Instead of bashing Rwanda, why don't you contribute?

It is now common occurrence that most, if not all, development related success stories become subject to critical analysis whereby the end goal is to engage more critically with the source material in order to expose or eliminate any potential misleading content. Personally, and like most other observers within the arenas of social and natural sciences, I agree that this approach is necessary to maintain the integrity of development-related information. To that effect, when a success story emerges – such as that of Rwanda, commentators, analysts, and field experts alike begin an inquisitive process intended to understand the determinants of such success, how it was achieved, and more importantly, whether or not something can be taken from that story and prescribed elsewhere. In almost all cases, the examination process is based purely on observation and empirical evidence. For instance, when in 1978 China initiated market reforms and moved from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented economy, experts established that this rapid development was indeed facilitated mainly by increases in productivity within various sectors particularly the manufacturing sector, and increases in cheap labour force. With this in mind, results that followed a little over three decades later were not entirely surprising; China’s GDP increased from $216 billion in 1978 to a staggering $10.36 trillion in 2014. You would have to be a fool to underestimate such improvements. However, and this is where my concern arises – during the same time, China’s development efforts were subject to cynicism rather than healthy scepticism, arrogance, facts were merely dismissed, and expert opinions were particularly biased. In 2013, Chandran Nair wrote a piece in the South China Morning Post titled: Distorted view of China overlooks its many positive achievements. In the article, Mr Nair argues that while China has its fair share of problems like any other large nation, biased coverage by the Western media gives the impression it has no redeeming qualities. Mr Nair’s piece is indeed an interesting one. But, let us put China aside. How has Rwanda faired under such scrutiny, and are there elements determined to undermine Rwanda’s modest rise? You bet! Particularly, there are Rwandans mainly in the Diaspora who naively call themselves the ‘opposition’ (opposing development perhaps), and are determined to tarnishing any good that comes out of Rwanda. Many have appeared in international media outlets undermining Rwanda’s development as mere myth and not a reality. Of course, I will be the first to admit that China and Rwanda are not on an equal footing – one is the world’s second largest economy with 1.3 billion people, and the other is a geographically a tiny nation with just over 11 million people. However, Rwanda’s achievements, modest as they might be, should not be easily dismissed by anyone, and this is why: In a nutshell, independent institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, the African Union, academic institutions, and donor partners have all acknowledged that, indeed, Rwanda has achieved impressive development progress since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Collectively, they believe that in a political context, for instance, Rwanda has enjoyed stability since 1994. Examples given to highlight such stability include parliamentary elections, presidential elections – with a note to commend parliamentary seats taken by women candidates, 64 per cent at the last elections. Economically, and again collectively, Rwanda has been recognised by these institutions for her long-term development goals which are embodied in Vision 2020 – which has in many ways transformed Rwanda of today in comparison to twenty years ago. For instance, what crosses me is that cynics always seem to undermine some key facts: fifteen years ago, poverty levels in Rwanda were at a damning rate of 56.7 per cent. However, today that number has shrunk to 35 percent of the population, with poor families receiving a monthly stipend among other social protection amenities.Yes, it is little, but who envisaged being given a stipend two decades ago? Second, it is indeed true that Rwanda continues to depend on Overseas Development Aid. But, what sceptics choose to ignore or undermine is the fact that that dependency is continuously decreasing significantly year in year out. In 2000, for example, aid as a percentage of government spending accounted for 85 percent. Ten years later, it accounted for 45 percent. Today, aid dependency is just over 30 percent, and efforts to do away with it are in motion, and supported by remarkable successes over the last two decades which have seen high growth, poverty reduction, and reduced levels of inequality. In a social context, in Rwanda more than 95 percent of children now have access to a full cycle of primary education; deaths of under-fives have fallen from 230 per 1,000 live births in 1998 to 55 in 2012; infant mortality has also plummeted – from 120 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1998 to fewer than 40 in 2012; and life expectancy has risen from fewer than 48 years in 2000 to more than 62 in 2011. In addition, today, young Rwandans have graduated from university at a rate one cannot even begin to compare with the pre-1994 situation, where not more than 2,000 had graduated in the whole country in over three decades. Moving forward, we must concede that several challenges remain; wide access to water, electricity, employment and so on. But this is not unique to Rwanda, and more importantly, challenges of today should not be cause for undermining achievements. I know that some may say to hell with the pessimists, but personally I believe that we ought to call them out and show them the right path. And so, for the cynics, I say to you, instead of bashing, undermining and detaching yourselves from the new Rwanda, take a moment to visit and see for yourself. You will have the opportunity to speak to people and make up your mind. But, above all, come with an open mind, a mind that is ready to be challenged by new perspectives and new directions. Rwanda is your nation and shall remain so. You may have a role to play going forward; there is room for improvement in many areas, come and join the efforts. junior.mutabazi@yahoo.co.uk

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Instead of bashing Rwanda, why don't you contribute?