This week President Kagame finally commented on Judge Merrelles

President Paul Kagame continues to attract praise for his efforts in putting the country on the path to political and economical stability. Last week it was at the Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (WSIE), an international award ceremony that took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Vincent Biruta, Senate President, received the award on behalf of the President. Kagame was recognised for his commitment towards developing his country by introducing healing and unity programs in a country that was destroyed by the Genocide.If there were any questions about President Paul Kagame’s integrity, they were answered on Wednesday at his monthly press conference at Village Urugwiro. Responding to a question about the recent arrest warrants issued by a Spanish judge against 40 senior officials of the Rwanda Patriotic Front Kagame marveled at the sheer “arrogance”. “If you look at what is in that dossier, they are actually not indicting the individuals listed, they are indicting RPF. …. How a Spanish judge sitting in a Spanish village feels a duty to indict a whole leadership of a country!” “They have no jurisdiction over us, over Rwanda, over me ….” The president deplored the indictments as proof of the West’s conviction that “Rwandans or Africans are all killers… According to them, we are all the same.” Kagame also took the opportunity to reveal that at the beginning of the Rwanda Patriotic Front government in1994, the party funded government business and even bought suits for traveling ministers. Proponents of political space in Rwanda will have their mouths full if the Ombudsman goes ahead with his threat. Tito Rutaremara has asked for a ban on all political parties in the country that did not declare their total value of wealth and incomes to his office as the leadership code states.All government employees are required to declare their wealth to the office of the Ombudsman as a measure in the fight against corruption in Rwanda. Of the eight political parties in Rwanda only four have declared their incomes.While Rutaremara is clear about what will happen to political parties that have disobeyed the law, the fate of Manzi Kayihura is not clear. Kayihura, the former Director General of government owned Rwandair, was arrested last week for abuse of office. Manzi is not the only senior government official in trouble. The Director General of Rwanda Bureau of Standards, Dr Tito Migabo, was sentenced. Last week, Migabo’s job was given to Dr Anastace Kimonyo in a wide ranging reshuffle within Government’s technical institutions. Days after his job was given away, Migabo was sentenced by the High Court to seven years in jail for his mismanagement of the national consumer protection agency. Migabo left the country before the state appealed his initial acquittal, and is now living in Canada. One major political cloud in Africa is slowly clearing away. Reports from Kenya show that President Mwai Kibaki and his rival for the December 2007 elections Raila Odinga are getting closer to a deal that will ensure power sharing between their two parties and working towards solving the worst national issues that the post election violence exposed. Today, President Mwai Kibaki is expected to name a new line up of cabinet ministers ending the wrangles over the make up of his government with the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The idea of power sharing was a result of post-election violence through out the month of January 2008 which claimed 1500 people according to the BBC. While Kenya is heading towards political sanity, the same cannot be said of Zimbabwe where elections have not produced a clear winner between incumbent Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsivangarai. Like Kenya, in Zimbabwe the opposition won more seats in the parliament, taking in a total of 105 while Mugabe’s party ZANU-PF had only 94. Tsavangarai’s Movement of Democratic Change said he had won 50.3 per cent of the presidential vote and Mugabe 43.8 per cent, but since the official results are not known, there’s still no winner one week after Zimbabweans went to the polls. Mugabe like Kibaki after the Kenyan elections has been elusive from public view, but his party says it is prepared for a rerun of the presidential elections.Ends