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Rights groups question Rwanda's political freedom

Saturday July 29 2017
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Diane Rwigara during the launch of her People Salvation Movement in Kigali on July 14, 2017. She turned to human rights activism after being barred from contesting the presidency. PHOTO | IVAN R. MUGISHA

By EDMUND KAGIRE

As Rwandans prepare to vote on August 4, several rights groups have said the political climate in the country only favours the ruling party and has sidelined the opposition.

The exclusion of independent candidates Gilbert Mwenedata and Diane Shima Rwigara attracted criticism, with diplomats saying it dented the credibility of the poll.

This angered President Paul Kagame, who accused the envoys of meddling in the electoral process.

Rwanda maintains that rights groups have a vendetta against Kigali and Africa in general. The executive director of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth, said on Twitter that the government of Rwanda claimed that the recent report on rights abuses was an attack on Africa and its people, yet it was defending them, and challenged Kigali to respond to its findings.

READ: 'Climate of fear' ahead of Rwanda vote: Amnesty

ALSO READ: Rwandans don’t fear anyone, they’re singing and dancing

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With re-election guaranteed, observers say that President Kagame’s government is likely to face more criticism, including from the country’s top donors and development partners like the European Union and the United States.

Dependency on West no more

Phil Clark, a senior researcher and lecturer at SOAS University of London says that some of Rwanda’s critics will continue to hound the country.

“Since 1994, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in particular have criticised all aspects of the RPF’s governance. Certainly there are justifiable concerns about civil and political rights in Rwanda today. But the biggest mistake these international human-rights groups made was to refuse to recognise Rwanda’s substantial strides since the genocide, for example in the areas of judicial reform and interethnic reconciliation,” says Dr Clark.

“In the past, we depended on the West’s will. They would give us crumbs and impose their democracy on us, which wasn’t right,” President Kagame said. 

“The three biggest challenges for President Kagame after this election are how to maintain socio-economic development in the Rwandan countryside; how to manage a transition to new leadership within the RPF; and how to foster a more open political space nationally while guarding against the danger of ethnic extremism,” said Dr Clark.

Last week, President Kagame said Rwanda does not need the approval of anyone. He emphasised that Rwanda is not looking up to foreigners to say what is good for Rwanda for the country to do it.

“We know what is good for us and we don’t like others telling us what we should do,” President Kagame told residents of Rusizi district in south-western Rwanda.

READ: Kagame kicks off campaigns, fires back at critics

Several international organisations such as the European Union and the Commonwealth will not be sending observers to the August 4 poll, but the African Union and the East African Community have sent observers.

Last week on Thursday, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) said it had accredited over 1,300 observers, with at least 920 coming from within the country.

The chairman of NEC Kalisa Mbanda warned the observers against “engaging in political activities.”

“You are prohibited from engaging in any political activities inside the country or being biased. You should not interfere in any political activities outside the election. You are election observers not political activists,” said Prof Mbanda.

Rwandans will vote on August 4, while those in the diaspora will vote a day earlier.

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