Editor,I read with interest your story titled, “Exploring oil in Rwanda”, which was published in The New Times of yesterday, June 4. I found the article informative. It did not only capture the current situation in Rwanda’s quest to strike the precious resource, but also gave us an insight into the developments across the region. From the article, it is easy to suspect that Rwanda could be sitting on oil reserves, or on other precious resources. Assuming Rwanda goes on to strike oil, like Uganda and Kenya have done over the recent years, it would certainly come as a huge boost for the country’s development agenda. In such a situation, we would easily wean ourselves off the donors, by fully financing our budget and making allocations according to our priorities.However, Rwanda’s development will solely depend on its people. At the end of the day, it should be the quality and competitiveness of Rwandans which will make the difference. Prudent management of the national resources – with or without oil – will continue to be the magic in our shared development aspirations.I would urge the government to continue pursuing our development agenda, which is largely hinged on the skills of the people, and not to be distracted by whatever exploration (of natural resources) is ongoing. Let’s keep building strong institutions and ensuring accountability for every penny. If oil, gas, etc finally come, it will be a bonus.Betty KiraboGatsata
