Editor,Reference is made to Kenneth Agutamba’s article, “Rwanda can only rise after hitting rock bottom in 1994” (Sunday Times, January 19).Nothing is as difficult to determine as whether a person, a people, a nation or any other social entity has hit bottom. It is forever astonishing how far deeper it is possible to go even when you think you have plumped the very bottom; look at how Zaïre/DRC is still trying to find that bottom since Lumumba’s assassination by the Western powers 53 years ago, the ascent of the kleptomania under Mobutu and state failure under the Kabilas and continued Western trusteeship.Also, look at Haiti from the days of the Duvaliers to-date, or Somalia, Libya or Syria. It is always possible to sink further than believed. The only reason Rwanda hasn’t gone the same way post-1994 is mainly because of a leadership that’s determined that that would never happen, the wisdom and skill to wrest the management of our affairs from the “international community”, including their international bureaucracy and international “charity” entrepreneurs.Had we failed in this, our country’s situation would be worse than those of the DRC, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Haiti, Afghanistan, etc.Mwene Kalinda, Rwanda**********************Thanks for the article. The mistakes committed by the key players are always ranging from the way they relate to media and also how media portrays the message to the key stakeholders, especially here in developing countries. Most of the time the media have been the worst enemies of their own countries, followed by self-seeking elements in our societies.John Paul Asiimwe, Uganda
