Wake-up call on aid dependency

Yesterday President Paul Kagame sounded a wake up call, on Rwandans in particular, and Africans in general, to do away with aid dependency including the ills that come with it. Speaking at the traditional monthly press conference at Urugwiro village, the President urged us all to extricate ourselves out of the quagmire of perpetual donor dependency. He alluded to the fact that, there are other global dynamics that have been imposed on us, such as the global financial crisis, which further prove the case on the ills of too much aid dependency. The financial crisis means those with the cash will be cutting back, notwithstanding the strings attached to the pennies they throw at us when they feel the need. Rwanda’s leadership over the months has sought to articulate a more internally focused, development plan that does not rely on hand outs from outside. The leadership retreat held some two weeks ago, set the tone of government’s policy with regards to donor aid.