President Kagame touring women development projects in Southern Rwanda in February 2013 (Photo: PPU)
In the latest push at his virulent critics, President Paul Kagame says their agenda is solely to “divert us from what we are doing for our people” as he speaks about the work of former US President Bill Clinton.
Speaking on BBC NEWSDAY program today morning, President Kagame dismissed suggestions that having backers such as Bill Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates shields him from scrutiny over different actions including human rights and the DR Congo conflict.
“I don’t even have to be connecting the two situations,” said Kagame. “I deal with different things differently: I deal with development issue; I deal with wealth creation for our citizens; I deal with security issues for our people – on one hand.”
He added: “Then if it is about critics, I deal with criticisms [by] examining what they mean, and place everything in their right place. I don’t mix up issues.”
Groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have kept Rwanda in the spotlight for years – accusing the authorities of stifling free press and suppressing opposition. Others have charged that Rwanda is backing rebels in eastern DRC.
However, amid all the criticism, President Kagame has maintained a hybrid group of friends who include former leaders like Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, as well as executives of the biggest global conglomerates such as Microsoft and Google. Last month, President Kagame was in Israel and held high level talks with the PM Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Shimon Peres.
In May, President Kagame was given the inaugural ‘Distinction of Honour for African Growth’ award at Oxford University in recognition of Rwanda’s development under his leadership.
In the BBC interview, Kagame said: “Many of the critics in our case make such criticisms not so much because they want to add value to what is happening in the country, but rather they want to divert us from what we are doing for our people.”
Kagame said he pays attention to criticism but “you don’t allow that to distract you from the main issues about the development of our country.”
Meanwhile, in a separate BBC NEWSDAY interview, former US President Clinton defended President Kagame – a development that is coming after he just completed a social action trip to Rwanda.
Clinton said: “I support a free press in Rwanda, I don’t support the repression of journalists, I don’t think human rights should be violated in the Congo to protect the territorial integrity of Rwanda. But I suppose I do make more allowances for a government that produces as much progress as that one has.”