Recently the RPF mouthpieace The New Times published an article entitled: "Rwanda best place to be a woman in Africa." In this article the editorial body said that Rwanda was ranked the sixth in closing gender gaps in the world. They went further to quote the Global Gender Gap Report 2015. According to the New Times newspaper, Rwanda was ranked with countries such as Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Ireland. Some of the indicators used to measure this ranking included: economic opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment and health. Before going further allow me to use the same indicators to explain the reasons why we Rwandan women think that both the Global Gender Gap Report and the RPF exaggerated in their assessment. Although I would forgive the RPF government for this, because Rwanda is now known world over that it doctors statistics to hide its economic and political problems which some international media house such as the BBC has compared it to a Time Bomb. There are no doubts that this report is one of those propagandist reports spread around in order to continue helping Paul Kagame to cling to power and continue helping to cover their asses related to the crimes against humanity people like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair helped him to commit both in Rwanda and DR Congo.
Coming back to our indicators that assisted the Global Gender Gap Report 2015 to place Rwanda together with the Scandinavian countries let's analyze each one of them individually in relation to a Rwandan woman in Rwanda today:
- Economic Opportunity: There is no doubt that after the Rwandan genocide Paul Kagame put more women in leadership. This was not about gender gap bridging but political. During the Rwandan genocide many men were killed on both sides. Since 1990s when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda it targeted only Hutu men. This continued until 1994 when the genocide happened. During and after the genocide RPF and Interahamwe killed only men. RPF killed Hutu men and Interahamwe killed Tutsi men. During all these atrocities most educated men, especially Hutu educated men were either killed, fled, or put in prisons by the Kagame's regime. This had an effect of gender equality and political aspects of Rwanda. Whereas the world were reeling on what happened in Rwanda and was still happening after the RPF came to power through killing of any breathing Hutu it met on the road, especially young Hutus, Paul Kagame was strategic to bring more women in his government so that the Western feminists could now start lobbying for the new regime in Kigali. Among these women who supported Kagame and ignored his killings were: Alison Des Forges, Condoleezza Rice, Susan Rice, Cherie Blair, Samantha Power, among others worked tirelessly to use the issue of more women in the new Rwandan government as a tool for propaganda which has worked and still works to this day. Here we have forgotten that only Tutsi women were given economic opportunities to hold higher political offices, access education on government scholarships, start new business opportunities through the government small and medium scale investment opportunities, and other Tutsi women were given financial incentives to own businesses or travel abroad in the name of assisting the victims of the Tutsi genocide and yet the plain truth is that most of the women who benefited from this government incentives were Tutsi women who grew up in Uganda and were not affected by the genocide. the truth is that many genocide survivors from the Tutsi tribe who were inside Rwanda did not benefit from this Economic Opportunity that the New Times and the Global Gender Gap Report are talking about. If you think I am crazy take a walk outside of Kigali and away from Rwandan Highways, you will get the real story. Recently, the International Business Times published an article entitled: "Rwanda poverty statistics 'altered to support Kagame's third term' claims activist." The reasons of doctoring these statistics is simple. To hide how the Kagame regime has marginalized the majority of the Rwandan population who are in this case women from the Hutu tribe. Over 70% of those Rwandan women who have access to this Economic Opportunities are Tutsi women and yet Tutsi people make only 14% of all Rwandan population. Is this what they call gender equality in Rwanda and yet western countries such as the USA, Canada, France, UK, Australia and elsewhere they cannot accept the minority people such as black people to own even 305 of all American economy leave alone in Rwanda where more than 72% of all Rwandan economy opportunities are owned by the Tutsi ruling party and its people.
- Educational Attainment: There are no doubts that today there are more women in educational institutions across Rwanda. This takes us back to the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Most of the Rwandan young male who could be in school today cannot do that. Majority of them are behind bars in different prisons scattered across Rwanda. Those who are older enough to be accused of participating in the Rwandan genocide have been either killed or are rotting in various RPF prisons. Those who are lucky to be young enough not to have lived during the Rwandan genocide and they are young Hutu male they have been cast away on Iwawa island in Lake Kivu. According to the New York Times of April 30, 2010 said this: "Hundreds of vagrants, thieves and street kids, some as young as 14, have been sent, without a trial, to the remote island of Iwawa - an extreme example of the levels of repression in Rwanda." The truth is that those kids as young as 14 who are held hostage at the iwawa Island in the middle of nowhere are Hutu male kids. These should have been the same kids in Rwandans schools but now they are unwanted elements of Rwanda and what they can get from the land of their forefathers is to be cast away on an isolated island called iwawa. When a government like the RPF governement here in Kigali does this to its people what is the end results? the Education Attainment is gained by afew who are from the Tutsi tribe. This is one of the reasons majority of the Rwandan women who pursue their education abroad are from the Tutsi background. This is becuse the system favors them whereas majority of young Rwandan women who hail from the Hutu background can only learn how to read and write nothing more than that. Majority of them attend poorly furnished local schools in rural areas because that is where most of the Hutu families were sent after when Kagame came to power. Those who resisted and insisted to stay in Kigali and other big cities were rounded up and sent into the concentration camp locally known as "Kwa Kabuga in Gikondo Area." All this is in line with the RPF agenda of raising up a Tutsi elites whereas the Hutu people who make up the majority of Rwandans become only laborers. Ever since RPF took over power in Rwanda after the assassination of two Hutu presidents Habyarimna Juvenal of Rwanda and Cyprian Ntaryamira of Burundi it embarked on a strategy to systematically reduce Hutu population and kill them intellectually. In the process it took many of the Hutu males to prisons, forced others into exile, those who survived were not given opportunity to further their education then took their wives and gave them positions in the government as a way to keep them closer and control the Hutu political system. RPF also established another political philosophy designed solely on blindfolding Westerners who dont understand the RPF intrigues was the " Ndi Umunyarwanda (I am the Rwandan). to Paul Kagame this policy was introduced to show the Westerners that Rwanda wants to overcome tribalism of Hutu-Tutsi that was blamed for the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. To the RPF technocrats the Ndi Umunyarwanda philosophy was introduced so that foreign schools that offer scholarship quotas to Rwandan people will not understand that all scholarships that they offer to the Rwandan people only go to few Tutsis who only comprise 14%. When country like the Canadian government gives scholarships to Rwanda this is how the RPF regime in Rwanda uses this scholarships. Let's say that the government of Canada has given the country of Rwanda 10 scholarships for the brightest Rwandans to go to study in Canada. The RPF education technical committee sits down and decided how these scholarships are going to benefit Tutsi people. They will take 5 scholarships and offer them to 5 Tutsi women. They will also take 3 other scholarships and give them to 3 other Tutsi male students. Then the remaining 2 will be given to some brilliant Hutu students. One scholarship will go to a Hutu female student then another one remaining will go to a Hutu male student. However, unlike Tutsi scholarships these Hutu students must have been working for RPF as cadres who spy on their fellow Hutus. For the RPF, when these Rwandan students reach to the Canadian schools they will be viewed as 10 Rwandan students coming to study in Canada. As for the people of Rwanda and the RPF strategic committee, they would have sent 8 Tutsi students and 2 Hutu loyal students. This is what has been happening in all Western schools that offer scholarships to the RPF government to train Rwandans. In most of the cases these Tutsi students who go to study abroad are advised to seek for asylum in those developed countries as part of Tutsi empowerment strategy. Once these Tutsi successfully seek asylum in those countries after lying that the Kigali regime is after their lives, they can now support RPF policies abroad by providing information to the RPF government and spying on the Rwandan dissidents abroad as it has been the case in different countries such as UK, Canada, USA, Australia, France, Sweden, and Belgium. If you want to prove me wrong or right try and attend any of the Rwanda Day functions. Majority of those who attend these events are the former scholarship holders who asked for asylum in those countries but now they are actively involved in the Rwandan politics harassing genuine Rwandan refugees in diaspora. Here in Rwanda, farmers (who are mostly Hutus) are told what to farm not because of agricultural benefits but RPF business. People farm according to what The Crystal Ventures business want you to farm. For example if you come from Northern Rwanda you will all be ordered to farm maize and Irish Potatoes because RPF have factories that make corn oil and potato chips for export. Farmers cannot decide pricing nor when to sell their produce until the RPF economic committee sees that the market is good for the Crystal Ventures business.
- Political Empowerment: I am not going to dwell on this issue because it is evident that Rwanda has nothing in common with all those countries ranked in the same category such as Norway, Netherland, Sweden, Denmark, among others. Leave alone those scandinavian countries, let's look at other African countries such as Namibia and South Africa which got the lower ranking than Rwanda. Only a fool or someone who has never stepped at the door of a class room can compare Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa. Politically, South Africa and Namibia have a successful democracy. Their economies are way beyond any comparison to this of Rwanda where Rwanda has only one mega supermarket called Nakumatt but only a handful of the people enter its doors a day. Unlike Rwanda, Namibia and South Africa have stable democracy and there is no one who is harmed because of his social background. In Rwanda if you are a Hutu and you want to be part of a multipartism this sin is punishable by a capital punishment. A good example you will find it in Madam Ingabire Victoire who is rotting behind bars simply because she challenged the status-quo. She is in prison because she is an educated Hutu woman who wanted to challenge the brutal regime of Paul Kagame. That explains what to be a Hutu in Rwanda means. In this Rwanda only Tutsis are allowed to play politics as long as they are inside RPF. Majority of the politicians in Rwanda who are handpicked by RPF are women and majority of them come from the Tutsi tribe which comprises only 145 of the Rwandans because they cannot challenge Paul Kagame. Only Tutsis who represent Rwanda in any international political body if you are a Hutu you must have diligently served RPF by implicating some innocent Hutus in crimes they never committed. If you want to prove me wrong i would invite you to visit Rwanda and try and visit remotest villages. You will find that from the Cell leader all the way to the district mayor majority of the leaders are Tutsis. Over 75% of the Rwandan soldiers are Tutsis. Over 90% of the Rwandan or RPF military leadership is Tutsi. This is what controls everything that happens in Rwanda whether politically and economically. They own anything that matters in this country.
- Health.Although Rwanda has been drumming up itself about the unique health insurance cover, only Rwandans can tell you how much they suffer in the hands of the RPF government due to Rwandan Medical Cover locally known as (mutuel). RPF owns all health insurance cover companies. If you are a Rwandan, especially a Hutu since they are the ones who are not supported by the RPF funds, and you cannot pay 'mutuel' you will be taken to prison and be tortured until you sell whatever you won such as a sheep, goat, chicken, or rabbit as long as you pay your health insurance to the RPF owned health companies. Through various doctored statistics sponsored by the World Bank and Clinton Foundation among others who support the dictatorial regime of Kigali they say that life expectancy at birth in Rwanda is 55 years male and 57.73 years for female. However, only the people of Rwanda can openly tell you how hard life has become in this Rwanda under Paul Kagame's rulership.