper implementation.
Despite the resolutions, Rwanda has revealed, DRC defied the regional decisions.
“DRC has opted for continued military escalation in recent months, in defiance of regional decisions. In the context of increasingly bellicose statements by DRC civilian and military leaders, the DRC is deploying new hardware capabilities and foreign mercenaries in the common border area,” reads the statement.
Rwanda has said that it can’t idly sit by amidst its security threats targeting the country.
“Given Rwanda’s legitimate security concerns, defensive and preventive mechanisms have accordingly been reinforced to guard against violations of our airspace and borders. These contingencies are ready to act to prevent any cross-border threat, proportionately to its magnitude, origin, and nature. We will not allow any spill-over into Rwanda from any armed group, and total security for our territory and our people will be ensured,” Rwanda has affirmed.
The country has also expressed commitment to work within regional frameworks to contribute to stability in the region but insisted that it ‘cannot accept for its security concerns to be trivialized and ignored’.
Patricie Uwase, Minister of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure made the revelation on the first day of the 18th National Dialogue Council (Umushyikirano) held at Kigali Convention Centre.
She explained that the issue of public transport has worsened in Kigali due to transport companies struggling to replace old buses. This has resulted in passengers’ long queues at bus terminals.
“In the near future, we will have introduced over 300 more buses in Kigali City,” said Uwase.
She disclosed that plans to buy new vehicles are in advanced stages.
“Considering the long time passengers spend waiting for buses, it won’t take long to address the issue because we have started negotiating suppliers and have already secured the budget through collaboration with the Ministry of Finance.
We have the money. The remaining thing is to place an order and have the buses used by transport companies upon delivery,” she noted.
“It will be done in no more than three months because placing orders and shipment take time. However, this plan is under consideration and its finalization is in the offing,” added Uwase.
The introduction of new buses will be done through partnership between the government and private sector.
Uwase has also highlighted that there are other alternatives being considered to address woes in public transport upcountry.
In January 2023, President Paul Kagame requested relevant institutions to address citizens’ problems including long dwelling-time for passengers using public transport buses.
He was officiating the swearing-in of new Senate President, Dr. Kalinda François Xavier.
At the time, the Head of State said that the issue needs to be solved durably.
Passengers have been expressing frustration over the delay of buses at bus terminals as it affects their work.
The Head of State made the disclosure as he officiated the opening of the 18th National Dialogue Council (Umushyikirano) at Kigali Convention Centre. The meeting brought together over 1500 participants while others followed it virtually from different sites countrywide.
He reminisced on primitive mindsets of people who always tend to lean on aid like weak people, sick or people with other problems noting that no one should be proud of it.
“I am not sure if there is a Rwandan proud of reliance on assistance forever. Until when they will continue giving us the aid? […] We should not be living this way,” he said Kagame.
He explained that there is no dignity in persistent reliance on aid and reminded that the beneficiary ends up being disappointed.
“They support you and get slapped in return. They get on your wick until they teach you cultures, how to behave and end up in a situation where Rwandans seem to have no culture because of the aid,” noted Kagame.
The President has also reminded leaders to represent citizens’ interests instead of prioritizing personal gains.
Umushyikirano is Kinyarwanda’s equivalent of ‘dialogue’. During the dialogue, participants exchange ideas, share experiences, peer review and question each other. Today Umushyikirano is known as the National Dialogue Council.
As part of efforts to reconstruct Rwanda and nurture a shared national identity, the Government of Rwanda drew on aspects of Rwandan culture and traditional practices to enrich and adapt its development programs to the country’s needs and context.
The result is a set of Home Grown Solutions – culturally owned practices translated into sustainable development programs. One of these Home Grown Solutions is Umushyikirano.
Governed by the Rwandan Constitution (Article 168), Umushyikirano is a forum where participants debate issues relating to the state of the nation, the state of local government and national unity.
The statistics show that Rwandans increased by 2.3% by the time the population census was conducted. Of these, 48.5% are men while 51.5% are women.
The increase corresponds to birth control methods that saw the fertility rate per woman falling to 3.6 births in 2022 from 4.0 in 2012, 5.9 in 2002, 6.9 in 1991 and 8.6 in 1978.
As per released figures, the fertility rate for a rural woman stands at 3.8 births and 3.2 for an urban woman.
The first census conducted in 1978, put the Rwandan population at about 4.8 million. The second census was conducted in 1991, with the population rising to 7.1 million. The population growth rate between 1978 and 1991 was 3.1 per cent.
The third census, in 2002, indicated that the population had grown to 8.1 million.
The previous one, which put the population at 10.5 million, was done in 2012.
They reside in 3,312,743 households with each comprised of 4 members.
Considering the source of income, 2.2 households (69%) depend on agriculture.
Meanwhile; 72.1% Rwandans live in rural areas while 27.9% dwell in urban areas.
The Eastern Province has the largest number of population representing 26.9% (3,563,145), followed by the Southern Province with 3,002,699 (22.7%), Western Province with 2,896,484 representing 21.9%, Northern Province with 2,038,511 (15.4%) while Kigali City has 1,745,555 representing 13.2%.
The census also indicated that the number of youth aged below 30 reduced from 70.3 in 2012 to 65.3% in 2022. The number is also projected to fall to 54.3% in 2050.
Meanwhile, the population aged between 16 and 64 increased from 53.4% in 2012 to 56/0% in 2022. The number is expected to go up to 61.4% in 2050.
