{"id":54701,"date":"2025-06-29T17:01:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T17:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/africans-dying-in-the-mediterranean-a-tragic-loss-for-the-continent-minister\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T16:42:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T16:42:02","slug":"africans-dying-in-the-mediterranean-a-tragic-loss-for-the-continent-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/africans-dying-in-the-mediterranean-a-tragic-loss-for-the-continent-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Africans dying in the Mediterranean a tragic loss for the continent \u2013 Minister Mugenzi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Minister Mugenzi made the remarks during a Pan African Movement Rwanda symposium held in Kigali on June 29, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Mugenzi noted that African-led solutions are more effective for solving the continent\u2019s problems than allowing the population to disperse in search of prosperity elsewhere, often risking their lives and contributing to the development of other regions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt deeply saddens me to see Africans dying in the sea trying to find solutions in Europe. That is potential we are losing. And when we get there, they tell us, \u2018That\u2019s how Africa has always been,\u2019 and label us as ignorant. Yet once we\u2019re there, they use us to drive their development, extracting value from us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He stressed that many of the answers to Africa\u2019s challenges exist within the continent, but a mindset shift is needed, one that values what Africa has to offer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of our people perishing in the Mediterranean, they should seek solutions in other African countries, because those solutions exist here too. We must value our own, and that starts with valuing ourselves and earning the respect of the international community,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Mugenzi also emphasised that self-worth includes embracing African languages. Beyond each country\u2019s native tongues, he recommended Swahili as a unifying language for continental gatherings, noting that it is widely spoken and indigenous to Africa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA local solution is better than a foreign one. True self-reliance means building on our own capabilities, with each individual actively seeking answers to their immediate challenges. When you wait for someone else to solve your problem, you\u2019ve already made yourself part of the problem. These issues are ours\u2014and so are the solutions,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>According to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), over 20,000 Africans died or went missing in the Mediterranean Sea between 2014 and 2024 while attempting to reach Europe. In 2024 alone, an estimated 2,452 people lost their lives or disappeared.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-90028 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/mugenzi.jpg\" alt=\"The Minister of Local Government, Dr. Mugenzi Patrice, has stated that the large number of Africans dying in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe represents a tremendous loss for the continent. He emphasised that the time has come to foster a culture of seeking homegrown solutions within Africa.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-90027 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/017a11bb-5851-4305-9cab-b2eb64ff5b9c-4387f.jpg\" alt=\"Minister Mugenzi was speaking during the Pan African Movement Rwanda symposium held in Kigali on June 29, 2025.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The large number of Africans dying in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to reach Europe is a tremendous loss for the continent, according to Dr. Mugenzi Patrice, Minister of Local Government. He emphasised the urgent need to cultivate a culture of finding homegrown solutions across Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000090029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-54701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000090029,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mugenzilogo.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mugenzilogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mugenzilogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mugenzilogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mugenzilogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mugenzilogo.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000090029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54701"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=54701"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=54701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}