Change without alternative?

The just-concluded National Leadership Retreat that took place in Gabiro was unique in all aspects. Unique in that, it was hard and rough for non performers across the entire government system from ministers to mayors to government technocrats. It was also unique in that, a number of these same top government officials not only failed to account for their failures, but also such failures have become a norm rather than exception. President Paul Kagame raised hard questions that most did not want to answer or failed to answer because either way could expose leadership deficit that was on the wall for all to see. But not giving reasonable answers to serious performance flaws was even more telling of the same leadership gaps. Time of no essence? That some projects of national importance took as many as more than 15 years to implement or no implementation at all, was indicative of time indifference mindset. Yet the cost of these idle projects to the country’s development and the livelihood of Rwandans is priceless. Failures have persisted, targets are missed pledges remain unfulfilled or even illusive if one goes by answers given. Services go undelivered and worse projects may take eternity to complete. And so like a group of companies giving their year-end performance reports to the board, and so were government officials giving theirs in the retreat and through this to Rwandans who followed the proceedings of the meeting especially on day two. In short, self-examination was at its best in this forum, as we boarded our buses back to Kigali, we all agreed this is a retreat like no other, and that top government officials will now either measure up or out. Time is no longer on their side. Hopefully. One thing was clear though. As our economy grows, we shall have to revisit our capacities, bring in new capacities, change some, and retrain others, if we are to take our economy to the next level. Capacity and institutional audits would help if we are to ascertain the gaps/deficiencies that need to be filled to avoid similar disappointments which filled the room that day. Issues of corruption Although we are rated as least corrupt country in the region and indeed in outer world, incidences of corruption and measures to contain the same was a focus of the retreat. It was observed that, in some projects, only corruption could explain their stalling or deficiencies. This was observed to be the case in the lower management part of our system commonly known as technician level. It was agreed that, measures to end this be put in place where it is found there should be serious consequences. The fact is, given the size of our economy; even few incidences of corruption can be very grave. As our economy grows, self-interest and corruption grows exponentially and these have to be fought at their earliest stages before they become systematic. For if unchecked, corrupt interest groups also form a cartel that can either hold the system at ransom or tear it through the middle and consequences felt by all more so the poor. Good news is, unlike in other African countries where beneficiaries are a cartel and protected by powerful people connected through political interest groups, cronyism, and tribal affiliations that goes to the top, ours is fought from the top. Which is an area among many that President Paul Kagame has distinguished himself from his peers. President Kagame, being intolerant to mediocrity, made his mind clear to all and sundry in the retreat that the corruption in government institutions and egocentric nature of Rwandan leaders were taking the country backwards. He further vowed to “fight” the leaders if they fell short of rolling up their sleeves. He expressed shock that some ministers and other top officials in our country were quiet as corruption and abuse of office continued unabated. He pointed out that, endemic institutional failures would undermine efforts aimed at sustaining the rapid economic growth of the small nation. Leadership deficit These high level forums like this retreat, involve open and frank discussions, and even admission of shortcomings which in all exposes leadership deficits across the board. Being a small country (not small economy) everybody knows everybody among our top leadership, so much so that when we factor in change ahead of us, and using the rules of elimination, one finds alternative zero. Which is why President Kagame’s zeal for a better tomorrow Rwanda touches everyone in these forums so much so that, when you see into the face of 2017, you can’t imagine it in his absence. In born leadership qualities President Kagame’s visionary leadership has enabled our country to turn around in a record time unmatched in the history of post-conflict countries, and register the highest transformation of any country in recent times. This is a fact that has been empirically proven by both bi-lateral and multilateral institutions, foreign friends, and people of goodwill, even the extremist critics of what is happening in our country (which they failed to do while in power except to leave us with indelible genocidal legacy) and indeed visible across our country. His integrity and high level of objectivity in the management of state affairs, has earned him a CV, that no other Rwandan will ever match. That any other would-be contender will lack his clout, as well as moral integrity not only among his own, but also among our international friends and development partners alike, makes the no change the best change. His decisiveness and conviction to our cause as a people and country (qualities some have confused for dictatorship/authoritarian, and yet cardinal leadership qualities) has given us results none of us had ever imagined in this short period of time. But these are the same leadership qualities that have distinguished our country from most other African countries which are characterized by such vices of corruption, nepotism, clanism, cronyism, entitlement, and above all ‘big man mentality’. But these values are still work-in-progress and unless they become cultural norms/virtues of our national identity (which requires time) they remain as vulnerable as the country’s progress itself, if one factors in change. In retrospect, any change would be Change without Alternative ! The writer is an economist and financial expert Email: nshutim@gmail.com.

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Change without alternative?